The restaurant industry can be incredibly competitive, and sometime your marketing strategies are the only thing that will set you apart from your competitors. A new report found that 34 percent of restaurants have a full-time employee who manages restaurant marketing — through ads, social media, and other promotions.
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Toast’s 2019 Restaurant Success Report found that Facebook is still the most important platform to find new restaurant guests — with 91 percent of restaurants using Facebook in one way or another. However, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to be seen organically by your followers — and 70 percent of restaurant owners said they plan to pay for Facebook advertising in the next year.
Instagram increased in use by restaurants from 24 percent to 78 percent year-over-year as well. According to Restaurant Dive, 39 percent of restaurants also use Twitter as a part of their marketing efforts.
The numbers are interesting because of the demographics — Facebook has a varied demographic of all ages (from 13 to 80), but Instagram generally attracts a younger generation. As millennials become a more important customer profile, brands have been advertising more and more to this demographic. Instagram advertising is generally less expensive than on Facebook, but it is seen as more of an impression campaign – you can’t always expect clicks to your website.
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Although the restaurant field is incredibly busy, there are a lot of was you can set yourself apart. The report also found that 12 percent of restaurant owners don’t do any marketing at all. The report surveyed 1,253 restaurant owners.