Instagram is an ideal platform to publicize your restaurant. But do you know how to achieve it? The objective is to direct the visits that your Instagram profile receives to your website, to your blog, and better yet, to your restaurant. Attract new consumers and show what you do and who you are, these are just some of the benefits of using Instagram. Here we present you from scratch, 6 steps to position your restaurant and improve your positioning both digitally and with your competition.

1.Create an account

Of course, we cannot start using Instagram without having created an account. Head here and fill out the registration form, remember that you can also use your Facebook username and password to link your accounts and thus be able to publish together. This will save you time updating the information you share on social media as well as creating ads. I remind you that, in order to advertise and sell, you must have a fan page on Facebook, otherwise you can only publish photos, do not forget to read our article A Facebook Page for your gastronomic business where we explain more about this. 

2. Frequency of publications

Determining the number of publications that you must make in your account will depend on several factors, however, you can start by publishing a photo in the morning and another at night; This way you will be able to identify which photo generated the most “likes” and comments. You can also help yourself by investigating how often users of your restaurant speak. You should bear in mind that the success of an account on Instagram does not only depend on the photos, the content, publication times, the #hashtags you use and the interaction you have with your followers are also relevant.

3.Know your audience

Your account as a company (not as a personal user) of Instagram offers you the possibility to consult statistics of your audience. This information will help you identify what type of content likes the most, the number of impressions and clicks from your audience on the content you publish. Know the age range of your followers, from which city and country they follow you and what their gender is. Analyzing this data will undoubtedly help you decide what type of content you should generate and share with them.

4.Know the types of publications

Photos, videos and creative stories accompanied by the correct hashtags will be the main key to position your restaurant and maintain the interest of your followers as well as to generate a larger community.

Photographer:

Each shared image should generate a visual stimulus that attracts attention. The dishes on your menu are an excellent means of photographing, the color, textures and freshness of the ingredients are key elements to achieve a good image. Arousing curiosity to savor the dish, or encouraging the public to prepare the recipe at home, is a great way to achieve interaction. How? I highly recommend capturing photos in a 1: 1 ratio, that is, square, as well as using the filters suggested by the application. Don't forget to tell a story that conveys emotions and experiences through an image.  

Instagram stories:

The magic of creating stories through creative images or short videos which disappear after 24 hours published. This temporality allows you to share informal posts of daily activities in your restaurant, decorate them with drawings, text stickers and emojis. Videos are an element that attracts more audience, since once the playback begins it is difficult to disengage before seeing the end. Videos are ideal to generate expectation campaigns and increase the emotional bond with your followers. How? From your device, access the Instagram App and once inside, slide the screen to the right with your finger, in this way the camera will appear and voila, start production! 

Hashtag

A hashtag is a way of tagging a post on social networks, it consists of putting the symbol (#) before one or more words to generate a conversation around it. The hashtags you use should be related to the style of your restaurant, the service you offer, and the activities in its environment, so that users can easily find you online. I recommend using three to five hashtags to describe your photos and videos shared on Instagram. Exceeding the number of hashtag, minimizes the utility because they are no longer related to what you show in the photograph.

5.Quality before quantity

Image quality matters. Currently, it is possible to take a good photo or video with your smartphone's camera, there are already special lenses for these devices that offer you to enlarge or reduce the vision of the frame to highlight important elements.You can also use a reflex camera, with a lens of 50mm, which will facilitate the manipulation of light in the object to be photographed, in addition to offering you better quality and sharpness of the image. Use Instagram filters to highlight and improve the appearance of your photos. Remember that you must generate an emotion for your profile users and visitors.

6. How to use Instagram.

The process is very simple:

• Capture the photo or video, upload the file to the image gallery
• Apply an advanced digital filter
• Share the image with the community of followers.

You can also share it on Facebook and thus reach more people. Instagram offers you multiple possibilities to achieve your goals, start with the most basic, you will see that little by little new followers will be added. Practice will lead you to identify the techniques that work the most for your profile. Listen to the opinions of your followers, spend time detecting trends, visit other profiles, get inspired. Remember that the interaction you manage to maintain with your followers will help you generate a better positioning.