By Anna Timbrook, Contributor
Instagram has long been one of the leading platforms for restaurant's building out their digital marketing strategy. It almost functions as a pyramid --when you intrigue one person who is active on the social network, they can do the same with their followers, and so on. But, what does it take to become an Instagrammable restaurant?
For starters, you need something that makes you stand out from everything else. For example, Istanbul has Salt Bae’s restaurant, Nusr-Et, where staff sprinkles salt on guests’ steak, Dubai has a waterfront steakhouse with extraordinary views, and London’s most Instagrammable restaurant is famous for being entirely pink. Here’s what you can learn from them.
It’s Important to Be Unique
Barrio Bars uses fun lighting, neon colors, and plants to make it’s décor unique, memorable, and Instagrammable!
The quickest way to grab the attention of Instagrammers is to intrigue them with something they haven’t seen before. This doesn’t mean you need to change the entire theme of your restaurant; it’s enough to focus on just one aspect to impress your customers.
For example, it can be a wall covered with an interesting wallpaper or sports memorabilia, unique table decorations, an interesting lighting scheme, or just a bunch of plants. The key here is to ask yourself what makes your physical location unique and special? If there is already something unique, you should focus all your marketing on that aspect; otherwise, it’s time to hire an interior designer!
At the same time, it’s key not to blow things out of proportion with your marketing. Falsely advertising something will quickly earn you negative reviews, which can only be bad for business.
Create Your Restaurant’s Own Hashtag
Hyde Hacienda Sydney created their own unique hashtag that brings up posts from guests, media, and influencers that have also posted on IG.
Every Instagram-famous restaurant has its own hashtag, and yours should too! This makes it easier for your guests to promote you on their social media and easier for you to find and share for user-generated content., And if you’re Instagrammable enough, there should be hundreds and thousands of posts with your hashtag in no time.
The hashtag also makes it easier for potential guests to explore your restaurant. Your existing customers will likely post photos of most of your dishes, which saves you the time and effort of photographing everything by yourself. Instagram is kind of like word-of-mouth marketing and by promoting your hashtag, you’re just gathering all the different word-of-mouth recommendations in one place.
Good Lighting is Paramount
The Hockley Arts Club uses unique and contrasting lighting in fun colors to make the décor pop and set a memorable environment.
Instagrammers enjoy taking photos of their food and surroundings, so it’s important to have good lighting at your restaurant. Then again, you don’t want the place to be too bright, otherwise, it could feel a bit clinical. Finding the perfect balance between ambient and good photo lighting can be challenging, but it’s very much worth the effort if you’re trying to make your restaurant as Instagrammable as possible.
Remember, being Instagrammable means that everything looks great in photographs, and that can only be achieved if the lighting allows. There’s no point in wasting money on brand new furniture and decor, only for the lights to be so dim that customers can’t properly see what’s on their plates.
Bright Colors and Modern Furniture Grab Attention
Present Company HTX uses bright neon colors contrasted against black walls and floors to make for eye-catching décor that’s definitely Instagrammable.
Just think about it, when you’re going through endless Instagram stories, what’s more likely to grab your attention -- a dull beige wall, or a neon pink wallpaper? With Instagram marketing, you only have a couple of seconds to make that first impression, and you must stand out amongst the sea of other bars and restaurants that are trying to achieve the same thing.
Painting the interior of your restaurant with neon colors is one way to achieve that, but it’s certainly not the only way. Great interior design is also likely to grab the attention of someone who is just scrolling through their feed, especially if the pristine interior is accented with a few stand-out elements.
Photograph Menu Items
Oretta Toronto uses a mix of food porn images and video to delight guests into planning their next outing at their restaurant.
If you’re just starting with making your restaurant more Instagram-friendly, you should make the effort to photograph as many menu items as possible. A mouth-watering dish is just as likely to attract customers as a wall entirely covered with flowers is, so make sure that your food looks and tastes great.
Partnering with a local photographer is one thing you could do if you have the budget for it. If that’s not something your restaurant can afford, you can always just snap photos with your smartphone. Make sure that the lighting is great, and try to include other elements of your restaurant in the food photos as well. Place the dish on the best table in the locale, and make sure that the background is just as intriguing as the foreground.
Stand Out with Great Service
Some of the most Instagrammable restaurants in the world are known for offering average and overpriced service. Most people are aware that things are rarely as they seem on Instagram, and you should do everything in your power to surprise them with quality dishes and great prices, in addition to the fabulous interior design.
Otherwise, you risk your restaurant being one of those places that are just blown out of proportion on Instagram. One negative review is enough to discourage a few potential customers, so you mustn’t sacrifice food and service quality for pretty colors and a beautiful interior.
About the Author
Anna was born to travel the world having studied languages all her life. Although she has traveled the world, she now calls Switzerland home and spends her time writing about her experiences on Expert World Travel. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.