How to Use TikTok to Promote Your Restaurant: 10 Powerful Tips

Quick Summary: There were times when social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were the few channels for restaurant sectors to promote foods and attract dinners. Now, TikTok has 3.5 billion active users helping restaurants to expand their businesses and reach wider audiences. If you are exploring how to use TikTok for restaurants, this article is for you.

Are you a restaurant owner working to increase sales? Even though there are plenty of factors to increase restaurant sales, TikTok is one of the best ways to do so. All it matters is you know the best practices of restaurant TikTok marketing and how to use it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 1923 or 2023; people will always love food.

There are over 15,000000 restaurants all around the world. So, you can imagine the degree of competition. Not only that, but restaurants also have to compete with takeaways and food trucks.

So, you can imagine the degree of competition. Not only that, but restaurants also have to compete with takeaways and food trucks.

In this day and age, a business’s presence on social media platforms is necessary, not optional. TikTok is one such app that businesses can use to boost walk-ins and bookings. A recent survey reveals that 38% of TikTok users (from all generations), or approximately 51.8 billion diners, ordered food or decided to pay a visit after watching the restaurant’s TikTok videos.

So, there is no doubt that TikTok marketing is an effective tool for restaurants to drive sales, improve their reputation and get unimaginable local/global exposure. By now, you might have many questions like – How are restaurants using TikTok? How do you use TikTok as a marketing strategy?

Hold your horses! This blog will provide valuable information to leverage TikTok for your restaurant and how to use it effectively. Keep scrolling.

TikTok Crash Course

For novices, if you are exploring how to use TikTok for restaurants, let us help you understand what it actually is. It is an application that allows users to record, watch and share short videos. Users can access the app through mobile phones, tablets, or computers. Contrary to popular belief, TikTok is not just to create memes and dance videos. Other than entertainment, users can use TikTok for food business, fitness/sports/health, beauty/skincare, fashion, life hacks, etc.

Whether a novice or a professional content creator, you can use various filters, backgrounds, and effects to create engaging videos to attract your target audience. You can even collaborate with content creators in your industry for better TikTok ideas or others to further your reach

How does TikTok Influence Customers and Boost a Restaurant’s Popularity?

Even though the primary purpose of TikTok is entertainment, it has grown up to become the best medium of marketing. For restaurants, it is a backbone and works wonderfully, just like, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram marketing does for your restaurant. TikTok is installed in over 3.5 billion devices globally, of which 1.5 billion are active users. Undoubtedly, TikTok has a huge user base. Some other interesting statistics related to TikTok:

• 167 videos are watched on TikTok every minute and over 1 billion each day
• TikTok is the second most popular iPhone application
• Available in 154 countries
• Available in 35+ languages
• 17.86% engagement rate (more than any other social media application)
• Purchase price – $800 million to 1 billion
• Estimated revenue – $914.4 billion
• Installed on 90% of Android devices

Over 53% of TikTok’s millennial users in the USA have ordered food or visited a restaurant after watching a TikTok restaurant review or video promoting it on TikTok. The survey also stated that diners opted to drive longer distances to try a particular food item/menu promoted through TikTok. Many diners were okay with paying more for the establishments featured in the promotional videos or TikTok restaurant reviews as opposed to what they would typically spend on regular restaurant meals. Some key findings from the survey:

• 30% of customers traveled longer distances after watching TikTok food videos.
• 28% of customers visited/dined at restaurants that were more expensive than the ones they usually visited.

There are two main takeaways from this survey. Firstly, TikTok has changed consumer behavior. More importantly, TikTok has changed people’s spending patterns. Can other means of advertisement like radio, television, email marketing, pamphlets, or hoardings, apart from comprehensive digital marketing, have the same impact as TikTok? Yes, none can be competitive in the race with TikTok, but you can turn things up in your favor using the right digital marketing strategies. You know the answer to that question.

The survey also highlighted the reasons that encouraged the customers to visit a restaurant after watching a video.

• 74% of respondents found the food highly appetizing.
• 45% of respondents found the menu unique.
• 42% of respondents thought that the place was ideal for family/friends.
• 38% of respondents loved the serving style.
• 37% of respondents liked the ambiance.
• 30% of respondents loved the view.

After the pandemic, food business owners thought that businesses would suffer. However, the smart ones used strategies like cloud kitchens and TikTok restaurant videos to take their businesses to greater heights. The above stats prove that TikTok can change the fortunes of a business if used correctly.

Quik TikTok Setup Guide for your Restaurant

Before implementing innovative TikTok ideas for restaurants, you must get the setup right. The process is as follows:

• Download the app for your Android/Apple device.
• Sign up for a free TikTok business account.
• Pick the appropriate username.
• Set up an email for your account.
• Upload a profile picture.
• Provide a phone number to recover your lost password.

How to Use TikTok for Restaurant to Promote Your Menu, Food & Premises-The Guide

Now that you know that TikTok is one of the most happening social media platforms for your restaurant, it is time to step on the gas and accelerate how to use TikTok to promote your business. Use the 10 steps below to get the most out of your TikTok business account.

#1: Experiment with Menu Items and Daily/Weekly Specials on TikTok

Create a specialized Tik Tok restaurant menu based on your industry’s target segment and niche. Create a buzz around your restaurant’s offerings and daily specials. Do not try to overdo things. Stick to dishes that people like or define your restaurant. Introduce new items every now and then and communicate with your audience through enticing images and videos.

#2: Share Interesting Information Through Tips and Recipes

Nobody likes to watch chefs cook away. Make your TikTok videos enjoyable with exciting tips and funny anecdotes about the food or the restaurant. Everyone loves a good story. Educate your audience with simple recipes. Colorful dishes and valuable information will help you connect with the audience and encourage them to visit your establishment.

For example, advising your audience to add extra salt and dry aging their meat can help improve its flavor. Talking to your audience and educating them helps build a healthy relationship. At the same time, you can also use it as an opportunity to advertise your restaurant menu on TikTok.

#3: Turn the Video into a Visual Treat

People like to visualize the experience before they visit a restaurant. It is a popular TikTok marketing strategy for restaurants. From the frying pan/cooking gas and food pick-up area to the dining table, viewers must enjoy an up-and-close experience. No image can match the magic of a crisply shot video describing your restaurant’s character.

#4: Collaborate with the Most Followed Food TikTok Accounts

Your restaurant may serve great food and have an excellent ambiance. However, you may not enjoy optimal research because you are new to the business. Hence, teaming up with the best TikTok food influencers and the most followed TikTok food TikTok accounts makes sense. When users watch your restaurant’s videos on their favorite food influencer’s TikTok account, it will result in more views and likes, which may lead to more business.

#5: Organize TikTok Contests and Giveaways

Organizing TikTok contests is a helpful strategy to engage users and spread the word about your business. However, highlighting prices and posting high-quality images may not be the best strategy. Instead, understand that you are competing with thousands of other restaurants in your city. How would you differentiate yourself from others? Talk to your audience, give away prizes, and let everyone know about you.

#6: Live in the Moment

Giving away prizes and offering discounts is good, but it is also crucial to living in the moment. TikTok users have a very short attention span. Learn how to create a live event on TikTok and engage with users. Answer people’s questions and ask for feedback regarding daily specials, seasonal offerings, or changes they want.

#7: Use Filters and Backgrounds for Maximum Effect

With over 167 billion videos being watched by users on TikTok every minute, people will scroll quickly if they don’t find it interesting. So spice up your videos with creative filters and widespread TikTok effects. For example, you can use the scary pumpkin effect with glowing red eyes to announce your Halloween specials or a thumping red heart to tell people about the special Valentine’s day treat. Be imaginative, and it will help you grab the user’s attention.

#8: Hashtag Challenge

It takes one viral video to get your popularity and sales soaring. So start a hashtag challenge and encourage your followers to take it further. Non-followers who follow your followers will also engage if the hashtag appeals to them. Reward your followers that come up with witty captions or funny memes to promote your products. Eventually, your efforts will pay off.

#9: Know What is Trending

You might have observed that if a bigshot company starts a trend, others follow in their footsteps. Social media platforms are all about trends, and TikTok is no different. So keep abreast of the latest trends, current events, latest pop songs, or trending music.

For example, a song by a Russian artist named Moreart inspired a viral food trend. TikTok users created videos where they held one hand horizontally along their chest while they raised and lowered the other hand to the song’s beat. Many people/brands rendered their versions of the trend. Keep an eye out for such trends while using proper TikTok restaurant hashtags.

#10: Be Yourself

Content is king, and that holds actual value for TikTok too. Don’t follow a trend blindly. TikTok rewards originality. Instead, lend a twist to the trend with your version (wherever applicable). Share stories about your restaurant’s challenges, early days, star employees, and local events you participated in.

Final Thoughts

TikTok came about in 2020 and has grown enormously since then. We hope this article has given you the comprehensive knowledge and you have understood how to use TikTok for restaurants. You can drive restaurant sales and revenue with the right posting, engagement, and video content creation strategy. However, finding the right TikTok strategy for your business will not happen overnight. Even with the best influencers and the right social media tips for restaurants, it may take a while before you hit the jackpot.

Foodiv is an online food ordering system offering restaurant startups utilizing the potential of digital offerings and get the most out of it. Besides, we also come up with new ideas to help them scale and expand their business through blogs and tutorials. The trick is to have a customized strategy and stick to it while following the trends. Be creative, stay consistent with the posting, and results will follow.