Over the past few decades, social media has cemented itself as the cornerstone of new-age digital marketing. Its ability to reach millions of viewers in a matter of seconds has led industries around the world to scramble for ways to maximize its influence in advertising.
However, from all the current trends in social media marketing, TikTok’s short-form video format has set itself apart thanks to its short, punchy content. With over 1 billion active users monthly, the platform is now becoming one of the main focuses for restaurant marketing.
But how exactly did TikTok disrupt digital marketing, and how can restaurants leverage the power of marketing through this platform?
The Rise of TikTok
Back in 2017, TikTok replaced its former lip-syncing app, Musical.ly, and introduced more video-centric features for its sub-minute video formats. Unlike other social media platforms that focus on sharing content, TikTok gives equal importance to the creation aspect of videos. This effectively gave the power of amateur video makers to gain rapid popularity in a matter of seconds.
In TikTok, creators can use sounds, songs, special effects, and filters to create videos they can upload. If a video or sound gains enough traction through likes and shares, the platform’s algorithm makes it easy for people around the world to discover the content and replicate its format.
The mass amount of available content coupled with its easy-to-digest videos makes it easy for users to get carried away. As of October 2022, the average user spends about 95 minutes a day on the platform.
Multiply that by TikTok’s billion active monthly users, and you have yourself the world’s current most powerful marketing platform. What’s even crazier is that experts project the number of monthly users to double by 2023.
The Power of FoodTok: Restaurant TikTok Marketing
Given the insane user reach on Tiktok, restaurants can benefit from marketing through TikTok in several ways:
1. Attract New Customers
At its core, TikTok is a social media platform that is meant to share experiences or stories. Through TikTok videos, customers can share their experience in a short 15-second video. If the experience is positive and appealing, it can easily attract friends and family to your restaurant.
2. Increase Customer Engagement
Gauging customer response to traditional marketing campaigns can be difficult due to its one-way nature. When you post an ad, it will take some time before you get a general consensus on how well it performed.
Due to TikTok’s viral and dynamic nature, you can gauge customer sentiment toward your content quickly. Since TikTok users are highly engaged with the platform, you can expect to reach thousands of potential customers without even having to spend anything.
3. Connect With Influencers
Popular social media personnel, also known as influencers, are constantly on TikTok for their next video idea. These influencers have audiences that can number in the tens -and even hundreds -of thousands. No matter what their favorite influencer is doing, their audiences are sure to follow their posts and even try the same experiences as they did, given the chance.
Having your restaurant featured by influencers can bring their audiences to your table. Since TikTok is known as a place for sharing experiences, a good word about your restaurant on even just one of their videos can bring you a ton of business, or, at the very least, really good publicity.
Popular TikTok Video Formats for Restaurants
While TikTok is a platform where almost anything can trend, finding what subjects to talk about can be tricky, especially if you don’t know where to start. Thankfully, there are several popular formats that you can follow and put your unique twist on to help you kick off your restaurant’s TikTok marketing campaign!
1. Restaurant Dining Experiences
One of the simplest but most effective restaurant video formats is the Restaurant Dining Experience. These videos essentially tell a visual story of what customers can expect when they order from your restaurant, from the moment they step through your door to the moment they check out.
These videos are a great way to showcase your restaurant’s main strengths and specialties in a brief and concise manner. They’re also a great way to show customer-facing technologies that could attract people simply for the novelty of the experience. These videos are great since they need little-to-no voice overs or explanations. Simply let your restaurant’s location, decor, and food speak for itself.
2. Product Shoots
Coming across pictures of visually stunning food can make anyone stop for a second. Turn that picture into a video and well, you can make them stop for as long as 10 minutes (TikTok’s upper limit at the moment). Product-shoot style videos focus on the restaurant’s food and nothing but the food. They’re meant to catch the passerby’s gaze and make their mouth water through choreographed videos of food.
Food product shoots are the closest thing to traditional food ads, with the main difference being that the food isn’t stylized and are presented as they would be in the restaurant. This format is especially effective for restaurants that take pride in their presentation, as good footage of their food can make for fast and easy content.
3. Popular Hashtag Trends
Every now and then, a popular trend on TikTok pops up that encourages or challenges other users to do their own take of the trend. While restaurants can’t exactly do their own music cover of the latest hit, they can definitely share their own take on #bbq.
Given that a lot of trends come and go, it’s important to make a quality video on the trend ASAP to avoid being left out. Nobody wants to see anyone do a trend that was passé a few months ago, so be sure to keep updated on the next trend you can jump on.
Include a brief paragraph about what hashtags are in the context of social media and why it’s important for brands -especially restaurants -to use hashtags in their content.
4. Contests, Promos, or Giveaways
People love a good deal, especially when it’s free. Contests, promos, or giveaways are a great way to attract people’s attention and increase brand awareness. Simply asking your customers to like, share, or comment on your post in exchange for a free item (or a chance of a free meal) can quickly make your video viral.
When posting these kinds of content, be sure you can follow through with your commitment and gauge how beneficial your giveaway can be. Make sure what you’re giving away is something you can afford to lose in exchange for publicity. That’s why we recommend doing this format only when you’re doing well enough to afford it.
5. Cooking Tutorials and Food Recipes
Cooking is one of the most common hobbies in the world, and chances are your chefs are good at just that. There are countless numbers of professional and amateur cooks that want to add new skills and recipes under their belt, so the demand for these kinds of videos are always high.
Cooking tutorials and food recipes are a way for restaurants to share what goes behind the scenes of every dish. They’re a great way to engage with viewers and show them content they want to see.
These types of videos increase audience engagement because people tend to watch them from beginning to end. This is great for marketing, since TikTok’s algorithm takes into consideration average watch times in suggesting content to users on their For You page. More engagement means more views, and more views means potentially more customers!
Making the Most out of TikTok Marketing
When it comes to any marketing strategy, every little detail goes a long way. Here are several things you should consider when making videos to really maximize the effectiveness of your TikTok marketing strategies.
- Add Subtle Branding
Given the amount of customization options available on TikTok, adding a subtle element of restaurant branding can really help you establish an identity on the platform. Running a fine dining restaurant? Consider using elegant music for your videos. Have a logo for your business? Try matching your text colors with your logo!
- Use the Proper Hashtags
Hashtags are important in getting your video noticed. Since users can search for certain hashtags specifically, they can come across your video if it matches the content that they are looking for. While using random hashtags to get your videos noticed may sound appealing, they can be flagged by the system and be considered as spam.
- Be Careful With Your Captions
Captions are meant to serve as an explanation and/or call to action for your video. You want to have a caption that is engaging and in line with your branding. Remember, your purpose on the platform is to build your brand and get customers, not just views!
- Enjoy the Process
One great thing about TikTok marketing is how fun each video can be. Just like how people use social media to express themselves, restaurants can use TikTok to share their values and specialties on the platform in a more casual way.
TikTok is set to be one of the most powerful digital marketing channels for restaurants in the coming years, but most of the viral trends will always be something fun, exciting, or interesting.
Let loose and be creative with your videos! There’s no fun in being a carbon copy of the latest trends. The most successful accounts are the ones with the most personality. Be relatable, have fun, and most importantly be you!
Make Your Restaurant Worth Sharing
Because of social media, your next customer can also be your next advertiser. In a world where good experiences make good content, restaurant owners have to step up their game if they want their business to be shared by others.
Play to your strengths and make up for areas where you lack. Your restaurant doesn’t have to be perfect for it to get noticed. Show that you’re a business worth sharing by providing excellent service, delicious food, and a wonderful atmosphere. Even if you lack in one area, you can definitely make up for it in another.