Using social media is a no-brainer for restaurants these days. There are few more effective strategies to appeal to new customers and connect with loyal ones. You can promote your restaurant events, let folks know about new menu items, and advertise deals and promotions that you have available. Using social media effectively can take some work, though. It’s not enough to just post photos and captions. It’s hard to grow an audience without restaurant social media tips to make your page discoverable. Hashtag contests can help!
What are Hashtags?
Hashtags are searchable phrases that can help social media users find your business’s profile. Here’s an example of how hashtags work. For instance, let’s say that you just posed a graphic advertising a bar trivia program that you’re hosting at your restaurant next week. In order to promote this, you’ll want your customers in your local area to know that this event is happening near them. It isn’t enough to just appeal to the wide audience of social media users, you need to target your restaurant’s specific audience. That’s where hashtags come in. If your restaurant is located in Pittsburgh, you might use the hashtag “#pittsburghevents”, or maybe “eventsinpittsburgh”.
Restaurant Social Media Tips: What is a Hashtag Contest?
Hashtag contests are a great social media marketing technique that takes advantage of the searchable qualities that hashtags have in order to bring your page even more traffic. Similar to other social media contests that we’ve covered here on the Deliver Me Trivia blog, hashtag contests are a great way to gather near-organic followers.
Here’s how they work: first, create a specific hashtag for your contest. You’ll want a new one for each contest that you run in the future, too, in order to keep entries organized. If your restaurant is called Patty’s Potatoes, for instance, you might use the hashtag #PattysPotatoesOctober2021 for your giveaway hashtag. Then, check to make sure that there aren’t random posts being tagged to the hashtag already. A specific one is your best bet.
Next, set a time window for your hashtag contest. A few weeks to a month is usually a good window in order to make sure that customers have a chance to get their entries in. Post reminders periodically during the time that your giveaway is running, too!
More Tips for Hashtag Contests
Some other general restaurant social media tips and guidelines that we’ve found to be good for hosting hashtag contests:
- Give folks a clear direction on what to post. For example, have them post a photo of them enjoying the season (fall, winter, summer, spring–whatever is appropriate based on the timing of your contest). Or ask for photos of pets, or photos of a meal they’ve cooked recently. Use your creativity, but steer clear of posting
- Ask your customers to follow your page as part of having a qualified entry! This one is super important for having a contest that’s effective in getting you followers.
- Also, make sure that your customers are aware of limits that you want to place on the number of entries.
Now all that’s left to do is to choose a great prize, like a gift card, gift basket, or restaurant merch bundle! Your customers are sure to love participating in your contest. Happy hashtagging!
