Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten or so years, you know that restaurant social media is one of the keys to making it big in the food service industry. If you’re on social media already, you probably already know about hashtags. They’re little, searchable “tags” that help people discover your posts and lead them to check out your page. It sounds simple enough, but using restaurant hashtags properly isn’t as easy as you may think. Luckily, we’re here with some tips and tricks that will make it easy for you to rake in the likes, followers, and sales.
Restaurant Hashtags: The Basics
If you’ve never used a hashtag before, it’s pretty simple to get the basics down. Let’s say that you’re posting a new photo to your restaurant’s Instagram page. First, you snap a photo. Maybe it’s an image of a delicious sandwich you just added to the menu. Write your caption, then, at the end of it, add your hashtags. For example, you might add the hashtag “#sandwich”. That’s really all there is to it. People who search for the hashtag will now be able to see your photo among the results.
Some things to remember about hashtags: You can’t use spaces in them. If the hashtag you want to use has more than one word, omit the spaces in order for the tag to be functional. Also, you can’t include punctuation, including apostrophes. Additionally, your account needs to be public in order for hashtags to work. Of course, you should already have a public social account if you’re using it to promote your business.
But just using hashtags isn’t always enough to get the results you’re hoping for. Here are some strategies that will help you become an expert at social media marketing using hashtags.
Crafting Searchable Hashtags
The best hashtags are short. They include only one or a few words. That makes them easy to search, and therefore makes your posts easier to discover. Also, make sure that you keep your hashtags relevant to your posts. Throwing in random hashtags won’t help you gain meaningful interactions because your posts won’t reach people who are actually interested in them.
Another way to make your hashtags count is to take a look at trending hashtags. There just might be one that’s relevant to the post you’re putting up that day. This is a great way to reach lots of people easily.
Other Uses for Hashtags
Hashtags have a ton of creative uses. You can create customized, personal hashtags for your business to help you gain publicity. For example, you can ask customers to tag all their entries to a social media contest to a specific custom hashtag you create for the event. Alternatively, you can create a hashtag with your business’s name or slogan for customers to use on their photos taken in your restaurant.
Using restaurant hashtags is a great way for your business to gain a following and reach more people on social media. Best of luck!
