Some chefs despise this new phenomenon – they've just agonised over a customer's meal and there it is going cold on the table while the customer gyrates around it like a photographer on America's Next Top Model. Unfortunately photo sharing is now a necessary evil in the business of restaurant promotion. How a dish looks has almost become more important than how it tastes. So whatever your take on it, here are a few ways you can get your restaurant on the photo sharing map.
Go crazy on food shots
What's the one thing shared more than anything else on Facebook? Images. And what looks better in a professionally art directed photo than food? So make sure your Facebook page is overflowing with great shots of all your most exotic, colourful and eye-catching dishes. Add short, enticing descriptions and make sure your restaurant is credited in every shot. Ideally create a photo Foodbook containing great shots of every dish on your menu.
Go even crazier with hashtags
For the uninitiated hashtags are a form of metadata label used on social media to make it easier to find messages and information on a specific theme. They're huge on Instagram and that's a great place for your photos to make a mark. Trending hashtags allow you to jump on specific event bandwagons such as #nationalpieday or #eathealthyweek. Niche hashtags make it easier for your local market to find you – say you're a Mexican restaurant in SurreyHills; the hashtag #surreyhillstaco flags your posts to people in the area. Attaching hashtags to your photo posts is like turning a light on in a room full of moths.
Run a photo competition
There's no better way to get pictures of your dishes plastered across Facebook and Instagram than to get your customers to post them. And with the right incentive they will. Create a regular promotion with best photo prizes and you'll generate a small frenzy of free online promotion.
Create a photogenic centrepiece
People love having their photo taken with 'things', be it Mickey Mouse or The Big Pineapple. If you cut a hole in a picture, they'll stick their head through it. If you erect a statue, they'll put their arm around it. So create a focal point in your restaurant that cries out for selfies and group shots – an aquarium, sculpture or floral explosion - and make sure your restaurant name is emblazoned across it.
