For months of March, April and half of May, mandatory shutdown has been implemented country-wide and Iloilo Restaurants are few places that were closed because Iloilo was placed under “enhanced community quarantine”. A number of restaurants have been creative making their online ordering system stronger and working to make their online presence wider.
While it is nice to suggest other digital marketing platforms to sell such as Adwords and SEO, I know that the impact of Facebook particularly in Iloilo is huge that you can almost reach “everyone” when you can establish a strong presence and page. I am aware that not every restaurant has their own page and some might think “I still have sales even my business is not on Facebook.”
Iloilo Restaurants After Quarantine
Now that Iloilo is under “general community quarantine”, restrictions for dine-in in restaurants are still implemented. The local government allowed takeaways and deliveries only for the meantime. If this continues for the time being, how would restaurant get a little more sales every day?
Here are some of my personal “tips” from a foodie which you might consider on trying to test if this works on your business.
Consistent updates.
A lot of owners think that if they setup a Facebook page, the works stops there. No. You have to exert effort to post and maintain it. You need to gather fans and followers so there will be people who can see your updates.
Notify customers. Consistency means that you need to update your fans that you cater orders during this time. It does not have to be complicated. You can simply post something like “We are open today to serve you”. It is already a good signal to potential customers that you are open for business.
Post complete details. You can include your business hours, contact numbers, menu and pricing. I hate restaurants that keep their pricing a secret. This is where “hm”, “pm sent” and other slang comes in.
Maintain integrity and transparency. You can also include your delivery options. Do not hide charges please.
Promote but do not over promote. Consistent but not annoying. Do not be that kind of owner who posts like every five minutes. I snooze that kind, sorry.
Build relationship.
Be engaging. When you post and somebody commented, please take some time to read and reply about it. It is something positive? Say thank you. Is it a question that you can reply in public comfortably? Answer it. It is a bad review? Address it. Simple conversations like this makes our customer hearts flutter.
Share your customer’s posts. Updates are not just limited to what you are selling. You can also craft post that is from your customer. If they sent you a good message, screenshot it and tell the world. If they tagged you in a post, repost it. It is also one way of telling your other fans that people loves your food.
Do not be a snob. When engaging in messages; I make it sure that you are the “last” one to send a reply. There might be times that you already posted the details but some would still slide on your message to ask. Be an extra patient and reply to them. Auto replies are nice but human replies are the best.
Good Photos.
Use your own photos. Relax, you do not need to be a professional photographer nor do you need a high-end device. Get your phone, a little focus and you can post it. As long as it is not pixelated and blurry, customers good with it. Customers really appreciate personal photos of a restaurant meal and not the one downloaded from Google or elsewhere.
Get permission from fan photos. Did your customer take a really good one? Ask permission if you can reupload it on your page. It is a really good etiquette to ask first and get the permission than adding “ctto”.
Use tools. I personally use Foodie app to enhance my food photos. In addition, I use Canva app to create cool graphics. No need to pay extra; just drag and drop. These are for free.
Example of Canva output here and here. Photos on this blog are enhanced using foodie app.
Run Contests.
Rewarding customers. Giveaways are something customers really look forward too. Prices do not have to be too big in amount. You may give out one pizza or one platter of bihon. Depending on what you can offer. It is really something exciting.
Keep rules easy but useful to you. I love giveaways but I hate too much rules in order to qualify. Please do not require customers to write a 500-word essay why they love your restaurant and reward them a glass of milktea. I am not sure if someone would be enticed to join. Few simple examples are:
- share this post and tag 3 friends
- post your favorite meal and win the meal you posted
- in one sentence, why do you love this restaurant
Bonus idea: Since Father’s Day is approaching you can create a giveaway like comment a photo of you and your dad, tell us why you love him and get a chance to win our special Father’s Day lunch for you and your dad.
Don’t be a scam. There are a lot of social media contests I joined into but I feel like they did not choose a winner. They just get their like and shares. If you are able to choose the winner, please take some time to post a picture of result to let everyone know you really give prices. For choosing the winner, you may choose manually or you can use free raffle picker tools.
Join groups.
Iloilo Restaurants is blessed to have a lot of food related groups that is food in niche. Members are targeted based on food interest already. But do not be too sad if they delete your post. You have to follow the house rules and adhere to their guidelines. Here are some of the Facebook Food Groups you can join:
Take note that these groups are your amplifier, do not bombard them with selling posts. Or get banned.
Consider Facebook Ads
It sounds complicated but not. If you have spare money for marketing, Facebook advertisement is a good playground. Minimum spend is 50php per day. You can test everything you want until you get the right recipe for your target market.
Lastly, I don’t believe that if you have 10,000 fans, you would convert more than those with 1,000 fans. You just need to connect with the right audience. For example you sell sushi, and those 1,000 fans you have all loves sushi. Great right? There is a higher conversion rate that they will buy sushi than having 10,000 fans who loves spaghetti. Always go for quality, not quantity.
These are only suggestions and no assurance that will work for your Iloilo Restaurants campaign. I personally believe that each business needs a tailor fit approach because every business is unique.
If you needed help for your Iloilo Restaurants to start, feel free to send me a message. I am willing to help.
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Glad you appreciate it! It would be a series.
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Thank you Cindy! I am happy you found this article interesting.
Great post! Thank you!
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