Restaurant social media that sounds like your place

Why does restaurant social media go quiet?

Restaurant social media goes quiet because the people who know what is good this week are the same people too busy cooking to post about it. Domin8te Media takes that job off the list, so the posts keep going out every week.

Posting is never the urgent thing. The walk-in needs sorting, a cook called in sick, the delivery came short and there are covers to get through tonight. Posting can always wait until tomorrow, and tomorrow looks the same. So the feed goes quiet, sometimes for weeks, and the last thing anyone sees is a photo of a dish you stopped making in the spring. That is not a discipline problem. It is a kitchen problem. You keep cooking, and each post stays tied to what is actually on.

What should a restaurant post each week?

A restaurant should post what is actually on: the specials board, what is new in the window, seasonal dishes coming back and closures. Every week has something worth posting, even a week when nothing feels new.

• The specials boardThe dish of the day, the weekend brunch plate, the thing that sells out by lunch.
• What is new in the windowA new pastry in the case, a new bean on the grinder, a fresh batch of something people keep asking about.
• The seasonal returnThe soup coming back for winter, the patio opening, the drink that only shows up when it gets cold.
• Closures and holiday hoursPosted ahead of time, so nobody drives over to a dark room on a holiday Monday.
• The people behind the counterOnly if you want that. Some owners like their team on the feed, some would rather keep it to the food.

When your hours change, the post goes out alongside the change on your website and Google listing, so the three never disagree.

Your photos, your dish names, your voice.

Restaurant social media does not need a photographer. Your own phone photos, even a quick shot of the special at the pass, and captions that use the dish names off your menu board make posts that sound like your place.

A quick phone photo is often better than anything staged, because it looks like the real plate on a real Tuesday. Send what you have and we crop, tidy and fit it to the look of your feed. When there is no photo, we make a designed post instead: the dish name, a line about it and your colours, clean enough to read at scrolling speed. A week without a good picture is still a week with something to say.

Captions that sound like the place

If your regulars call it the Big Breakfast or the Nonna sandwich, so do we. That small thing is most of what separates a neighbourhood café from a chain on the feed. The words stay short and specific: what it is, when it is on, and where to find it.

One look, post after post.

A restaurant feed should keep one look from post to post: the same colours, the same type and the same way of framing photos, so people know it is you before they read the name.

A feed where every post looks different reads like a feed nobody is minding. We set that look for your place and keep it. We post to Instagram and Facebook, sized properly for each, so nothing gets cut off at the edges and nothing looks stretched.

How do I approve a week of posts?

Next week's posts arrive written and designed in your private dashboard, and you approve the whole week in one tap or leave a note. You give us access to your social accounts once at the start, and the work comes to you ready to check.

1. We plan the weekWe look at what is on, what is coming back and anything you have told us, and pick what each post is about.
2. Next week's posts arriveWritten and designed, in your dashboard, laid out the way they will appear.
3. You approve or leave a noteApprove the whole week in one tap. If a post needs changing, leave a note and we fix it.
4. We post through the weekEach post goes out on its day, tied to what is on.

If the special changes on Wednesday, tell us in a message from the dashboard, written like a text. Every message is kept, so nothing gets lost between a phone call and a sticky note by the till.

Posts that point somewhere useful.

Restaurant social media works best when each post points somewhere useful: a menu page that opens quickly on a phone, or an ad for the same offer. The posts, the ads and the site should all say the same thing about what is on.

A post about the new lunch plate links to the menu page on your website, with the menu, hours and directions up top. When a post is doing the job you want, an ad can boost it to more people nearby, with one offer and a few words. When what is on changes, the posts, the ads and the site change with it, so nobody sees an ad for last month's special.

Some places want their regulars to do some of the posting. Freddy's Fanpage is a community site we built for the regulars at Canada's first Freddy's, where people share their own food photos and vote on the menu. A person at the store approves every photo before it goes up.

If your feed has gone quiet, tell us what is slipping and get your plan. It comes back in plain English within one business day: what to fix first, and why.