So, your restaurant has always been pretty busy – with customers coming and going. This might have been the case pre-COVID. As we face more lockdowns, your restaurant might have you struggled to transform those sales into online orders. Your doors may be shut to dine-in customers, but you offer your food on popular takeaway delivery companies such as JustEat, UberEats and Deliveroo, and you likely push these on your Facebook and Instagram accounts. However, for many restaurants, their followers may not convert to delivery sales. Today we will discuss 5 reasons why and how to fix it using simple changes to your social media strategy!
1. You’re Using the Wrong Imagery
As we’ve mentioned before, the imagery that you display becomes the focal point throughout your social media. You must ensure that the message you are sending to your prospective clientele is the right one. It may be easy and convenient to post photos you have already taken, as you would traditionally have served them in your restaurant, but now is your chance to reinvent your public image. A simple technique here is to showcase your products in takeaway boxes, including your delivery partners logo/logos on the post.
You should make it clear that you are offering takeaway by using the relevant imagery – customers can gain a wonderful perspective of what they will be receiving if done so correctly. A perfect example can be taken from Dessert restaurants such as Creams Café. Customers may be hesitant to order ice cream with their crepes as a takeaway; fearing that it may melt. Snap a few photos of how your ice cream is packaged to reassure your consumers that their favourite scoop will be delivered to the same standard they know and love! Check your tagged photos as well for any content that may highlight your product. Maybe the perfect photos are already out there as ready-to-use UGC. Have a look and use the positive testimonies of others to ensure you stand out from the crowd.
2. You’re Posting at The Wrong Time
This is where your Instagram Business Tools will come in handy! Utilise them to identify when your followers are most active and try posting in correlation to the data you are presented. Rather than just posting when it is most convenient for you, it is important to consider the impact it may have on your consumers - doing so can increase the likelihood of them seeing your posts. Also, think about posting before the lunchtime or dinner rush. Think about that time you left work hungry and saw an advert for your favourite pizza. It really works, so give it a try! Otherwise, you may be posting great content that isn’t being seen or isn’t being seen at the right time (so it doesn’t convert).
As a general rule of thumb, it is ideal to post between 12-1pm if you are looking for lunchtime orders and between 5-6pm for dinner. Although most people have begun working from home, this does not mean they don’t adhere to a regular work schedule. If you see your followers tend to be more active around lunchtime, post at that hour to entice them with what you have to offer for a lunchtime treat (and be sure to make this a delivery-focused post!)
3. It’s Not Easy for Your Customers to Place an Order
Have a good look at your social media; is it easy for your consumer to jump straight from your page to a delivery partner, or do they have to make multiple clicks and swipes before finally reaching a page to place their order? Once again take advantage of the tools offered to you, by adding a clear passage to order food, your Call to Action will see better results. One tip we recommend is to ensure that the ‘Order Food’ buttons are being utilised on Facebook and Instagram. In your Instagram bio, make sure you have a URL of your delivery partner for ease of ordering.
These Ordering Links can be added to your stories – just simply choose a picture to post, click on the sticker button (top right next to sound) and scroll down to FOOD ORDERS. You will then be prompted to add the URL of your JustEat, UberEats or Deliveroo platform (just simply copy and paste from google) and then you’re good to go. The best thing is that these tools are not only easy to install but completely free! Once completed, customers will be able to click on the order button on your bio or directly from your story and be directed to the relevant delivery platform in just one click.
4. You’re Not Active Enough
Nowadays, almost every single company out there has a social media platform. There’s so much competition that if you’re not active, people will forget about you! Try to become consistent with the content that you are sharing, helping to ensure that you are the first company people think of when ordering. Make use of your content calendar and adjust your dates and times as needed. If you don’t have a one, feel free to utilise our template here.
Keep up direct communication with your audience, through direct messaging and replying to comments. This will ensure your brand looks more credible, approachable and friendly.
All you need to do is spend as little as 10-20 minutes every other day interacting with your community to stay active. Take the time to interact with your competition's followers. This is an amazing strategy in stealing the limelight and getting your name out to potential customers. You should also follow, like and comment on local hashtags. This will put your brand out there and draw potential customers to your page, which of course is now loaded with delivery-focused posts!
5. You’re Being Too Salesy.
Although your main objective is to make the sale, your consumers will want more than that. Humans dedicate 35% of all speech to talking about themselves, and on social media, that number jumps to 80%. They won’t want to be consistently hit with sales and promotions all the time so don’t post them too often.
Stick to the well-known 80/20 rule of social media, which maintains that 80% of your content should be entertaining/engaging and only 20% should be promotional content to add value to your product. If all consumers see is you spouting out sales and continuously talking about you and your brand, they won’t stay long term. They want to be a part of the community and a part of the relationship and not just a spectator.
Social media is all about building relationships with your audience and this cannot be achieved if you’re on a constant sales pitch! There are plenty of things that you can be doing to keep your audience engaged whilst not posting about yourself. If you are going for a playful persona, think about maybe posting some memes or simply introduce the team through a ‘meet the team’ post. Keep polls going through your stories, this can help in pushing a product while encouraging interaction from the consumer. 'Choose your favourite of the 2' is a great example of this.
To wrap it up, the solution to your problem may be simpler than what you first think. Keep active, stay interactive and show your brands personality to your consumers. Keep them in the loop with all new information on deliveries and make it easy for them to order! Simply follow the steps we have recommended above, and it is sure to help in pushing those online orders. Need some more advice? Have a look at another one of our blogs, created by our skilled team here at Double Up Social.