How to build a restaurant social media strategy
First things first. Your social media strategy is not your content plan. I see it all the time — someone hands me a calendar of posts and calls it a strategy. It’s not. A content plan is useful, but it only works if it’s built on a proper strategy. Without that, you’re just guessing what to post and hoping it works. It’s like jumping in the car, driving for a bit and realising you never picked a destination. You have the food. You have the space. Now you need people to come in, spend money, and tell others. To do that you need a plan that focuses your time and budget on the things that actually bring in diners.
1. Know what you want
If you don’t have a clear target, you’ll waste time. “Get more customers” is too vague, try to be more specific
Fill 40% more weekday tables every week.
Sell 40 tickets to your next supper club.
Get 30 new Google reviews in a month.
Pick something you can measure and tie it to a time frame. If you can’t see progress, you won’t know if the effort is worth it. This also helps you decide where to spend your energy. Filling lunchtime slots might need Google Ads or LinkedIn, while selling event tickets could lean more on Instagram Reels and email.
2. Know who you want
Not everyone is your customer. You’ll waste money if you try to reach everyone.
Local office workers who want a fast lunch are different from tourists looking for a “authentic hidden gem”.
Families coming in on weekends are different from the Thursday-night wine crowd.
Each group appears in different places online and responds to different offers.
Once you know who you want, you can create content that speaks to them. Office workers want speed and value. Tourists want experiences they can tell friends about. Families want space and a kid-friendly menu.
Example: A café in Brighton wanted the post-gym crowd. They started posting short Reels showing their high-protein breakfast bowls with calorie and protein counts in the caption. Bookings rose in the 8–11 a.m. slot.
3. Know why people should choose you
Plenty of places have good food. That’s not a reason to pick you over someone else.
Is it the way your team greets people?
Is it your chef’s obsession with seasonal ingredients?
Is it the fact you have live music on Fridays?
Decide what you want to be known for and make sure it’s obvious in your marketing. Every post, every caption, every photo should make that point in some way. When people think of you, they should think of that thing first.
Example: A pizza restaurant in Leeds built a series of “Meet the Farmer” posts, filming quick interviews with the people who grow their vegetables. It made their brand feel more authentic and gave them a reason to post outside of just pizza shots.
4. Fix the basics first
No point getting thousands of views if your booking link is broken or your Google profile has the wrong hours.
Keep your Google Business Profile up to date with photos and menus.
Make sure your website is quick and works well on a phone.
Test your booking process. Fewer clicks means more people follow through.
Reply to reviews and messages quickly.
These are small tasks, but they directly affect whether someone books or gives up.
5. Pick your platforms
Choose the platforms that match your audience and your goals.
Instagram and TikTok work well for visual dishes, events, and younger audiences.
Google Search and Maps are essential if people are looking for “best….near me”.
Email is the most reliable way to reach people who have already visited. Don’t neglect this!
Paid ads work well for selling tickets or filling quiet shifts fast.
If a channel doesn’t bring people in, drop it. Better to do a few things well than be everywhere badly. Read that again.
Example: A small cocktail bar ignored TikTok completely and put all their energy into Instagram Stories because their core audience was 28–40-year-olds already on that platform. Engagement doubled within two months.
6. Plan your content
Posting at random means you’ll forget, get busy, and lose momentum. Build a simple content calendar.
Two to five posts a week that mix offers, behind-the-scenes, seasonal dishes, and customer moments.
Regular Stories or Reels showing the energy of the place.
Google posts to help your local SEO.
Emails around key dates, events, and menu launches.
The goal is to stay on people’s minds until they decide to book. You don’t have to post constantly, but you do have to be consistent.
7. Set your budget
Your time is part of the cost. Decide early how much you can spend each month and where it will go.
Are you shooting your own photos or hiring a professional?
Will you run ads? How much can you spend without hurting other areas?
Where will the biggest return come from?
Even a small budget can bring in good results if you choose the right channels and track them.
8. Track your results
Marketing without tracking is guesswork.
See which posts or ads drive bookings.
Track covers, not just likes and followers.
Watch for spikes in website visits after events or campaigns.
Use UTM links so you know exactly where bookings came from.
Look at your results every month. Keep the things that work, stop the things that don’t, and test new ideas.
Example: A burger joint discovered their best-performing ad wasn’t their juiciest burger shot but a 10-second video of a customer tearing into onion rings. They shifted budget to more snack-focused ads and increased average order size.
Social media marketing for restaurants isn’t about shouting into the void. It’s about knowing who you want, where they are, and why they’d choose you. Then showing up in a way that gets them to act. Do that, and you’ll fill more tables without burning yourself out. And if that feels too much (We get that its a lot) you know where to find us!
