4 Strategies To Promote Your Restaurant Business on TikTok

TikTok is one of the social media platforms with the fastest growth rates worldwide. This makes it the ideal marketing tool, particularly for trendy restaurants, cafes, and bars looking to draw in Gen Z and Millennial customers. The food and beverage industry is in a great position to dominate the TikTok app or you may simply use it as a trusted tool to expand your customer base.

 

Are you looking for innovative restaurant marketing techniques? It’s never been easier to reach a whole new audience and convert them into loyal consumers than it is with TikTok. Let’s look at how to use TikTok to carry out your restaurant marketing, regardless of where you are, how many people are working in your team or what kind of food you serve.

 

1.Demonstrate Your Restaurant’s Behind-The-Scenes Operations

 

TikTok is a great platform for restaurants to reveal the behind-the-scenes work that goes into meal preparation. TikTok’s brief videos open up a plethora of additional creative opportunities. One simple suggestion is to give customers tours of your establishment. Introduce a staff member, showcase your kitchen meal preparations, or display the planning that goes on behind the scenes for a big event or celebration.

 

Adding a human touch to your business through a video can increase customer engagement and possibly bring in new customers who were unaware of your business before. You can go big to show your extravagant culinary skills. Or, you could go for an ASMR vibe and keep the audience captivated. This strategy is a visual marketing strategy, not just a branding technique for a peek backstage of food production. Even better, it can be flexible so that restaurants can highlight customer favourites or create excitement for brand-new dishes.

 

(A) Highlight The Behind The Scenes of Food Preparation

 

Everyone enjoys gorgeous food photos, so they are frequently the posts that are featured on a restaurant’s TikTok account. But why not take it a step further and try food videos that demonstrate the food preparation process? If you’re stuck for any content ideas, how about some behind-the-scenes footage of your star chef preparing delicious dishes or putting the finishing touches on a visually stunning main course?

 

Posting updates on social media with photos or videos of your restaurant’s food preparation is a great way to swiftly attract new customers. The best part is that you only need to film your kitchen crew members doing the meal preparations that your customers are interested in seeing.

 

Madam Croffle is known to serve one of the best Korean shaved ice (Bingsu) and croffle in Malaysia.The video included an interview with its founder and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of one of their best-selling croffles by a crew member. Here’s a behind the scenes of a TikTok video that  Madam Croffle uses to make it so hard to resist their Korean desserts. The video has received over 1 million views.

 

 

(B) Give A Glimpse of Your Staff’s Daily Work Routines

 

Share a social media post that highlights your helpful team and give them some of the limelight they deserve. Feature a friendly member of the staff by sharing a photo of them smiling and a few interesting facts about them. By taking the time to recognise your employees, you can convey to customers your dedication to your team’s efforts.

 

In addition, it provides customers with the opportunity to learn more about the people behind their meal preparations. You may also upload a video depicting your kitchen staff at work. Developing a connection with your target audience can be accomplished via your business sharing of its brand stories and by providing a personalised unique feed to them. Keep in mind that most social media users are looking for entertainment, so make sure your videos are engaging to keep them coming back for more!

 

One of the most renowned cafes in KL, Brew N Bread shared a TikTok video called “A Day in the Life of a Barista.” A barista is seen in the video working passionately behind the scenes to prepare ingredients and brew specialty coffee for customers.

 

 

2.Share Your Best Recipes 

 

People are naturally curious and eager to expand their knowledge. They are passionate about food. Furthermore, you are more knowledgeable than they are about food. So consider how you can impart some knowledge to your customers. Recipes and tutorials are the best options when it comes to quick, repeatable TikTok ideas for restaurants. Display a tableside preparation or another activity that customers can experience for themselves.

 

(A) Showcase Your Unique Culinary Skills

 

To keep your customers engaged, you might share your best culinary techniques and advice. You can demonstrate to your customers how you make their all-time favourite dishes or how to prepare Caesar salad like a professional chef. In no time at all, you will have them eager to make reservations at your restaurant for dinner.

 

My Burger Lab has posted a video of their favourite salted egg yolk sauce, showing how it can be used as a fantastic dip for a wide range of foods and snacks.

 

 

(B) Illustrates Close-Up Video

 

An excellent approach to do restaurant marketing on TikTok is to take a close-up video of the food served. Although 45 degrees is the most common angle for photographing food and dishes, you can still play around with your camera to develop your own “unique touch”. Close-ups of food should be dynamic; the camera should be moved up and down, zoomed in or out, rotating it on a turntable or any other action that will pique the audience’s interest and reveal the dish’s visual appearance.

 

The Venetian slow-cooked lamb spaghetti from the Fox Paradox‘s best-selling menu was beautifully presented by the Fox Paradox team, highlighting all of its finer features and textures. The background of the video is minimalist and neutral, allowing the dish to stand out.

 

 

(C) Captivate Audience With Cinematic Style of Restaurant Marketing Video

 

Most of the time when a trend is “going viral,” it’s usually in the form of a TikTok video. Since people nowadays have a much shorter attention span, they prefer to watch TikTok videos. When it comes to communication, a well-produced restaurant marketing video is significantly more effective than a blog, and it also has a greater probability to spread like wildfire online.

 

Due to the rise of social media and the demand for shorter forms of video content, more businesses are opting for low-budget productions. Space for various camera setups is often lacking in these scenarios.This is where a jump cut will greatly benefit your restaurant marketing video.

 

Cutting a scene together doesn’t have to involve shooting from multiple locations if you use jump cuts. A jump cut is a transition between two consecutive images in a TikTok video where the camera lens angle remains the same or just slightly modified. You may find numerous examples of this editing style on the TikTok platform. Jump cuts have become more popular due to their usefulness, but they may also be used creatively to give your TikTok video a unique style.

 

Jump cuts are used in this Icon Brewings‘s TikTok video to give the impression that different dishes magically appear one after the other. In addition to using fast-motion, this TikTok video makes use of jump cuts in order to reduce the overall video duration. This clearly highlights the effectiveness of video in restaurant marketing.

 

 

Video allows you to engage with audience even when you are working in your restaurant kitchen. With special effects, you may create enticing cooking videos to draw viewers in and get them enthused about your cuisine.

 

3.Launch Limited-Time Offers or New Menu on TikTok

 

If you want to draw attention to your new menu items, TikTok is the place to do it. Despite its obvious importance, many restaurants do not put much effort into announcing their new menu in a creative way. Scribbling on an A-frame board? Boring. A visually appealing video with exciting music, delectable visuals, and some personality? All right, now we’re getting somewhere! If you have any deals or new items on the menu, TikTok is a great place to get the word out.

 

(A) Create A Fun Video Detailing The New Menu Items

 

In addition to enticing customers who haven’t yet decided where they’ll eat for dinner, interactive menus can also serve as a way to showcase the quality of the food being served. Another extra selling point? Learning to confidently use TikTok for restaurant marketing can also inspire you to create mouthwatering and visually appealing dishes. This is an excellent way to let the food do the talking. Promoting your restaurant on TikTok by uploading videos of your most recent culinary creations is an excellent strategy. New menu items and daily specials will generate more interest from customers if they are presented in an appetising manner.

 

Bask Bear Coffee is capitalising on this trend by promoting their new Beary good pasta that comes in various flavours. Talk about being one-of-a-kind!

 

 

The popularity of TikTok Sounds is constantly changing over time. So, always keep an ear out for trending music that you might use as inspiration for your next TikTok video. If you want your videos to be discovered on TikTok’s discover page and to gain higher views, you need to make them relevant to the music trend.

 

To find out what’s trending, simply use the Discover icon in the bottom menu of the TikTok app. Since TikTok is focused on the latest trends, it’s a good approach to use popular music or sound effects in your TikTok video. This is the reason TikTok videos that feature popular music tend to obtain a higher number of views.

 

Bean Jr. has implemented the trending music strategy into their TikTok videos.  “Bizcochito,” which is popular among Tiktokers, was featured in one of their TikTok videos.

 

 

4.Illustrate the Entire Dining Experience

 

The visual nature of TikTok makes it a great platform for showing off your culinary creations and ambiance to your audience. This will help viewers get a better sense of the atmosphere at your restaurant in a way that is impossible to accomplish with just a photograph. A fantastic way to draw customers and give them a more concrete idea of what the dining experience at your restaurant is all about is to show off the interior of your restaurant.

 

(A) Make Your Customers Feel Special

 

Highlight the little things that add up to the overall atmosphere. Customers are more likely to pay a visit if they are shown your restaurant’s beautifully curated interiors, unique objects, and good musical preferences. The key to a successful location video is to incorporate movements from the surroundings. As an illustration, you could begin opening the door and walking into your restaurant. The following segments might highlight particular places, like the bar or the patio, while also featuring customers being served.

 

Helipad KL is the best spot to go if you want guaranteed and unobstructed panoramic view and a spacious, outdoor patio. Helipad KL is, as its name implies, a helicopter pad that  transforms into a large rooftop bar with breathtaking 360-degree views of Kuala Lumpur at night. The team filmed a TikTok video showcasing the amazing dining experience with the breathtaking sunset view.

 

 

(B) Incorporate Influencer Marketing

 

Restaurant marketing strategies are always evolving to better target customers as new trends emerge. In our new digital era, influencers have become the primary force behind the local branding and marketing campaigns.

 

Influencer marketing is a concept that has just recently gained popularity in the restaurant marketing industry. In contrast to celebrities, who typically have millions of followers on social media, influencers have a much larger impact since they are able to engage with their followers on a more personal basis. Therefore, influencers are valuable resources for restaurants looking to engage with their target audience. Additionally, it is an effective and successful strategy for acquiring the trust of customers.

 

KFC, an all-time favourite of Malaysians, has teamed up with Yuki Dance to advertise their new menu with unique dance choreography. The TikTok video of Yuki dancing while promoting the KFC Golden Egg Crunch has received over 14.7 thousand views.

 

 

(C) Invite Influencers To Your Restaurant Event

 

A way to boost brand awareness is to organise an event at your restaurant. A wonderful strategy to spark interest and generate buzz among your target audiences is by inviting influencers. Having influencers attend your restaurant event will ensure that it is remembered by all of your followers.

 

For instance, Mia Sara Nasuha received an invitation to perform at Light Capture Cafe. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans to enjoy a delicious meal at a great cafe while also attending a live performance by their favourite singer.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

Marketing a restaurant will always be an ongoing process. The best strategies are those that are developed through trial and error, with the results used to perfect the overall approach. Your future restaurant marketing efforts can benefit from a thorough analysis of your restaurant marketing strategies. Don’t be afraid to try out new restaurant marketing strategies that you initially thought wouldn’t work; you might be surprised at how well they bring in customers.

 

Are you ready to increase your restaurant’s brand awareness and boost the number of views on your TikTok channel? Leave it to us, and we’ll take care of the rest.