Imagine guests lining up at your door to buy the *insert menu item here* which they saw on Instagram just a few hours, ago. Sounds awesome right? That is exactly what happened when one NYC restaurant followed this formula to bring in more guests and sell items.
1. Serve food people actually want to photograph.
Seriously. If the plate looks like something your dog squeezed out of its butt minutes ago, no one’s going to want to eat it. Presentation is everything.
2. Decide who to engage.
The whole idea is to find people who are influential enough to spread the word about your establishment. If someone has fewer than 10,000 followers. Don’t bother.
3. Be on the same page.
If your establishment is all about comfort food, don’t reach out to someone who is solely photographing vegan treats and fruit platters. Likewise, if you’re touting super healthy meals and salads, don’t reach out to someone who’s Instagram feed resembles Michael Phelps’ post workout meal.
4. Reach out to your list.
By this point, you should have identified the influencers you want to engage. If you have a new menu item or something you really want to sell, reach out via direct message and invite your influencers to a tasting. You provide the food (for free of course) and they take the picture and post it for all of their followers to see.
5. If you're having trouble incentivizing, throw in a free beer.
When the first drink is free, most people will stay for another. Think promotional Happy Hour!
