By Torrey Tayenaka, Contributor
Video marketing for restaurants is an essential type of marketing campaign to inspire patrons to visit or order. This is how you show them the colors and textures of your food. Let them see the heat spilling off your freshly cooked dishes and the bubbles in your drinks, so they can practically taste it for themselves.
You’re sharing an edible experience. And the video captures it best. You want to spark a craving. One that they think about for hours and eventually hop in the car or place an online order.
When it comes to video marketing for your restaurant on social media, there are a myriad of tips, tricks, topics, and trends that you can implement as soon as today in order to leverage your audience and turn it into a sea of loyal, cash-paying patrons.
Video Marketing Data
In 2022, over 24 billion dollars was spent by restaurant owners to advertise their businesses. This exceeded the expectation for the year by over four billion dollars. In 2023, the projected spending for social platform advertising for restaurants is over twenty-eight billion dollars.
There wouldn’t be such vast amounts of money funneled into social media advertising if it was a bust for restaurant owners. With over two hundred and forty-four million video viewers in the U.S. alone, part of the equation is knowing where your customers spend their time. Is it Instagram? YouTube? Pinterest? TikTok?
Wherever your ideal market can be found is where you should be advertising your restaurant. And you can increase your odds of conversion by leveraging skilled commercial video production services to ensure top-quality.
Social Media Video Statistics
This year’s numbers for social media videos are already looking up. So far, for 2023, it has been reported that consumers watch an average of seventeen hours of video content online each week. This is slightly under the nineteen hours reported in 2022, but as we’re only a few months into the year, that number is bound to grow exponentially throughout the year.
In a recent 2022 global survey, 68% of marketers reported that they planned to increase their advertising budgets for video marketing on Instagram, and 67% reported that they planned to increase their video advertising on YouTube.
These are insights from industry professionals that indicate video marketing on social media continues to grow. With that growth comes opportunity. If you’re like most restaurants, you’re a locally-based business that relies on local foot traffic to keep the lights on.
If the above statistics are any indication, the numbers are in, and social media is where your ideal audience is spending their time watching videos. That’s where you should be advertising and staying at the top of their minds.
Choosing Your Video Marketing Platform
So which platforms do you choose? TikTok? Instagram? YouTube? Facebook? Pinterest? There are a few ways to find out where your people are and how best to reach them.
Survey your existing audience and ask about their preferred platform
Review your follower count on all platforms and leverage the highest
Check your competitor’s audiences across platforms
Check follower accounts to see what other platforms they frequent
Stick with what you know and temporarily put ad spend behind organic content
Video Marketing Ideas for Restaurants
Videos give your target audience a feel for your food and your ambiance. You want to create video marketing content that has their senses buzzing and their mouth watering for a taste. Here are a few video marketing ideas you can try in your restaurant today.
Showcase Your Dishes with Time Lapse
You and your team have worked hard to create the edible delicacies that you serve. Put them center stage and show off a full three to five-course meal, carrying them one at a time to the table.
Use time lapse footage to show off one dish from preparation, cooking, plating, and serving. Create a video slideshow of all your seasonal dishes and special offers.
Share User-Generated Content (UGC)
Leave encouragement on the tables and menus for patrons to film, share, and tag you in their photos of your food. Share that content (called, “user-generated content”) with your audience and leverage their reach as well as yours.
You can also recruit food bloggers and food influencers to visit your restaurant and capture their perspectives on what you serve. Share the content they make on your behalf with your audience.
Highlight Your Brand New Dishes
With creative and talented chefs in the kitchen, new dishes and desserts aren’t too difficult to come by. Get inspired by the seasons and the native food in your local area to create new and exciting dishes that will spark cravings in your audience and get them closer to walking through the door.
Share Behind the Scenes Footage
Give your patrons a glimpse behind the counter in your restaurant. Show off your equipment, how clean your space is, and how you make their favorite dishes.
Take footage of food preparation and knife skills. Show off a well-organized and pretty fridge or pantry. Let them watch as your beef or veg gets its sizzle.
Show abbreviated versions of your step-by-step preparation and cooking for your most popular dishes. You don’t have to share proprietary information or your grandmother’s secret recipe, but give your patrons a sneak peek at the food they love.
Don’t forget the front of the house! Show off table settings, bar inventory, cocktail mixing, and even “a day in the life of” your servers, bussers, hosts, cooks, and chefs.
Film Live Footage in the Restaurant
When the house is full, and the food is on, it’s time to go live! Show off your lively or romantic vibe when it’s at its best and full of life. Show your guests react to the highs and lows of the big game.
If you have outdoor seating or live music, live video is a great way to display the best of what you have to offer. The goal here is to show off what you offer and the ambiance.
Highlight Events
The best way to book more events in your space is to show off other successful events taking place. Check with the hosts of each event to get their permission but use the opportunity to film and photograph as many people, elements, decorations, and activities as you can. Showcase your space as a diverse and desirable venue.
Recipes
Consumers love to see “how the sauce is made.” Of course, you’re not going to give away the farm here, but you can show parts of your process or how you make your best sellers.
If rolls are what you’re known for, don’t give measurements or tricks but show how your top-requested rolls are created in your kitchen. Always feel free to leave out your secret recipe and just show the process.
How You Get Your Ingredients
For farm-to-table restaurants or those who focus on sustainable food sourcing, this is an especially powerful approach to your video marketing strategy. Whether you buy from local butchers, the farmer’s market, or grow your own ingredients, tell the story of where and how you collect supplies for your restaurant.
Introduce Your Staff
While not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera, most employees are happy to be the face of your location and help patrons make a personal connection. Share lighthearted information such as work experience, qualifications, and hobbies that will allow viewers a glimpse into your world.
About the Author
Torrey Tayenaka is the co-founder and CEO at Sparkhouse, an Orange County based commercial video production company. He is often asked to contribute expertise in publications like Entrepreneur, Single Grain and Forbes. Sparkhouse is known for transforming video marketing and advertising into real conversations. Rather than hitting the consumer over the head with blatant ads, Sparkhouse creates interesting, entertaining and useful videos that enrich the lives of his clients’ customers. In addition to Sparkhouse, Torrey has also founded the companies Eva Smart Shower, Litehouse & Forge54.
If you are looking for an excellent tool to increase your restaurant’s reservations, email marketing is an effective advertising tool you should consider. According to research, over 75% percent of consumers prefer to communicate with brands through email.