Humans are visual creatures. Imageries, visuals, aesthetics, and appearances matter a lot to us. When making decisions, we are quick to judge a book by its cover, and it is an undebatable fact.

This is the reason why pictures are very important in today’s world. How is it relevant to your restaurant business? Let us understand.

Whether you post advertisements in newspapers, pamphlets or on social media, your one goal is to attract customers and make them aware of your restaurant and the mouth-watering delicacies that you offer. The most common and impactful way of capturing the customer’s attention is through pictures.

You make sure that the pictures that you advertise are perfectly clear, beautiful, and make the viewer hungry just by looking at it. You go through large extents to take the best picture possible even as far as hiring a professional photographer.

However, are you really doing the necessary for your business or is it all just a waste of time?

You might think that a picture of delicious looking cuisine is enough to advertise your business, however, don’t overlook the fact that there are tons of restaurants and bloggers, expert at taking pictures and posting them on social media. You need to distinguish yourself from the mainstream and step up your marketing strategy.

If you want to increase your restaurant sales, you need to gain the customer’s trust. It's 2019, YOU oughta be in pictures too! Your brand needs to have a face -  not of any model or influencers, but you, your chefs that cook delicious good and even the delivery staff that delivers the orders to your customers on time, every time. Let your customers know who you are, where you belong to and how you provide them with the best of experience from your tiny (or large) kitchens. If you want them to be loyal to you, make them a part of your family. Make them feel like a family through the pictures that directly speak to them.

Build Trust

The most important reason to be in your pictures is to build trust among your customers. When customers are familiar with your face or any face from your organization that they can resonate with, they feel connected with you and your business. There is no better way of gaining a person’s trust than by connecting with them on a personal level.  When they see the insides of your restaurant - your kitchen, your staff, your process, they automatically feel inclined to your brand and would trust you more than any other restaurant in the town. Most importantly, seeing your chefs working behind the counters in a clean kitchen is surely a way to attract the section of customers who always prioritize hygiene over taste.

Look Authentic

Again, there are umpteen pictures of food floating around the internet. It is very easy to recognize a previously seen picture and tell that it is stolen from a source. You don’t want to be one of them. If you want to look genuine, authentic and honest to your customers, even to those who have never tried your restaurant before, you have to create content that truly reflects your brand and your vision. Create content (pictures, videos, gifs, interviews etc.) that clearly communicates your brand’s story to your customers. Be sure to be the one talking in those interviews. Giving your customers a brief tour of your day to day life in the restaurant often turns out to be a great word of mouth marketing strategy. If you want your customers to spread the word about your restaurant, give them something unique to talk about among their friends and family. Once this trust is established, you will see how your restaurant business blows up (in a good way, of course).

Make them Pause

We all know that the first impression is the last impression. Pictures are a great way to create an impactful first impression and if you are in it, it’s a win for your business!

It is all about influencing your audience enough to convert them into customers. If your photos are attractive, well shot, and beautiful, your social media followers will be intrigued and want to visit your restaurant. Start thinking like a food stylist. Wait for the right moment to click the food. For instance, let the ice cream melt for a minute to drip, or take a scoop out of the lasagna and leave the full fork on the plate. Experiment with cutlery placement.

You can angle your picture and position yourself, your chef or other team members in a way that makes the people stop for a moment to appreciate the post. Try and come up with a description that not just talks about the dish, but also the origin or a trivia connected to it. Better if you could add a line or two about your experience about the dish and the first time you served it in your restaurant.

Post at the right time

You have a stunning picture which reflects your brand perfectly, but what is its use unless it is not noticed by people. Posting at the right time is a market strategy which will go a long way in increasing your restaurant sales. You need to understand the social media platform and analyses which is the time when most people are active. It is recommended to use analytical tools like Google Analytics, Instagram Analytics and so on to keep a track of the best and the worst timings to post. This strategy will help you gain customers tremendously.

Good post timing depends on the platform you're using, as well as on how your target audience interacts with that platform. In general, the best times to post on Instagram are on Monday, Thursdays, and Friday, at any time other than 3-4 p.m. The best time to post video content is between  9 p.m and 8 a.m., on any day. However, other social networks like Twitter have shown to perform well at hours like 3 p.m.

Hashtagging is a must

Hashtags are popular for a reason. We all want our photos to be in front of as many users as possible. Instagram is the visual platform, and getting your restaurant photos in front of Instagram users should be your primary goal. On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags on your post, and the possibilities are endless. But you need to choose your hashtags very carefully. They should be relevant and low competition tags. In fact, using a combination of highly posted tags, and ones that are less used can help you maximize the visibility of your posts.

Conclusion

Social media is a great platform to market and advertise your restaurant and increase sales. However, you need to know the right way to do it.

Simply posting a picture of the cuisine that you serve might catch the eyes of a few keen onlookers, but to make it get noticed by a wide array of the audience, you need to make the picture relatable and as attractive as possible.

Do your marketing right and be in your pictures to increase your restaurant sales!

Want to take your restaurant business strategy up a notch? Speak to our marketing experts today for customized social media strategies that are sure to help you engage better with your customers, thereby, increasing the revenue.