As a member of the food service industry, we are sure that you have heard of food bloggers and food influencers. From Khairul Amin, KL Foodie to Eat Drink KL, food bloggers and media have been affecting consumer choices. If you are interested to know more about how to get started with food business influencer marketing, continue reading as we tell you more!
Engaging a micro-influencer will not cause you a fortune. Some influencers who are genuinely interested in your restaurant might even accept vouchers or a free meal as forms of payment. It is all up to your negotiation! When done right, these micro-influencers can help increase awareness about your restaurant, and their followers would want to pay a visit just to enjoy the same experience. This can result in better footfall, leading to greater sales and social media following.
Rather than slowly building your social media following organically, collaborating with an influencer will help speed up your marketing efforts. In order to reach the right audience, choose influencers whose personality and content direction matches your restaurant, instead of simply going for those who have a higher number of followers.
This is especially true when your brand or your type of offering is new to the market. Not every customer is adventurous enough to try something new, so it is a good idea to let influencers do the talking. Influencer-generated content also tends to be seen as more credible too.
Have a special menu or new dishes to introduce? Pay selected influencers a fee and let them mention your brands on their platform. In other words, you are paying them for content creation, their experience was “sponsored” by your restaurant.
This approach can be seen as more authentic, but as a business owner, you might have lesser control over what the influencers would say. You can invite these influencers and their friends over, and let them experience what it is like to spend time in your restaurant. All you need to do is bring on your A game, so they are inclined to share more about their great experience!
This common tactic to attract new customers can be done on an influencer’s page and profile as they have better reach and engagement. Team up with influencers and let them give a shout-out about your contest on their platform so you get more participation in return. If your marketing budget allows, you can also offer a unique promo code to the influencer’s followers so they can get a special discount when they dine in at your place.
You can start by talking to your regular customers to find out who are the influencers that they follow – that might give you a clear indication of which type of influencer you should go for. Otherwise, pay attention to social media and explore opportunities to work with some up-and-coming micro-influencers. You might also want to experiment with a few names first before deciding on a long-term working relationship!
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