Social Media Tips for Restaurants

Rene Looper

October 31st 2015

If you’re in the food and drink industry and looking to get your teeth into social media, this post is for you!  There are plenty of ways you can engage your audience and promote your restaurant or eatery on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  The Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye, a renowned seafood restaurant with 5 star accommodation, is a good example of a restaurant making the most of social media and as I’ve focussed on Facebook and Instagram in recent posts, today it’s all about Twitter.

Scrolling through their Twitter stream you immediately get a sense of the personality of the business; an emphasis on quality quickly becoming evident (the award-winning restaurant has three red AA rosettes) through a mix of photographs and reviews, as well as a welcoming, friendly tone which I’m sure mirrors a visit to their premises.

Looking at their tweets I was impressed at how they engage with their audience and how inviting they make both the island and the restaurant.  (Indeed, as I’m typing this I’m making a mental note to return to the Isle of Skye next year and experience The Three Chimneys for myself).

If you’re looking for Twitter tips, here are a couple of leaves I’d take out of The Three Chimneys’ book.

Engaging and responding to customers

As mentioned in my previous post on using Facebook, responding to your audience is key.  The Three Chimneys retweets any mentions of their restaurant and accommodation, as well as sharing photographs taken by guests/diners.  If it’s a review, they usually add a thank you to the retweet as well as a comment about looking forward to that person returning (a lovely way to encourage repeat customers).  If the tweet is in anticipation of a visit, they add a comment such as: ‘We can’t wait to welcome you’ when they retweet it.  A simple but oh-so-important thing to do.  And it adds to the warm, friendly tone of their page.

The Three Chimneys use Twitter to promote their business as well as engage their audience but they adhere to the general rule that you should post an engagement tweet for every three or four promotional tweets, combining tweets that showcase their menu and accommodation (with high quality photography), and last-minute offers with local area shots, pictures taken by guests and behind the scenes photographs.  Behind the scenes images are good for helping to convey the personality of the business, and The Three Chimneys feature pictures such as the team in the kitchen and images of food being prepared, as well as individual staff members.

Trending hashtags

This is the Year of Food and Drink – an ideal opportunity for businesses to be taking advantage of the food and drink hashtags, such as The Three Chimneys did in this tweet:

Source: The Three Chimneys

As well as #tastescotland and #eatscottish, you could use #scotfood and #yearoffoodanddrink.  The Three Chimneys are also good at making the most of trending hashtags and tweet beautiful photographs to go alongside these tweets.  Recent examples from their Twitter feed include #NationalAppleDay, #FridayTemptation and #NationalChocolateWeek.  (I particularly liked their Facebook post around #seafoodweek -“Seafood week is every week at The Three Chimneys”).

Source: The Three Chimneys

As well as using hashtags that are trending make sure you use relevant hashtags to help your tweets get found, such as the above example (also important on Instagram).  Also use your area or town – The Three Chimneys often include #IsleofSkye and #Skye so that they can be found by those perhaps researching a trip to the island.

Your Twitter page gives your customers an idea of what type of business you are.  With the combination of quality photographs and press reviews, plus images and tweets by customers, The Three Chimneys Twitter page conveys both the high standard of the restaurant and accommodation, as well as the service you can expect.  I for one cannot wait to visit.