The movies we love the most are those that tell incredible stories, connect to our emotions, and those we want to tell others about. Successful video marketing has precisely this kind of impact as well. 

Social media should play an essential role in your restaurant’s marketing strategy. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are excellent platforms for creating brand awareness and building good relationships with your customers. 

But now, creating content that has the potential of going viral has been made easy with the help of TikTok. With TikTok, the viral short video platform, fancy editing or directing skills will not be needed to create videos promoting your restaurant.

TikTok marketing for restaurants to grow your business is an excellent way to connect with your audience and expand people’s awareness of your brand. Therefore, if you want to take your restaurant to the next level, consider using TikTok.

The Basics of TikTok Marketing for Restaurants

TikTok is one of the world’s fastest-growing media channels and the most downloaded app in the Apple App Store. This, therefore, makes it the perfect marketing channel, especially for trendy restaurants, eateries, and fast foods that want the attention of Gen Z and Millennial customers to be attracted.

There are three main methods of marketing a restaurant on TikTok. They are:

1. Post relevant videos of your venue, menu, food preparation area, and team on your channel.

2. Form a Team with influencers in your industry to expand your reach.

3. Advertising your food, drinks, specials, and services via this social media platform.

Many successful restaurant brands have found different ways of combining these three methods. Your restaurant can upload original video content daily to stay in front and at the center of the minds of your customers.

You can also create social media experiences that would engage your customers. This could be done by creating contests and challenges that relate to how you interact with your brand. The possibilities of your business are limitless if you adopt a creative mindset.

Why You Need TikTok for Your Restaurant

When the interaction between a brand or business and its customers is done online, companies or brands must take advantage of every social media platform relevant to their business. If TikTok is rising, your restaurant should be promoted on it.

Here are some reasons why:

1) It can help you get new customers: 

If people get to notice your videos when you post engaging content, you should include a link to your website or online ordering page on your profile to help in increasing conversions.

2) It will connect you with locals:

TikTok uses an algorithm that uses the priority to share videos and show them to users based on their location. So, your videos are more likely to be seen by potential customers in your area.

3) It delivers high engagement:

Unlike other social media platforms, the algorithm of TikTok makes it easy for more people to see your videos and engage with them. And the best part is that you don’t need many followers to have your content go viral.

4) It features micro-influencers you can partner up with: 

Another good way to reach a local audience is to collaborate with an influencer with thousands of followers but is more prevalent in a small community. If there’s a specific location you want to target, find an influencer that people in the area love and partner with him.

5) It offers the possibility of advertising on the platform with less competition: 

This is about being that early bird that takes advantage of this opportunity before businesses start advertising on TikTok and increasing the competition. For now, you still have the opportunity of getting more reach and engagements on your ads on TikTok than on other platforms.

Setting Up a Restaurant’s TikTok

The first thing for new users is downloading the TikTok app on the Apple App Store or Google Play. After downloading, there’s a request to create a new account. Restaurants should start a business account. 

The username of the account should mirror the name of the restaurant. However, adding the restaurant’s city or state or using an underscore could work if that option can’t be found. For example, if @spyceepizza is already in use, @spyceepizzaNIG or @spyceepizza_NIG might be available. 

The other parts of your profile should have the following sections: 

• Photo: This should have a clear and high resolute picture of the restaurant’s logo.

• Name: This should be the restaurant’s name.

• Bio: This should overview the restaurant’s cuisine type and location(s). Note the character count is capped at 80.

• Email: This should be the email address of the restaurant (this information will be necessary for influencer opportunities).

• Category: Many options are available, but you should select “Food & Beverage” or “Restaurants & Bars.”

• Instagram and YouTube: You can add the links to these profiles if the restaurant has them. 

Once the business account has about 1,000 followers, restaurants will have a section in their profile to add their websites. But till then, they can add a link to the website restaurant or online ordering page to their bio.

Tips on How to Use TikTok for Restaurants

TikTok is growing as we speak, and new opportunities will undoubtedly appear for businesses to advertise their products. 

For now, these restaurants’ TikTok ideas are aimed at helping you get more engagement on the platform and send some of those users to your website.

1. Create a hashtag challenge

Hashtag challenges are one of the popular activities done on TikTok. They help bring the entire community together.

You, too, can create a hashtag challenge by just uploading a video of yourself or one of your staff members doing the challenge and including the name of the challenge in a hashtag, just like Jimmy Fallon did with #tumbleweedchallenge, which has become very popular.

The hashtag will help many people find your video and attempt to recreate it. To get you started, consider these three challenge tips:

#pizzathrowchallenge – If pizza is your main dish, challenge TikTok users to an old-fashioned dough throw to show them how you do it.

#burritowrapchallenge – If you sell burritos, it’s an excellent way to show your products while showing off a different and faster way of wrapping one.

#1minutesaladchallenge – Prepare a delicious salad in a minute or less and encourage other TikTok users to do the same.

2. Come up with unique campaigns

The content you post on TikTok should be creative and quirky. Whatever you sell, encourage people to show off their skills by putting it together in a fun way and uploading the video on TikTok with a dedicated hashtag.

If you want to showcase your TikTok restaurant menu, you can create a campaign building anticipation for a new menu item about to be released.

Give out some clues and ask people to guess what it might be, challenge them to find a unique name, and share behind-the-scenes clips of how it is made.

3. Collaborate with micro-influencers to create exciting challenges and skits

Micro-influencers can help boost your channel and presence on TikTok without you having to spend a lot. So, find some local TikTok celebrities and partner with them so they can hype up your menu items to their followers.

For this to work, it’s imperative to let their personalities shine because there’s a reason people already love them, so partner with them to create skits and challenges that their fans will enjoy and also market your products.

Once you get up to 1,000 followers, you get the option of hosting live events on TikTok. This is where things get interesting. Find influencers who would want to teach your audience something or want to engage them in a fun game.

4. Take your audience backstage:

Providing people with a behind-the-scenes look at your restaurant’s work makes them feel like they are a part of your community. 

Take them on a tour of your kitchen and introduce your staff members as they work by filming your chef preparing a meal, the servers organizing the delivery and takeaway food orders, or the bartender preparing your flavored cocktails.

Give viewers a particular technique or recipe by making them feel like they know.

Maya Smith (@starbucksrecipeswithm) is a student who also works at Starbucks. Her widespread video sharing and sometimes secret recipes have made her one of the youngest stars on TikTok, with more than 2 million followers. For example, a video of hers, which is of Skittles Frappuccino, has more than 33 million views and has been shared 5.8 million times.

5. TikTok ad examples to identify the best ones for your restaurant

The excellent news about TikTok ads is that because the platform is still new, its ads are less competitive, but the bad news is that they’re expensive, with a minimum investment of $500.

But, if you still feel it’s worth investing in for you to attract a younger demographic, here are the types of ads you can choose from:

• In-feed: These ads appear in between other videos on the feed of people. You can use them to increase clicks on your website and turn users into customers using CTAs.

• Branded hashtag challenges: This type of ad is a boosted challenge that you can promote to get extra engagement.

• Branded effects: Just like the Snapchat geofilters, a 2D or 3D effect can be created for people to use in their photos, and this should be branded with your logo or name.

• Brand takeovers: These ads help you take over the platform by showing your ad to people immediately after they open the app. You can link your website pages like your online ordering page in the video to gain extra conversions.

• Topview: This provides your videos with a “premium real estate” position on TikTok, showing it at the very top of users’ “For You” page.

To create an ad on TikTok, you will have to go to the TikTok for business page. After creating an account and filling in information about your restaurant, you must wait for your account to be approved.

6. Feature your vendors:

Many young adults who are the primary audience of TikTok look for brands that show a sense of authenticity and transparency. They want videos that give them pictures of the people and places behind their meals so you can create that connection. 

For example, showcase the farm where you harvested the tomatoes you use for salads or introduce viewers to the store that sells the ingredients you used. 

7. Share recipes:

Make videos using jump cuts that show your chef preparing meals in seconds. 

Chef Vivian Aronson (@cookingbomb), a former contestant on Master Chef, has gotten a sizable following for her videos showing viewers how to make favorite dishes from Asian cuisines like kimchi or Chinese pancakes. Along the way, she also offers tips on handling chopsticks or purchasing the best sushi knife.

8. Offer lessons:

You can gain the attention of home chefs by demonstrating and teaching fundamental skills in cooking, such as slicing onions or some other advanced techniques. 

Private chef Adam Witt (@omnivorousadam) has created cooking videos that show viewers how to make things they most likely haven’t thought much about or never will make, like churning butter or carbonating fruit. But, making these are fun and interesting to watch nonetheless.

9. Introduce menu items:

TikTok is also an excellent way to showcase new menu items. This is very good if you do so in a visually impressive way. 

Assembling a cheese board doesn’t sound very compelling. Still, when Maggie Johnson (@magsmeals) does it, she has almost 300,000 people watching her on TikTok because of both the beautiful arrangements she creates and her upbeat personality.

10. Host a live event:

Once your TikTok account has up to 1,000 followers, you can begin to host events on the platform. 

Have a cook offer a class or a series of mini-lessons or run a contest, from naming a new recipe to the best combinations of pizza or burger toppings. Because of the platform’s ease and speed, TikTok is the perfect place to experiment with ideas as you advertise your restaurant.

11. Branded Videos:

Another idea that can be considered and has proven successful in marketing your restaurant brand on TikTok includes the fact that TikTok allows its users to post videos that have a duration of 15 seconds or shorter. You can use filters and special effects to make your videos fun and attract the attention of your customers and leads.

Bearing the video duration limit in mind, your restaurant videos need to communicate the atmosphere and attitude of your establishment as briefly as possible. You can edit your clips to show the highlights of your establishment, your happiest clients, and your most cheerful staff members to attract business.

Make sure to add music to the background, this music should be popular among your target audience, or you could use one of TikTok’s popular current viral music tracks to stay relevant. 

‘FACK’ by Eminem, ‘Praying’ by Ke$ha, and ‘Déjà Vu’ by Olivia Rodrigo have been popular on the app since 2021. Make sure to choose a music track that aligns with your brand. ‘Praying’ or ‘FACK’ might be a popular song for TikTok, but it doesn’t mean it’s suitable for your brand.

Example of Successful Food Brands on TikTok

TikTok brand deals are one of the most popular and entertaining things on TikTok. Influencers, when they partner with brands to create content, contribute mainly to what makes the following food brands successful on TikTok.

1. Chipotle

Chipotle is the king of brands on TikTok. They are the perfect example of a brand that understands the platform and how you can appeal to its audience.

These are the makers of the #guacdance challenge that went viral. It has received more than 250,000 submissions and an increase of 450 million views in just six days. Chipotle broke its record by serving more than 800,000 sides of guacamole. 

Additionally, they collaborated on the #ChipotleLidFlip challenge with influencer David Dobrik. Users needed to flip a container such that it landed perfectly. Over 100,000 people participated in the challenge, receiving over 230 million views.

Other notable Chipotle successes on TikTok are its montage of baby boomers mispronouncing “Chipotle,” and its Halloween promotion in which users were invited to create a video with the hashtag #Boorito.

The five videos that received the most likes got to eat free at Chipotle for a year. The hashtag #Boorito also gained more than 3 billion views, and the first video got more than 2 million likes.

2. Dunkin’

Another company that collaborated with an influencer on TikTok to increase engagement and visibility was Dunkin’. But it didn’t partner with just any influencer but with Charli D’Amelio, who is the most followed person on the platform with more than 107 million followers.

The brand made a new drink and named it after the influencer(The Charli) based on her go-to order, which usually appeared in her TikTok videos.

This led to hundreds of thousands of drinks purchased in the first five days, and the sales of cold brews increased by 20% on the first day and then 45% by the next day.

3. Burger King

Burger King also teamed up with some TikTok influencers to launch the challenge called #WhopperDanceChallenge. Avani, Loren Gray, and Nathan Davis Jr. followed the challenge, and users had to copy their moves and post the video on TikTok using the hashtag.

After this, Burger King sent them a code they could use for a $1 Whopper. This is why the campaign was a success, as it combined the fun and novelty of a TikTok dance with an almost free menu item from a brand that is well loved. Everyone loves a good deal.

4. Taco Bell

Taco Bell has 1.7 million followers, proving they are using TikTok correctly. As one of the platform’s more entertaining food companies, they have chosen to be authentic in their TikTok videos. And it works; more than 43% of Gen Zers did eat at Taco Bell in the previous month.

Taco Bell has discovered a more relaxed approach to spreading its message. The fast food joint from Mexico was recently mentioned in a popular TikTok song.

Pizza Hut and Taco Bell by Das Racist got viral on the app. Taco Bell welcomed the humor stoking the Mexican pizza fusion’s popularity among TikTokers and even convinced Doja Cat to write a song about it. Taco Bell’s feed feels on-point since it tackles topics like these in a casual, enjoyable, and pleasant way.

Taco Bell is skilled at attracting customers. Numerous offers have been made available, such as a free Doritos Locos Taco when downloading the rewards program. They also utilize Tiktok to have lighthearted conversations about these offerings.

5. McVities

Although McVities are newbies to TikTok, this hasn’t halted them from amassing significant engagement there. One of the brand’s goals is to pique the attention of the Millenials, and TikTok is the perfect platform for that.

McVities marketed their material during times when sales of their items were at their highest, but they also had a strategy for their content that enticed viewers to come back. Food brands should also think about critical moments across the year and ways to use these to generate interest in (and followers for) your brand over the long run.

Other restaurant brands killing it on TikTok include Little Moons, Wanna Date, Gushers, Idahoan Foods, F’Real, Doritos, etc. One thing is true for all of these top brands: they sew together a variety of exciting content. 

This tactic combines reposted content from brand influencers, unique recipe content, and other entertaining internet knickknacks. The above brands are killing it on TikTok, and it all comes down to creating an honest, outrageous image of the brand that draws viewers in time and time again:

Conclusion

So, when incorporating TikTok for restaurants into your marketing strategy, you should remember that it’s all about having fun and showing your human side to users. As much as possible, try to use humor and don’t be too serious.

Secondly, take advantage of the algorithm of TikTok that shows users videos with views of a few dozen or millions. To be successful on TikTok, you don’t have to be a big brand. But you can also shine and grow your profile even as a beginner. Let your focus be on putting out quality content.

And if you still need more proof of this, consider Brandon Murphy, a kitchen manager at Liberty Hall Pizza in Lambertville, N.J, who now has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok because he posted videos of himself making pizza.

His videos are straightforward, honest, and funny, and he said his success is owed to the fact that he is “just a real person, doing real things.”

RELATED: The Complete Guide To Tiktok Marketing (Everything You Need to Know)

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