These days, with the explosion of social media, there are plenty of food bloggers that have entered the restaurant industry scene. They have social media accounts, a long list of followers, a website and plenty of opinions!
In Spite of the fact whether or not yours is a top-tier restaurant, you usually have a few free food requests in your kitty. If not, you might have at least considered approaching some of the really popular food bloggers to see what they can do for your business too.
But the questions is, how to r decide which food bloggers to associate with, and evaluate the reach as well as the ROI?
Social media has blossomed into a platform wherein people have created
careers out of having the right clothes, the right skills or the right opinions. Basically, the name of the game is relating and interacting with your audience, and that’s what bloggers do best! They already have an audience that looks up to them for guidance, opinions and at times cheat sheets.
If the platform is utilised properly, food bloggers are the links between a restaurant and the audience they want to attract. Which is why, every restaurant should once try out marketing the food blogging way and here’s your guide to going about it.
Here’s a list of a few things that can help you decide how to contribute to the food blogger economy and get good publicity for your restaurant out of it.
If you wish to associate with a food blogger, it’s important to research well, because chances are that you will associate with them again. So, it’s good to checkout all their social media channels, read the posts, comments and analyse the kind of audience they attract. Food bloggers can be of a lot of diversity, catering to a lot of different audiences. There might be some food bloggers only trying out vegan dishes and therefore attracting a strictly vegan crowd to their social media accounts.
Now, for a mixed-menu, casual restaurant that might be off the radar, but if your restaurant has recently launched a new vegan menu to be more inclusive or a special vegan entry, this might be the best platform to advertise your new menu on
If you are investing in a relationship with a blogger, wherein they can become the face of your brand, it is important to have a conversation about results and ROI to be generated. Ask for a web analytics screen shot from the blogger you are interested in and request them to provide a proper plan regarding the activities, expense and the results generated through it.
Generally, this can also be a sieve test to see if the blogger is experienced enough to understand and convert the business opportunity. Sometimes, people can become popular and relateable despite just wanting to explore food and treating it as a hobby. It is usually good to associate with bloggers who can provide quantifiable metrics, have an idea of their audience response and conduct themselves with professionalism. It just makes the success of the operation more probable.
There are plenty of people claiming food bloggers in the bio, but it is important that they have the right knowledge and are a trustworthy source to rely upon. It is beneficial if they have a degree in the hospitality field, they sure must be taught about the nuances of the food reviewing business there. If it isn’t so, make sure to have an honest conversation about the work you want from them. Sit and chat about their knowledge for the field and the kind of content you are looking for, if it doesn’t fit your requirements, you should look somewhere else.
There are plenty of ways to get associated with a food blogger. It might be a one time thing or a series of posts dedicated just to your business. It could also be a particular platform you wish to concentrate on, so instead of blog posts, or instagram posts, you want a series of images/videos tweeted on Twitter. Once zeroed in and decided, talk about these intricate details of your association and whether or not the blogger works that way.
Once this process has been completed, and you finally have put down a rough idea of terms of your agreement, it is a good idea to give them a talk about your business and what it means to you. Having a person write and recommend for your business might seem unfair if they aren’t very well aware about it.
So, informing them on your part is also necessary.
The food blogging industry is only growing and coming up with new opportunities for restaurants to use. Whether or not your restaurant is in need of a new marketing strategy, employing a face to your brand could just work wonders for recall and orders.
