I know, I know… Facebook might sound a bit dated or uncool to some of us these days. Many assume people only use it to see who’s got married, who’s had kids and who’s been marked safe in the most recent disastrous event (no sarcasm on this one, we’re very grateful for this feature!) But in actual fact, it is one of the most powerful online tools for marketing your food and/or drink brand. That’s if you know how to make the most of it.

1. Have a goal in mind. You’re much more likely to achieve something if you know what you want to achieve! If you want to increase footfall to your restaurant through Facebook, for example, then rewarding your customers with a small discount code for interacting with your page will be greatly appreciated and will also allow you to track this sale back to Facebook. Posting daily updates of what’s going on in store and any specials you might have is also a great way to increase footfall.

2. Identify your customers. Facebook Insights are an important tool in social media marketing. They allow you to identify the demographic of those who interact with your page which gives you the opportunity to tailor your content to please them.

3. Make your profile recognisable. You don’t want to overbrand, but you also want people to know that they’ve come to your page. You can brand subtly by sticking to certain colours or hashtags. It goes without saying that your profile photo should be something which clearly reflects your brand.

4. Make sure your ‘about section’ is optimised and kept up to date. This is going to be one of the first points of contact with your visitors. State clearly who you are, what you do and add a personal touch. It doesn’t need to be too formal!

5. Don’t think of Facebook as a ‘hard sell’ opportunity. Whether you’re a restaurant, food brand or drink brand, people are not going to your Facebook to buy. Treat it as a community and give people the opportunity to get to know your brand and its values. A great way to do this is through posting BTS (behind the scenes) content.

6. Use a wide range of content formats. Photos, videos, GIF’s… And use them to your advantage. If you’re a coffee shop, try posting a time lapse of a coffee being made or if you’re a food brand, maybe a photo of someone enjoying your product.

 

7. Post regularly! This one is so important. You don’t want to let your page go quiet, having content scheduled to go out evenly and regularly is ideal. It doesn’t always have to be content you’ve created. If for whatever reason you hit a dry spell with content creation, then go ahead and share people’s posts! This will help you grow a community and nurture online relationships too! User Generated Content (UGC) shared is a great way to engage your following.

8. Strive to earn the ‘very responsive to messages’ badge. Having this will show you’re a dedicated business and that you care about being able to assist your customers as fast as possible. To earn this badge, you must have a 90% response rate and a response time of 15 minutes over the last week.

9. Keep it personal. One area in which a lot of brands fail on Facebook is by making it very corporate. This is your opportunity to have a personal relationship with your consumers. Interact with them and make them feel special!

10. Have a budget for Facebook Ads. However much you can afford to have, it will still help you get that extra reach! Facebook Ads is a great tool whatever budget you have, you can limit and control your spending easily. Run some split tests to determine which ad sets work best to maximise the effectiveness of your budget!

*Shameless plug alert*

If running a Facebook page seems too difficult and you feel like you need support, that’s what we’re here for – get in touch at www.jellybeancreative.co.uk/foodservice-agency-contact-us/