From the land of speakeasies, Chicago now has one of the biggest populations of restaurants. As of 2016, over 8,000 of them are in Illinois’s capital. It’s a mixture of secret bars, pizza parlors, diners, and Michelin -starred dining places.
All these might need to face the challenges that come with the coronavirus pandemic. The infection forces many customers to stay in their homes and limit their movements outdoors. With a business to support, restaurant owners need to find another way to reach consumers. The solution? Social media.
Here are social media ideas that Chicago restaurants can explore:
1. Define the Brand
Just because the business has a name doesn’t mean it’s already a brand. With hundreds of other companies competing for the same market, restaurants should stand out or define themselves.
A 2020 study by Mobile Market revealed that 90% of consumers would eventually buy from the companies they followed on social media. One cannot pass up such an opportunity.
Creating the right brand, though, can be challenging, especially if it needs to be consistent across social media platforms. Restaurant owners can then work with expert social media companies in Chicago .
Although restaurants can always work with any social media expert, those that operate in the state might be in a better position to understand the culture, values, and Internet habits of consumers in the country.
2. Boost Social Media Engagement
Social media pages can be like deserts when no engagement happens. Customers these days are not only looking to buy but also interact with the brand. Doing so helps close the great divide that separates consumers and businesses and makes customers feel they are contributing to the company’s success.
Metrics can help gauge the level of engagement in social media. Some of these include likes, follows, and shares and click-throughs of shared articles or videos. But it’s also just as essential to know the different ways to increase engagement :
- Create polls and surveys.
- Answer comments.
- Provide and share infographics.
- Produce short, relatable videos.
- Ask questions.
- Cross-post.
For those who find social media management and engagement monitoring complicated and time-consuming, they can leave the job to social media companies.
3. Complement Social Media with Other Digital Marketing Strategies
Although social media is a powerful digital marketing tool, it is not the be-all, end-all. It should not be a reason to neglect or ignore other strategies. Consider the following data:
- According to Wordstream , marketers who used videos increased their revenue by over 40% faster than those who didn’t.
- Tubular Insights report revealed that more than half of consumers bought a product after watching a video from a brand.
- Infographics make instructions easier to understand. According to Springer, these visuals could increase compliance by as much as 323% compared to instructions that used only texts.
- Meanwhile, Optin Monster reported that over half of marketers converted leads to customers through blog marketing. B2B marketers who maintained blogs generated leads 67% more than brands that didn’t.
Restaurants can combine other digital marketing strategies with social media in the following ways:
- Schedule live events. For example, a bar can provide a live cocktail-mixing class. The restaurant can reward those who promote watch parties.
- Use infographics wisely. They come in handy when providing directions on how to order online, schedule curbside delivery, or even maintain social distance when ordering takeout or receiving deliveries at home.
- Blog. The blog has the distinct advantage of allowing brands to be more credible. It’s because they need not limit their number of words or characters. A blog post shared on social media can also redirect social media users to the website where they can learn more about the brand, place an order, or see more of the menu.
These are trying, uncertain times for Chicago restaurants, but these are also an excellent opportunity to be more creative, be innovative, and harness the power of social media to thrive.
