It’s often said that a picture is worth a 1,000 words. As it relates to social media, a well-placed, quality picture just may be worth 1,000 comments.
The quality of the images utilized in your social content and how you use those images can make a mega difference on the effectiveness of your social media. Here are a collection of thoughts of the importance of pictures in your social media marketing:
- Restaurants with great images attract current and prospective customers. Current customers may follow along on social for updates on specials, events, and promotions, but without pictures, it’s hard to attract anyone new
- Restaurants (or any business) with little to no images will have a social that appears boring and lazy
- Images should be utilized to share what’s new on the menu, what customers have been enjoying, and give an inside look into the restaurant.
Photographer vs. iPhone/Smartphone
The question we receive most from current and prospective restaurant clients is this: “do we need a professional photographer for our pictures?” The answer is yes and no.
When do you need a photographer? You most likely need a photographer for professional website photos, direct marketing materials, and anything that will be utilized for promotions. There’s a time where professionalism and perfection in social images is needed, and a time where it’s just not.
When is using an iPhone/Smart Phone acceptable? Something fresh just come out of the oven? Snap a quick picture and share it online with some enticing text. Want to take a picture of your new menu and tease the audience? Perfect for your smartphone. Have a new server or chef? Snap a pic of them smiling and holding up a popular food item…you got the idea.
When used correctly, smart phones can produce quality images that look great and also appear more authentic than a professional image. By now (hopefully), everyone knows that their guilty trips to fast food joints won’t produce food that looks exactly like the commercials. People realize that the professional photos they see aren’t real and shouldn’t be expected. However, a quick picture from your smart phone that’s posted online will appear much more real to your audience.
We do think that each restaurant should have a professional photographer on hand for those special occasions, but you’ll be fine with your smartphone for the daily grind.
The above example shows one of our client’s most popular items. Their baked clams are loved by all, and because of this picture, the Facebook post is “liked” by all.
Our Tips for Facebook Pictures
Given that most of the “ew, that’s gross” pictures we see in social media are on Facebook, that’s where we’re going to be focusing. Here are some of Bad Rhino’s gripes when it comes to pictures on Facebook:
- Images in the timeline aren’t sized correctly. When the image is too big or too small, it’s terribly ugly and your audience won’t know what they are looking at. Try to stick to 403X403 and if that doesn’t make any sense, here’s an awesome resource that shows the correct image sizing for all social channels.
- Image is too dark/unclear. While we said you don’t need a photographer, that doesn’t mean that you can be lazy. Add in some light when needed. Feel free to use Photo Filter apps to help change the lighting and overall look of your image.
- The Image is not your product or restaurant. Yes, people actually do this, and we’ve seen agencies do this for their clients. As it relates to food, never use another photo from a different restaurant and claim it’s yours. Even if the ingredients are the exact same. Pictures that aren’t food or restaurant related can be used, but never use stock photos or another restaurant’s photos as your own.
If any of this is unclear or you’re looking for some help, just contact us. Our friendly team of rhinos will be happy to hear from you.
This wraps up our Social Media Content for Restaurants series. If you missed the previous two articles, here you go!
