Aside from all of the projects we’ve guided in the financial space, the legal world and all sorts of other initiatives, the food industry holds a special place in our hearts and because of that combined with our experience guiding restaurants we see a variety of common social media mistakes occurring on a regular basis, and that pushes us to fix them by finding/implementing solutions.

The first step to fixing these problems is to identify what they are in the first place, why they’re happening regularly and how do we prevent them from occurring in the future? And many times that requires companies and their teams to first look internally – what are you doing that can be improved now? Along with other more complicated questions around do we actually know what we’re doing or need outside help to get everything on track?

Looking at the mistakes/failures and tricky situations restaurants unfortunately find themselves in, and as a starting point to fixing the biggest issues, here are some of the main things we’ve seen over the years after guiding hundreds of restaurants and food brands around the world:

The Curse of Bad Content: Failing From the Beginning
First and foremost, a restaurant’s content needs to fully represent them and more often than not content on social media is just bad. What can you post on Instagram that makes locals flock to your restaurant along with people from around the world that see things online then view your food/restaurant as a destination versus simply eating at a restaurant?

Lack of Engagement: Not Sexy for Social Media Algorithms
Similar to what we mentioned above related to engaging content, if restaurants aren’t pushing the needle and posting amazing shots of their food that drive guests/$ what are they really doing? And if content is bad then flops it won’t trigger the social algorithms so they organically push you further (e.g. trending on Instagram, Google/YouTube).

Thinking You’re Special Never Works in the End
Lastly and maybe most importantly, social media marketing for restaurants isn’t simply about posting then crossing your fingers and hoping for things to pop off, and at some point you actually have to be social and communicate with people in your community (locals, foodies, etc.) that already visit your restaurant or maybe with a few messages convert a new local that will visit tomorrow then continue to give you money for many years to come. That = running a sustainable business.

The moral of the story is that restaurant social media marketing is a unique animal and metrics show that a majority of restaurants unfortunately fail in the first year or two, though it doesn’t have to be that way if things are done right. And that’s where we can help.