How Restaurants That Nail Branding Achieve the Best Social Media Marketing Results—Part 2
Imagine this…you just clicked the perfect shot. Your bestseller, looking like it belongs on the cover of Food & Wine. You’re buzzing with excitement when you post it.
At 5:00 AM.
Because sleep? Who cares when your dish is glowing like the Mona Lisa itself!
Have you ever been in this situation before?
Here’s the thing—that excitement is great, but posting at 5:00 AM? Probably not the best move.
If you’re pouring all your creativity into content but posting whenever inspiration strikes, you might want to second guess yourself. You need to know how to market your restaurant on social media at the right place and right time.
In Part 1, we broke down how top restaurant brands win online by owning their vibe, visuals, and voice.
Today, in this follow-up, we’re focusing on the platform that’s most visual, most vibrant, and arguably most essential for restaurants: Instagram. From setting up your account and planning posts to tapping into trends and influencer collaborations, this guide walks you through making the most of Instagram—strategically, creatively, and authentically.
So let’s get started!
Setting up your Instagram Account
Start by creating a business account (or switch your personal profile to a business account) to access insights, run promotions, and add contact options.
Choose a clear and professional username that matches your restaurant’s name for easy searchability and brand consistency.
Upload a high-resolution logo as your profile picture to establish instant brand recognition.
Set the appropriate category (e.g., “Restaurant”) to help users understand your business at a glance.
Write a short, concise, and effective bio that communicates your cuisine, vibe, and a call-to-action (e.g., NYC’s finest Indian food, order below)
Add a link in bio using tools like Linktree, or directly link to your menu, website, or order page.
Enable location tagging to improve visibility in local search and increase chances of appearing in geotagged posts.
Create story highlights for key areas like “menu” at the start. Then, as the story posts increase, you may add “offers”, “reviews”, “events”, and “behind-the-scenes” to help new visitors quickly explore your offerings.
Posting and Scheduling for Instagram
Once your account is optimized and your content is ready, the next step is to plan how and when to share it. Posting without a strategy can result in inconsistent branding and low engagement. Here’s what to focus on:
1. Post Types to Include in Your Content Plan
Reels: Short-form videos showcasing behind-the-scenes, food preparation, ambience, trending audio, or customer experiences.
Static Images: High-quality food shots, menu highlights, or ambience pictures.
Carousels: Great for showcasing multiple dishes, events, or a story progression (e.g., appetizer to dessert).
Stories: Use daily for time-sensitive updates like specials, polls, and reposting user-generated content.
Highlights: Curated from stories to extend the shelf life of key content like menus, offers, and FAQs.
2. Maintain a Balanced Content Mix
Promotional content: Highlight new menu items, limited-time offers, or seasonal specials to drive immediate interest and sales.
Brand storytelling: Share the story behind your restaurant, introduce your team, and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Engagement content: Use interactive posts like polls, quizzes, or memes to encourage participation and boost algorithm reach.
User-generated content: Repost happy customer photos, reviews, or tagged stories to build credibility and community.
Behind-the-scenes: Show what goes on in the kitchen, introduce staff, or capture your ambience to humanize your brand and create trust.
3. Best Practices for Posting
Image & Video Quality: Ensure high resolution, proper cropping, and brand-consistent color grading.
Aspect Ratios:
Posts: 4:5 (1080x1350)
Reels: 9:16 (Full screen, 1080x1920)
Stories: 9:16 (same as Reels)
Cover Photos: Always select or upload custom Reel covers to match your feed aesthetic.
Audio: Use trending or relevant music for Reels—but ensure it's not copyrighted if you’re repurposing content.
4. Caption Writing
Hook in the First Line: Capture attention with a question, a strong statement, or something relatable (e.g., “This isn’t your average butter chicken…”).
Tone Consistency: Whether it’s playful, bold, elegant, or nostalgic—match your caption tone with your brand voice.
Call-to-Action (CTA): Always include a next step—whether it's “Order now,” “Tag a foodie friend,” or “Save this for your next visit.”
Emojis (if on-brand): Use sparingly and only if they match your tone.— e.g., casual brands might benefit from a few; upscale brands may avoid them altogether.
Hashtags: Use 5–10 relevant hashtags. Mix brand-specific (#YourRestaurantName), location-based (#NYCFoodie), and niche hashtags (#PaneerLovers). Avoid banned or spammy ones.
Tagging: Tag relevant accounts—collaborators, chefs if featured in the content.
Alt Text: Use Instagram’s alt text feature to describe your image for better accessibility and minor SEO benefit.
You can check out one of our client posts on how we work with captions to get the best results.
5. Scheduling
Post Timing: Test different days and times, but generally aim for when your audience is most active (e.g., lunch and dinner hours, evenings mid-week, weekends).
Posting Frequency:
Reels: 2–3 times/week
Static or Carousel Posts: 2 times/week
Stories: Daily or every other day
Tools to Use: Use Meta Business Suite or third-party tools like Later, Buffer, or Planoly to schedule posts and maintain consistency.
Content Calendar: Maintain a monthly or bi-weekly content calendar to avoid last-minute rushes and ensure brand alignment.
Stay Trendy (Without Losing Your Identity)
Trends can give your content a major visibility boost—but only if they align with your brand. Jumping on every viral reel or meme without thinking it through? That’s a fast track to looking inauthentic and confusing your audience. The goal is to blend relevance with identity so your brand stays consistent while still feeling current.
Ask Yourself:
Does this trend align with our brand personality?
Does the trend naturally fit into your content flow?
Is your target audience engaging with the trend?
Will the trend enhance or dilute your message?
If the answer to even one of these questions is “no,” it’s best to skip the trend.
Case in point: Approach towards the Ghibli art trend at Plate Presence
As the trend of transforming real photos into Ghibli-style artwork gained traction, everyone was calling the AI-generated images “aesthetic.” But instead of hopping on the bandwagon, we flipped the script.
We showed the Ghibli versions of our restaurant photos first, then revealed the original shots—highlighting that our real content was even more aesthetic than the AI art.
The result? A trend-driven post that felt clever, on-brand, and reinforced the quality of our work—without compromising authenticity.
You can check out our reel below!
Partnering with Influencers the Right Way
The secret to reaching new audiences? Get people with loyal followings to talk about you.
Here’s how to collaborate smartly:
Find food influencers in your city (micro-influencers work wonders!).
Offer a tasting experience in exchange for a post or reel.
Be clear about expectations—story mention, post, collaborating with your account, etc.
Reshare their content and build long-term relationships with your faves.
Pro Tip: Always check engagement rate, not just follower count. A 10K follower foodie with high interaction is better than a 100K ghost town.
You Don’t Have to Be Alone in This
Everything we talked about today is pretty important. Setting up your account properly, posting with a plan, staying true to your brand while riding the trend waves—it’s a lot to juggle.
And hey, we totally get it because this stuff keeps us busy too!
At Plate Presence, we team up with restaurant owners like you to create a social media presence that not only looks great but actually brings in results. So if you ever feel stuck or just want to stop guessing what to post next, don’t worry—we’ve got your back.
For now, take a deep breath, keep those posts coming, and remember—building your brand is a journey, not a sprint. We’ll be here whenever you need a hand.
See you next time with more tips to keep your socials sizzling!
