Introduction
TikTok’s explosion onto the social media scene has seen all manner of culinary creators rush to cash in on the platform’s popularity.
Their massive user base and unique interface allow companies to reach a wider audience, showcase their businesses in a more engaging way, and facilitate better engagement with their followers.
So what makes a restaurant “go viral” on TikTok, and how can you leverage this powerful platform to your advantage?
Understanding TikTok’s Algorithm and Trends
Before we get into strategy, let’s start with TikTok’s “secret sauce” aka the algorithm. Knowing how the algorithm works and what types of content perform well will give you the competitive edge when posting so you can make sure your content is doing what you want it to–getting you exposure.
TikTok prioritizes content that is engaging, entertaining, and relevant to the user’s interests. By creating content that checks these boxes you can leverage the platform to your advantage.
Staying on top of the latest trends is going to be your best strategy when using TikTok to grow your audience. These can change frequently and quickly so make sure that you’re keeping an eye on what is trending within your niche. Make sure you’re following others in the industry and keeping up with what people are posting, and what’s getting a lot of engagement.
Creating Engaging Content
When it comes to TikTok content, getting your followers to engage with your content is the number one priority. You want to make sure that your content resonates with your audience and encourages them to interact with it. Here’s some tips on how to make your content compelling and binge-worthy.
- Behind-the-Scenes Content: Give your audience a glimpse into the inner workings of your restaurant. Share videos of your chefs preparing signature dishes, or behind-the-scenes looks at your kitchen operations. One of my favorites is having your staff share their favorite (and maybe controversial) opinions on flavors or dishes. These videos often use the #BTS hashtag to help with searchability.
- Food Videos: TikTok is all about the visuals, and what better way to showcase your restaurant’s offerings than through mouth-watering food videos? Start sharing videos of your signature dishes being prepared, plated, and served. Experiment with unique camera angles and editing techniques to make your food videos stand out.
- Challenges and Trends: Participate in popular TikTok challenges and trends to increase your visibility and engagement. Make sure to put your own spin on them and make them relevant to your restaurant’s brand and offerings.
- User-Generated Content (UGC): With the rise of AI, more and more users are turning to UGC to get real, unfiltered reviews and opinions before they make a purchase. Reposting your follower’s content or creating duets is a great way to bring engagement and authenticity to your content.
- Collaborations: One of the quickest ways to grow or go vial is to collaborate with local influencers, food bloggers, or other businesses in your area. Cross-promoting to reach new audiences is an effective way to tap into existing communities and gain credibility.
Leveraging Hashtags and Captions
Hashtags have been around for a while and for good reason. They essentially act as a means to categorize your content and make it searchable within a platform. TikTok is no different and hashtags play a huge role in getting your content to the right people.
You should be using hashtags in addition to your caption. The hashtags will help people discover your content and captions provide detail and encourage engagement with your post.
It’s important to use a variety of hashtags in your posts ranging from broad (#food, #foodie) to more niche (#[CITY]restaurant, #[YOUR DISH]recipe). Location specific hashtags are incredibly valuable for businesses with a brick and mortar location that people can visit, always be sure to include them in your posts.
When writing your captions remember to give your post a call to action (CTA). Whether it’s to like, follow, or share your video, you want your audience to engage with your post. You can also use captions to include any details or extra information that adds to your video.
Engaging with Your Audience
Remember how we said that TikTok’s algorithm loves engagement? Well not only is it good for the algorithm, but it’s essential when building a community on the platform.
Making your followers feel seen and engaging with your audience can foster a sense of community around your brand. It also shows your followers that you have a genuine interest in them which makes them feel included in part of your brand journey.
Ask your audience to duet or stitch your video, go a step further by encouraging them to use a specific hashtag to participate in a contest you’re running to show appreciation.
Analyzing and Optimizing Your TikTok Strategy
When talking about showing up online, it’s important to always make sure you’re understanding what results you’re getting and how to change your strategy if needed.
Making sure that you’re checking TikTok’s built-in analytics tool consistently can provide valuable insights into your audience demographics, engagement rates, and what types of content perform best.
Use these insights to refine your content strategy, experiment with new formats or style, and double down on what is working. If you want to take it a step further, consider investing in third-party tools or services to track and analyze your TikTok performance more comprehensively.
TikTok Advertising for Restaurants
Growing a following organically is great, but if you want to see faster results consider using TikTok’s advertising platform. There are a few different options here:
- In-Feed Ads: These are the most common ad type on TikTok, appearing seamlessly within users’ “For You” feeds. In-Feed Ads can be up to 60 seconds long and can include interactive elements like website clicks, app downloads, and more.
- Brand Takeovers: These full-screen, immersive ads appear immediately when a user opens the TikTok app. They are attention-grabbing and can include elements like hashtag challenges or branded effects.
- TopView Ads: Similar to Brand Takeovers, TopView Ads are full-screen video ads that play when a user first opens the app. They can be up to 60 seconds long and are ideal for driving awareness and engagement.
No matter which one you choose, make sure you’re leveraging TikTok’s robust targeting options. Target users based on demographics (e.g., age, gender, location), interests, behaviors, and even advanced traits like user device types or operating systems.
Remember to follow these best practices for great TikTok ads:
- Keep it short and engaging: TikTok users have short attention spans, so aim for ads that are 15-30 seconds long and immediately capture their attention with visuals or a great hook.
- Stay on trend: Incorporate popular TikTok trends, sounds, or challenges into your ad to increase relatability and engagement.
- Offer value or incentives: Consider offering discounts, promotions, or exclusive deals within your ads to incentivize users to visit your restaurant.
- Clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Include clear CTAs that encourage users to take a specific action. Think visiting your website, ordering online, or visiting your physical location.
- Collaborate with influencers: Partner with relevant food or restaurant influencers on TikTok to create sponsored content or leverage their audiences for your ad campaigns.
TikTok Content Repurposing
You know what they say–work smarter not harder.
That’s exactly the thinking you want to bring to your TikTok strategy. You don’t need to come up with unique brand new content for your TikTok account, you can absolutely repurpose content from your Instagram or YouTube. In fact doing this will not only save you time, but keep you from burning out trying to create content!
Here’s a few strategies to keep in mind when repurposing content:
- Adapt Instagram Reels and Stories: If you have Instagram Reels or Stories featuring your dishes, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or branded content, you can easily adapt these for TikTok. Simply crop or trim the videos to fit TikTok’s vertical aspect ratio and add relevant hashtags, captions, and trending sounds or effects.
- Repurpose YouTube videos: While TikTok videos are typically shorter, you can repurpose clips or highlights from your longer YouTube videos for TikTok. Create a teaser for a recipe video or showcase a particularly engaging segment from a vlog or behind-the-scenes video.
- Convert static content: If you have high-quality photos or graphics, you can convert them into engaging TikTok videos using the app’s editing tools. Using a stop-motion video showcasing your restaurant’s dish preparation process or a slideshow featuring your menu items or interior design can all be great ways to repurpose photos for TikTok.
- Cross-promote successful TikTok content: When you create a piece of content that performs exceptionally well on TikTok, consider repurposing or cross-promoting it on your other social media channels. This can help you capitalize on the momentum and reach new audiences on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
Make sure you’re also using platform-specific calls-to-action or prompts that encourage users to engage with your content on TikTok (e.g., “Duet this video and show us your version!” or “Follow us on TikTok for more behind-the-scenes content!”).
Repurposing content is one of the easiest ways to grow on a new platform and post content that has already been proven to drive engagement with your audience, give it a try!
Conclusion
TikTok’s unique video format and widespread use mean that you can reach a large audience and have the potential of going viral. Leveraging the platform’s algorithm and trends, creating engaging content, and nurturing your community by reaching out to them are a great way to get started. And using hashtags, captions and making sure you’re looking at the data will help take your TikTok game to the next level.
Remember, success on TikTok requires consistent effort and a willingness to adapt to the platform and trends. Making sure you stay authentic to your brand will help you navigate this journey more easily and make you stand out so you can find success in growing your community on the platform. Don’t be afraid to try something new, and have some fun with it!
