There are numerous opportunities to connect with customers on a more personal basis using Twitter and Facebook for restaurants. With these social media tools, restaurants are able to promote offers, photos of new menu items, and openings to current and prospective customers. One way to extend the reach of that message is to consider using Facebook and Twitter ads to amplify the message.
Paid advertising is not right for every restaurant or for every offer. But if you are considering it, here are some tips:
Before starting any paid media campaign, be sure to carefully consider your objectives, your target audience and the possible return on your investment. This may affect the message you are considering to support with paid ads, as well as the budgets you set and where you send those clicks.
Once your marketing strategy is in place, there are several targeting options to consider with paid ads on Twitter or Facebook for restaurants. You don’t have to cast a wide net; it’s easy to get your message directly in front of the most relevant audience.
1. Cities – If you want to reach people from your city and surrounding cities, you can specifically target those geographies on social media. This is an important target so you don’t pay for clicks in areas that are not near you restaurant and you reach only potential customers. This is also a great way to increase awareness if you are opening a new restaurant.
2. Local businesses – On Facebook, often people will include their place of work in their profile. Consider targeting people who work at local businesses to promote catering for holiday parties, business meeting or team gatherings; or, use a Facebook Offer to get them in the door for lunch or happy hour.
3. Students – Are you located in a college town or near a local community college? You can target students with your message geared to their specific needs, where they communicate with one another: on social media.
4. Interests – If you are looking to attract an audience that has specific interests, such as people who love football or who go to church on Sundays, you can promote your relevant offerings to them. On Twitter, you can directly target people based on what they are talking about. For example, if you are a pizza restaurant and want to attract people in your area talking about pizza, an ad about your pizza lunch special could appear in their tweets. Or, if you have a game day special, you can promote it to people in your area talking about the hometown team.
Mass marketing is a thing of the past. If you want your content to be noticed it has to be relevant to your audience. The very nature of social media allows you to know enough about your audience to naturally include meaningful content in their social mediums. Understand your objectives and your options to create meaningful messages that reach the right people with targeted social media ads.
