The birth of social media revolutionized tons of things in the food and beverage industry. In fact, restaurants, fast food chains, and cafes in the local and international scenes consider social media marketing as one of their most effective marketing and advertising strategies to date.

But how do social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube help restaurants attract, gain and retain more customers? Let’s determine the success factors below.



First, restaurants create social media pages to also serve as their calling card. If a restaurant is relatively new, this can help them introduce their business to the market since they can also include their restaurant address and contact information on their page. Their profiles can serve as the menu, too! All they have to do is upload a photo or two of the food and beverages they offer, and they’re all set to welcome new customers.


Attractive Photos & Videos

Have you experienced scrolling down on your newsfeed, seeing a photo or a video of an oozingly tasty steak with mashed potatoes, and then decided to order that specific meal? That’s how restaurants try to tempt us, and they usually win, don’t they?



Another great feature of social media is their option to advertise, allowing restaurants to boost their enticing food photos, promotions, announcements and more. Above all, they reach more people with the ads which mean they could gain new followers and also new customers.


Engagement & Share Value

When a restaurant posts a mouthwatering photo, their followers usually respond to that photo by liking it, tagging someone on the comment section, or sharing the photo itself. Generally, these kinds of engagement mean so much to business pages. Getting more engagement and shares makes a restaurant more visible to the market and it helps restaurants establish the trust of customers along the way. Meanwhile, getting more shares, as mentioned above, will help a company increase their reach, and reach their goal to get more people flocking in their branches.


Direct Inquiries

Social media help restaurants communicate with their customers in just a snap. Likewise, customers can conveniently raise their inquiries via private message without the need to ring the restaurant on the phone or visit their branch. If the social media manager of that restaurant responds promptly to customers, there’s a great chance they will gain new customers from those inquiries.


Search Engine Value

Just like Google, social media also have their own search engine algorithms. For example, when you type a specific keyword on the search bar of Facebook (e.g. the keyword is Japanese food Makati), those Japanese restaurants in Makati with optimized pages will appear on the search results. This search engine value also helps restaurants bring in new leads to their business.


Ratings & Reviews

People do not just believe in cheesy ads nowadays. They normally research for recommendations, reviews, and ratings before trying something new especially when it involves their taste buds. And since you can activate receiving ratings and reviews on social media, restaurants with good feedback eventually gain more customers.


Do you work in the food and beverage industry and would love to learn how to utilize social media to increase your revenue? Please know that everything starts with good content. Read our tips for producing shareable social media content to gain insights on this one. You can also view our digital marketing tips for a more general scope.