Hashtags have quickly moved from a concept that only a generation of savvy individuals understand to part of our cultural lexicon. Popular hashtags for restaurants are more than just a clever way to share what you’re doing on a particular day. If used properly, social media as whole can be a very effective tool to help drive business and awareness for your restaurant to your potential (and current!) patrons. Their scope and impact extend so far beyond the feeds from which they originate that companies are even beginning to trademark them. Customers now rely on networks like Twitter and Instagram to inform them about the quality of a product, person, or service. It has moved from an influence to a deciding factor.
Many industries are not fully aware of the best way to use hashtags to their advantage. The restaurant industry is no exception. Users follow their favorite restaurants and hashtags to find specific information and preview offerings before they commit. By posting pictures of meals or events and linking posts to the most effective hashtags, it creates another level of exposure. Additionally, being aware of and using the most popular hashtags allows restaurateurs to tap into the largest market. Below are several popular hashtags for restaurants that will potentially draw more people into your restaurant.
Local Living
It does not do most restaurants much good to appeal to customers in another geographical location. Using hashtags that contain the name of your city/town (i.e. #parkslope or #princeton) has become a very popular method of targeting people who are regularly on the lookout for activities in the area. This can work even better in college towns and for bars/clubs. Certain areas are also associated with certain types of food, and these hashtags can create a strong connection with a community. For example, a tweet that states “Pat’s cheese steaks are better than Gino’s any day! #philly” can start a fun conversation that will draw people in. Furthermore, many restaurants pride themselves on relationships with local farmers and artisans. People are more aware than ever of where their food comes from and this could be a deciding factor between two restaurants. Using hashtags like #localfood or #(name of farm) has struck a chord with many people. The local establishment can also return the favor creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
Keep it General
While it may seem obvious, some of the most commonly used hashtags are very general ones such as #restaurants or #food. Variations depending on outlets such as #instafood are popular as well. If you are trying to create some buzz or boost your following, there is no real need to create popular restaurant hashtags from scratch. First, many foodies want to explore and see what and where other people have been eating to discover new cuisine or see what appeals to them at that moment. General hashtags like this are a good way for restaurants to get that information out into the world and make it part of the food conversation. Secondly, many people use multiple terms in their searches, so this one may go in conjunction with others that are more food or location specific. If a Twitter user only types in #indian when looking for the best Indian food, the results be vastly different and far less helpful.
The Meal In Question
Some restaurants are only regularly open for certain meals while others sometimes open for breakfast on special days. Using hashtags like #Breakfast, #Lunch, #brunch, #dinner, #dessert, and #snack are not only effective and popular, but also simple. That said, timing is everything so make sure that you do not post delicious looking breakfast dishes in the evening when they are no longer available. Using #snack is a good option because sometimes certain dishes do not fall into a normal meal. That said, it can be especially useful as people often need a reason to justify eating something they see but cannot resist.
Contact us for more restaurant marketing tips and to ideas on how integrating online ordering can work best for you.
