Did you know there’s a lot of creative ways to utilize video for your marketing that only take minutes to execute? With a simple strategy in place, you can start utilizing video to connect with customers and bring more people in the door. Here are five ways you can start producing videos today for your restaurant’s social media.
1) Show the WOW factor of your food being made
With your phone and some good lighting, you can capture the deliciousness of your food on video. For this process focus in on the mouth-watering moment…like building the burger, ladling soup into a bowl and sprinkling cheese on top, or adding foam to a latte. Our client Roll Me Some does a wonderful job showcasing this process on their social media. Here they show the sped up process of their rolled ice cream being created. Videos like this make people hungry and will turn them into an instant customer. Make sure to mention in the video caption that they can order using your restaurant app.
This video shows the magic behind how rolled ice cream is made.
2) Boomerangs – so simple and easy
Boomerangs are easy to create via Instagram Story or the Boomerang app and create an instantly effective 4-second video you can add to your Instagram, Instagram Stories, or your Facebook page. Once again, capturing the money shot of your food prep makes great Boomerang content as well as spotlighting your team members or customers (get permission, of course). With Boomerangs you may need to take two to three to get the perfect action captured, so play around with it.
The Taste Kitchen team did a cute Boomerang showing off their new merch that had just arrived.
3) Show your app in use by taking a screenshot video
Want more app downloads? The easiest way is to show the app in use on your social channels. The Eatery of Wallingford did a video screen grab of their app on Instagram and followers in the comments were loving the news. To create videos like these, you simply need to search ‘screen recorder’ in your app store and there are several free ones to choose from for download. After you record your screen, you may need to do a few simple edits before posting.
In the Eatery of Wallingford video, they even showcased the customization order features within the app.
4) Take advantage of Instagram Stories
By now, we’re sure you’ve probably heard about Instagram Stories, but have you used them for your restaurant promotions? Since Instagram Stories only last for 24 hours, it’s a great way to share special sales promotions, events, or behind-the-scenes moments at the restaurant. You can also be playful with stories by using their various tools like video effects, lenses, gifs, and type. Some people avoid stories cause of the 24-hour time limit, but there are many advantages. First off, stories show in chronological order in your followers feed and notify them you have an updated story unlike your Instagram feed, which relies heavily on the algorithm for your customers to view your content. Secondly, you can save stories in your highlights section on your page and bundle them by fun categories like “our specialities”, “our team”, “community”, etc. Lastly, your story can be saved and posted other places like your Instagram feed, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. There’s no reason you can’t maximize this content and get the most out of it!
Here’s a great example of our client USBean reutilizing their story content for their IG feed.
5) Be Spontaneous
A lot of people have the misconception that videos have to be professionally-produced or scripted to connect with customers, but this isn’t the case. Some of the best times to capture video is when it’s spontaneous and unexpected. Get out your camera and start capturing the fun moments like tapping drinks together, your staff jumping in front of your sign/logo, or a time lapse of lunchtime rush. Our friends at Quesadilla Gorilla got into the spirit by using a gorilla suit to playfully promote their business to the excitement of their customers online.
Gorilla marketing at it’s best
If you’re still struggling to find time to fit social media in your day to day, you don’t have to take it on all by yourself. Enlist a social savvy team member to capture your videos and relay some expectations so you can set them up for success. Social media is the best way to promote your business for free right now and also a great way to bring creativity to your restaurant.
