In our previous two posts of this Instagram blog series, we discussed the importance of Instagram in the restaurant industry and what you can do to prep your restaurant for food photography that’s shareable on the platform. We learned that making small adjustments in the interiors of your restaurant and adding visually appealing twists to your dishes makes your customers want to share their experience on their social media channels, and encourages their friends and followers to visit your business. While reaching your customers’ followers is a great way to establish “word-of-mouth” marketing in smaller groups, there is a good chance you are also looking to reach a bigger audience through Instagram.
So what are your options? You could create ads, but these often come off as phony, and your audience is more likely to visit your business when they get a personal recommendation.
A personal recommendation that reaches a big audience via Instagram? In comes the “influencer partnership.”
In part one of this series, we talked about the rise of influencers, or photographers and bloggers on Instagram who influence over 1,000 people (micro-influencers are those with 1,000 to 100,000 followers). These users typically share products, food, experiences, and more that they personally recommend or use. While some of these recommendations come from genuine, unsponsored use (ie. “Check out my new watch from […]! You can buy it here.”), others come from businesses who pay these influencers to recommend their product or brand.
In other words, as a brand, you can reach out to these influencers and set up an arrangement where they will visit your restaurant and post about it in exchange for a previously agreed-upon price.
Fortunately, forming an influencer partnership is not nearly as complicated as partnering with a traditional advertising or marketing firm. You will first want to decide what your overall goal for the partnership is (e.g., to get more followers, to bring more customers into your business, etc.). Then, to find a partner, you will want to follow these steps:
You can use Instagram to find out who the biggest food bloggers are in your area. There are a few ways in which this can be done:
Once you’ve come up with a list of 5-10 influencers, you’re ready to reach out to them using their preferred method of contact. A lot of influencers will have their email in the Instagram bio or on their website.
What questions do I ask potential influencers to find my best option?There are several key questions to ask potential influencers, and the strength of their fit depends on your budget and partnership goals. Some things you will want to ask are:
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