Cooking Up Clicks: How The Social HQ Markets Restaurants
In the restaurant business, the secret ingredient isn't always a special olive oil or an imported spice. Sometimes, the last piece of the puzzle is knowing how to utilize social media to make people start craving the food before they've even tasted it. The flavor has to be impressive too, of course. Otherwise they won't come back! While our team of social media professionals can't help you with the kitchen side of things, we promise you we are experts with the rest. Stay tuned to see how we cultivated the secret ingredient for our client, Salsa Fresca, using the magic of social media marketing.
Step 1: Perfect the brand image.
Previously, Salsa Fresca's Instagram strategy focused on static posts and simple images of the food. Although their food has always looked delicious, we knew we wanted to bring some fresh content ideas to the table in order to stand out on the explore page! You'll notice below how their Instagram feed now makes use of various post formats (like carousels and reels) to bring a more dynamic, personal feel to the account.
Step 2: Blend promotional and lifestyle content for relatability.
Remember, people use socials to wind down and relax. The best ads are the ones that fit seamlessly into a feed with other entertainment. There are many ways to infuse lifestyle elements into promotional content, so it gets the point across without feeling too much like an ad. One great way to do this is to sneak promotional elements into a relatable or trending post format. Think popular audios, memes, etc. Check out this reel below that promotes the portion sizes at Salsa Fresca through a fun, trending reel:
Step 3: Maintain clear and consistent marketing on other mediums (Google, SMS, Email).
We love socials, but not everyone is on them. So what do we do? We turn to our good friend, Google! When you register for a Google Business Profile, your company can post content that shows up as the top hit after someone plugs you into the search engine. This means that you can share promotional content to audiences that would not have otherwise seen it. For more information on how the Google Business Profile works, including how to master SEO and attract more local leads, check out our blog How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile.
The Google Business algorithm favors businesses that are active on their profile, provide accurate information, and respond to customer reviews—so we are sure to take care of all of that for you.
Step 4: Tie it all together with a killer website.
Here's where everything comes in to place. The website is the ultimate hub for any business, so let's make it eye-catching, accurate, and easy to use! We could go on about what makes a website great, but we think perusing the Salsa Fresca website will do the trick.
Step 5: Watch as the numbers climb!
Salsa Fresca is thriving on socials. In the past six months, this franchise has averaged an impressive 42.87% engagement rate on Instagram. To put this into perspective, the average engagement rate across the platform is about 1.22% to 4.59%. Safe to say, things are heating up over at Salsa Fresca—and it's not just the hot salsa. Facebook shines in a similar fashion; just six months ago, in October 2023, posts were clocking in at an average reach of 221. Now they sit at about 512. More than double!
Psst...! Did you know that The Social HQ also offers Google Ad, SMS, and email management? When you work with a full-service social media and digital marketing agency, you can rest assured that every piece of the puzzle is taken care of.
