Tips on how restaurants can benefit better from video

Alex | Posted on January 8, 2024 |

Most of us are familiar with the menu we receive at a Japanese restaurant. Often it is less of a menu than a large booklet with page after page with images of dish after dish. We have to admit though that is helpful. We barely have to read anything, but can keep flipping to the page we want, based on the visuals. In Japan, they show plates of food in their windows so that tourists can point to what they want.

Many restaurants still have written menus, sometimes with the occasional picture. The online trend is to have as much imagery as possible. A vast number of images are uploaded to social media sites and Google every day. Businesses are finding that it is videos that move the needle today compared with photos.

Smartphones have made it easy for people to produce videos. There is no need for fancy cameras or external lighting! Some videographers prefer filming on smartphones as they believe it gives greater authenticity. Videos get shared on social media with far greater frequency than with still photos. The wide availability of editing software makes it easy to improve the quality of the film. When it comes to marketing, videos are a far more powerful medium than photos. Photos still have their place when combined with content on Social Media posts.

The Visual Feast - Showcasing Culinary Artistry:

There is nothing like attractive imagery of food to stimulate our desires. Clips of food made us hungry on the spot and made us want to call for food delivery or visit our local shop or restaurant. Sometimes ad agencies use fake ingredients in adverts that they create. They do this to maximize the attractiveness of the food. They also concentrate on creating emotional attachment. Imagery often concentrates on how much individuals enjoy the product they experiencing.

When it comes to filming, people love to see a chef in action, which explains the popularity of food programs on TV. Many viewers want to improve their culinary skills by watching a chef in action. This trend seems to have gone hand in hand with the increase in food delivery. Are viewers getting hungry watching the programs?

There is great appeal to those on social media in seeing chefs cooking. There is a desire to see “behind the scenes” footage which they would not see if they were at the restaurant. If the chef showcases his or her skills on video it can enhance the reputation of the restaurant. Filming the chef in the kitchen is an opportunity to film several dishes at once. This showcases a wider range of your menu. Customers often decide what restaurant to go to by looking at social media or local searches. The quality of the food shown, especially in videos, is often the deciding factor.

There is a growing trend for customers to target one precise dish before making a decision. In the past, a potential cover/customer may have decided they want to go to an Italian restaurant. Nowadays that same customer may decide that they want to have a Ravioli dish. So they will search for pictures, or better still videos of Ravioli. If that dish shows on your Social Media pages or Google Business profile you may have an extra customer.

Behind the Scenes - Building Personal Connections:

Behind-the-scenes filming can also show the efficiency and the cleanliness of the kitchen. It is not advisable to film at a time when things may be hectic! It can include the quality and freshness of the ingredients you use. In the plating-up process, the chef can show the attraction of the food before serving. It is also good to film any potential dramatic footage such as flaming saucepans! I use a microphone to record what the chef is saying so that I know which ingredients are being added. After filming him or her cooking, is it possible to interview the chef? Viewers find cooking tips and tricks, or even his favorite dish interesting?

On a more general point, restaurants need to transform "covers" into regular customers. How do they do that? The short answer is by giving more of yourself - being more inclusive. Any level of interaction with staff has a “human touch” effect. For example, a monthly video of a staff member telling us what his or her favorite dish is and why is a great thing to do. Customers may then recognize the individual when they visit the restaurant. As a result, there is a connection. If a video leads to online questions then those should be answered in a prompt and friendly manner. All these little elements build an improved customer experience.

Many restaurants run giveaways, free prize draws, or other competitions. It is a great idea to have a video clip of the winners at the restaurant enjoying their free meal or voucher. Filming this happy event will look good when you post it on social media pages or your website. It also proves that the competition is real and so builds trust. It will encourage others to enter or re-enter the next competition.

Social Media Buzz - Leveraging Online Platforms:

Businesses find that more people engage with video than images on Social Media. This is especially true for restaurants. People are more likely to discuss dishes or culinary issues when they see a video. They are also more likely to like and share videos with others. Instagram is the platform of choice for UK restaurants showcasing their dishes. Restaurants can build up large followings with crafted imagery on Instagram. Featured photos and videos can captivate audiences and align with the restaurant's brand.

The various platforms have their idiosyncrasies when it comes to videos. Facebook and YouTube suit videos produced in horizontal format. They are greater in length and may involve interviews, and behind-the-scenes events. Vertical video shorts suit fast-moving sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Most regular feed posts have a duration of 15 to 60 seconds. For reels, this is more like 15-30 seconds, and for stories 15 seconds or less.

Reels are short videos that have developed on Instagram and tend to highlight trends. Longer videos can appear on their main feed. Stories are short videos that appear at the top of the feed on Instagram and Facebook. They are usually snippets or short-time promotions and generally disappear after 24 hours. The shortest format of all is video ads which are not usually over 15 seconds and “bumper” ads may be say 6 seconds long.

Hashtags introduce a further idiosyncrasy. Whereas 9-15 hashtags are ideal for Instagram, the figure is more like 1-2 for Facebook and Twitter. For Linkedin and TikTok 3-5 is optimal. The type of platform also determines the types of hashtags used. For example, hashtags on LinkedIn target an industry-specific professional business audience. IG works best with popular and niche hashtags, and where applicable branded hashtags

It pays to adopt strategies that increase visibility and engagement on Social Media. Examples include developing cross-over relationships with Influencers, bloggers, and other local businesses. Encouraging user-generated content is also a smart move. If customers post videos, images, or comments on your feeds so much the better (as long as they are positive). Seeking out “foody groups” can also be of benefit. They may run your videos and encourage their followers to visit your restaurant.

Google Business Profile (GBP) - A Key Ingredient:

Restaurants must keep a well-maintained and up-to-date Google Business Profile (Google My Business). This will attract more covers to the restaurant. A crucial component of this is to upload videos to your profile. Uploads take place in the photos section. Google rewards businesses that download videos by pushing them up the rankings.

A well-optimized Google Business Profile includes multi-media content (such as video). This provides local search engine optimization (SEO).

This allows greater customer engagement, higher click-through rates, and increased Google Maps integration. Google Business Profile is a critical resource for restaurants. We have devoted an entire section to it below.

We also have a special service that combines GBP with video, our so-called Go-Vid 24 service. Here's a video to see how it works.

Seamless Integration - Posting and Sharing:

Once videos have been created it is time to post them. The first option is to embed them on your website so that visitors can enjoy the content without leaving the site.

Next would be the various social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), LinkedIn, and so on. The content as covered above would have to be tailored for each platform. Branding should be standardized across all platforms to provide a consistent message. For example, it is important to use the same logo, colour scheme, and messaging.

Videos should also be uploaded to your Google Business Profile, which is covered in depth in the Go-Vid 24 video above.

Your film library can be your best friend when it comes to cross-platform promotion. For example, you could take a small snippet of film from your library that you have not used before, and post it say on Instagram with a link that could take you to your website or YouTube channel. There are good reasons for having a YouTube channel since it is a powerful search engine and can allow for a wider range of possible customer engagement.

Collaboration is an important consideration when it comes to video. Influencers will film videos at your restaurant, usually for a fee as well as for the complimentary food. If they have a large number of followers this could be beneficial to both parties, although the impact of followers visiting the restaurant can be short-lived. Collaboration can also come in the form of user-generated content (UGC), where customers share their videos on social media platforms. This gives authentic and unbiased content and should be encouraged. A possible downside may be that the material by definition is amateur and may be of questionable quality.

Clickable links to videos can also be included in email marketing and newsletters. QR codes on other promotional material such as fliers and posters can allow a direct link to videos on your website or YouTube channel.

Conclusion

Video is becoming an ever more important tool for restaurant owners to use. It develops your brand and gets you more covers in your restaurants. Benefits include;

If you post attractive videos of your food more people will come to your restaurant
Videos get more likes and shares on Social Media at 12 times the level that still images are
They increase customer engagement
They help you develop your brand if used with consistency across a range of platforms
Get found more often on local searches, particularly through your Google Business profile

Your opportunities with Viral Snowball

London restaurants

We offer London restaurants a free initial video. If you have not taken advantage of this yet then here is your chance to book one here: https://calendly.com/viralsnowball/meeting-with-alex. Here is a video on what to expect from our visit.

For our ongoing video service, where we provide you with 5 videos per month, see here for details.
Check out our Go-Vid 24 service which combines Google Local Search and Video to lift your ranking!

Restaurants outside London (anywhere in the world that has Google)!

We can assist you in optimizing your Google Business Profile. When you do this more people will come to your restaurant. Here's why you need us to provide you with a free chart and video of your particular restaurant.