Written by Paul Blackwood
Impacted During the Current COVID-19 Situation?
Are you currently experiencing a decrease in your restaurant business due to the COVID-19 situation? If that is the case, now is the time for you to make the leap into expanding the awareness of your target market with social media advertising. Since many restaurants are operating on a day by day basis it is important to inform your customers about the status of your business. This can be done through multiple advertising strategies, so which one is the best?
Past Patterns of Advertising
Many restaurant owners in the past have utilized print, radio, and television advertisements. Especially when the advertisement channel coincides with their restaurant in some way. It is very common to see advertisements for restaurants in cooking magazines and shows. So obviously, restaurants understand the importance of advertising. The only difference now is where to place these advertisements. There is less marketing leverage attributed to traditional forms of marketing than there used to be. The leverage is shifting more towards social media. But not all restaurant owners have made the switch…
Social Media Advertising Vs. Traditional Forms of Advertising
There are a handful of reasons why social media advertising is becoming more attractive to marketers. Due to the shifting increase in attention and level of affordability, social media advertisements holds some of the most underpriced attention. This is a big advantage for individuals and companies who are working with a fixed budget. Essentially, a marketer has a higher potential to get more eyes on their advertisements for less money through the use of social media advertising campaigns.
In addition to this concept of underpriced attention, social media advertising also holds a very important tool that traditional forms of media lack: Audience Targeting. When you choose to use social media advertising, you have the potential to reach exactly the kind of audience you want. This marketing tactic has never been used to this degree until social media advertising came along. These aspects of social media are the key reasons why someone should consider using social media advertisements.
Social Media’s Increase in Attention
Since 2004, consumers have been progressively shifting where they dedicate their attention. This shift in attention has been greatly influenced by the creation of the three largest social media platforms we know today (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). Due to a shifting change in media consumption, there is now less attention devoted to traditional forms of media, meaning the ROI of advertisements placed on traditional forms of media is slowly decreasing over time. Since this trend is increasing, companies need to diversify their ad placements in order to gain the largest ROI per advertising dollar spent as possible.
Social Media Advertisement’s Affordability
Not only is the overall level of attention steadily increasing when it comes to social media, but the cost of running advertisements on these platforms is also significantly cheaper than traditional forms. When running advertisements on Facebook or Instagram, the business owner can choose an Ad Campaign budget based on a sliding scale starting at just $1. This budget flexibility greatly empowers business owners to be able to spend exactly what they can and are willing to afford. This sliding scale strategy for pricing is typically unheard of when it comes to traditional forms of media which is one of the reasons why social media advertisements are so appealing.
So What is Social Media Advertisement Targeting?
Advertisement Targeting allows marketers to choose the audience who views their ads. Marketers can target their audience based on demographic variables like location, age, interests, and behavioral data-points collected by social media platforms. The platform that provides the best example of this data collection is Facebook. Due to the nature of Facebook, users are more than happy to share massive amounts of personal information. This results in thousands, if not millions of different data-points that businesses can utilize for advertisement targeting. For example, say you’re a restaurant owner who wants to target non-meat eaters. You can directly target those people through data collected on Facebook to maximize the value of your ad campaign. By doing this, your advertisements hold a higher probability of actually making a lasting impression on potential customers.
Relatable Example of Social Media Advertisement Targeting
Have you ever seen a sponsored ad consisting of topics that you “like” or “follow” on social media? This is one example of how Social Media Advertisement Targeting can be utilized by companies. This advertising strategy increases the success of their marketing campaigns. In this example whoever created the advertisement targeted individuals who either “liked” or interacted with a specific topic.
So, What Are You Waiting For?
Now that you know more about social media advertising, will you expand your restaurant’s advertising strategy? If you’re still unsure if social media advertising is right for your business, feel free to reach out to one of our experts.
Did you know?
We've been managing social media accounts for restaurants since 2012. For almost a decade, we've partnered with restauranteurs who are serious about using social media to generate business. Whether you're a good fit for our service or not, let's schedule a call and we'll give you free personalized advice on how to improve your social media presence. Either way, you'll walk away from the call more confident about your ability to promote yourself online - completely for free.
