Social media is about the fifth or sixth most important marketing channel for a restaurant. Hear me out.
I don't know how to cash in a like at the bank. I'm not sure what the LTV of a follower is. And I'm still trying to figure out how to leverage the fact that somebody shared my content when I have no idea who they are.
So when somebody asks me how to grow their following, I always ask why first. Then I generally default back to CRM marketing. If I have somebody's email address, their phone number, or they're in my rewards program, I know how that affects revenue. And revenue is the thing most people actually care about.
That said, I do think social media is important. I create content on a lot of channels every single day, and I have a full social media team for my single unit hamburger shop in New York City. So don't think I'm suggesting it doesn't matter.
I'm suggesting you have to choose where your time goes, not prioritize spending it on a channel that sits farther from the register than a few others.
I've been getting a ton of questions lately from operators of every size and type asking the same thing. How do we grow our following?
FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY TO IGNITE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH
1. Add a "follow us" email to your welcome journey.
Every guest who joins your CRM should get an email that says hey, you should follow us on [your account] to get [specific value].
Most brands already have a welcome series running, so this is one more email in a sequence you built a long time ago. Once it's live it works on every new guest forever without you touching it again.
2. Run a monthly social contest.
Pick an A or B question. Cheese or pepperoni. Ask it on your social account.
The next day, send that same link to your full email list and tell them to comment below to enter to win a fifty dollar gift card.
What you're really doing is finding the people who are already on your email list but have never followed you. Every month you pull a few more of them across. Bonus: you'll also be juicing engagement on both of these channels.
3. Spend money on Meta.
Every report I have ever looked at shows that brands who pair organic content with paid content grow their following exponentially faster than brands running organic alone.
You don't need a huge budget for this to be true. You need a consistent one.
4. Post a mix of people, places and product.
Three to four times a week, using reels, stories, carousels and static images.
This one won't win you a pile of new followers, but it will keep the ones you have engaged by using a best practices format. Remember, those are the people closest to buying something.
5. Get UGC working for you.
Go find the content guests have already posted about you. Search your location tag, check who tagged you this week, ask permission and repost it.
Bring in a creator. A local food creator with 5,000 engaged followers in your trade area will do more for you than a national name who lives nowhere near your restaurant.
And ask your friends to post. Not once as a favor, but as a habit.
This is the only one on the list that puts you in front of people who have never heard your name.
THREE THINGS I WOULD NOT DO
AI images. AI is amazing and I use it every day, but if I can tell it isn't your work or it isn't your food, you're saying your food is fake too. There is a massive movement out there against AI artwork right now and it is especially unforgiving toward restaurants. Don't be that brand.
Asking ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to "write me a quick social post." If you don't use these tools like an expert, you're not going to get expert output. A one line ask gives the model nothing to work with. Using AI for content creation is a complex activity that has to be thought through properly. It is not a few buttons and magic.
Brand content only on your local pages. If you're a multi-unit brand, your brand level content absolutely belongs on the local pages too. What it needs alongside it is local content, because that's what builds local community. The store page that mirrors the brand page and adds the neighborhood on top of it is the one people follow.
I know most of this sounds like things you've heard before. That's fine. The truth is that doing it consistently and systematically and telling the right stories really is the whole answer.
Here's the formula I've seen work for every strong brand I've been around:
Great organic content + great paid content + UGC
All three running at the same time.
One more thing: Cherryh Cansler and I are hosting a monthly exchange for restaurant marketers, powered by the Restaurant Marketing Workshop.
It's a casual, no-pitch space where restaurant marketers get together to swap ideas, share what's working, and talk through what isn't. No slides, no selling. Just smart people comparing notes with peers who actually do the job.
Bring a question, bring a win, bring a problem you're chewing on. You'll leave with something you can use.
First call is today, Thursday September 17 at 4:00 PM ET. Monthly after that. Free to join.
Want in? Comment below or send me an email and I'll get you the link. [email protected]
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Do you need help with your restaurant marketing or maximizing how you use AI to make it stronger and faster? Send me an email [email protected]
- Rev Ciancio
WHAT DOES REV DO?
*I help restaurants to build guest marketing programs.
*I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.
