How to Set Up Social Media Accounts for Your Bar or Restaurant

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Setting Up Your Social Media Accounts

As a bar or restaurant operator in the hospitality industry, one of the most beneficial ways to get more visibility and increase traffic to your doors is to have a strong online presence. In 2020, an estimated 3.6 billion people were active on social media. So it comes as no surprise that building your establishment’s brand online will be crucial in the success of your business. 

Thanks to the Internet, not only can you connect with new potential customers, but you can also stay connected with current customers and remind them to come back for more. Review sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google My Business, will allow customers to leave helpful reviews for future ones, as 82% of customers read online reviews before deciding where to eat. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will allow you to interact and engage with customers in a more personal way. 

Through the use of different social media channels, you, as the business owner, can form a relationship with patrons and keep them updated on events, specials, news, and everything else related to your business.

So if you’re new to the world of social media and aren’t sure how to set up your accounts, don’t worry! This guide will provide you with everything you need to know to start building your online presence. So, let’s dive right in!

How to Set Up Your Social Accounts

As mentioned above, the main platforms you can utilize to increase online exposure include Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and TikTok. Through these helpful online outlets, it’s convenient to reach numerous people locally, as well as spread the word about your business and brand to a larger audience who otherwise may not be aware that your business exists. 

Below we’ll dive into each outlet in more detail so you’ll have an active online presence in no time!

Facebook

As we’re sure you already know, one of the largest and most widely used social media platforms is Facebook. Currently, over 180 million businesses are active on Facebook. Therefore, your business should have a Facebook page where patrons can find information regarding your location, menus, specials, events, and much more. This page will be the go-to site for customers to view posts and reviews of your business. 

PourMyBeer Tip: Make sure your profile is loaded with the most updated and recent information, so anyone visiting your Facebook page sees that you are a legitimate business and worth the visit.

How to Set Up Your Facebook Account

  • Create a new account or log onto your personal Facebook page
  • Click on the create button (which looks like a big + sign) at the top of the page – next to your photo icon in the top right corner 
  • Under create, click on “Page”
  • Select “Business or Brand” and click “Get Started”
  • Type in your page information: Page name, Category, and Description
  • Post away!

Facebook Ads

Not only can your account be utilized for posting organic updates, but you can also take advantage of Facebook Ads, which gives you the ability to reach thousands of people in your area. 

Through Facebook Ads, you can target select demographics that you think might be more attracted to your business. For example, if you own a local bar with a variety of craft beers, you will want to target your ads toward people in your community who are over 21 years of age. Furthermore, you might want to only serve your ads to people who have shown interest in craft beer or beer in general. You will also want to only select a certain radius (mileage) within your area so that you can concentrate on a local audience (as it wouldn’t make much sense to serve your ad to someone on the other side of the state).

There is a lot of freedom when it comes to creating your ads. Many restaurants and bars utilize this avenue of Facebook to increase their foot traffic, raise awareness about their new offerings, events, and such.

Facebook Insights

When you use Facebook to promote your business, you should analyze the data that you receive from your business page’s views and interactions. Through Facebook Insights, you can use the data from Facebook users to implement new marketing strategies and see what is or isn’t working on your page. Some of the important Insight elements include views, reach, and engagement. 

The views display how many times the ad has been viewed, and you can break this down by different categories. For example, you can see how many individuals viewed each section of your page, like the home page, your posts, your photos, and videos. 

Post reach allows you to see how many people have been exposed to a specific post even if just for a split second while they are scrolling through their newsfeed. Post engagement measures how many Facebook users interacted with your post, through reactions, comments, shares, and the number of clicks on pictures or links.

Facebook Reviews

Having positive reviews on Facebook is another important aspect of marketing your business. Good reviews on Facebook will increase your opportunity of gaining new customers since most people rely on reviews to decide whether or not to try a new place.

These reviews will build trust between your establishment and its potential customers, as people are always taking into consideration what others think about a business. Now that you know why it’s important to have Facebook Reviews, let’s take a look at how to get customers to leave reviews. It may not seem so easy to get your customers to share their opinions of your business, but it’s simpler than you think! Many individuals are willing to share a review, but sometimes they just need a little push.

Your customers often don’t realize how important their reviews can be for their favorite businesses. There are various ways in which you can let your customers know that you would like to gain more Facebook reviews, including letting them know how much you appreciate their support and how helpful they are to your business’s success. In doing so, you can create incentives for leaving a review. For example, offering a coupon for a certain percentage off their meal or offering a free appetizer. Ultimately, your customers just appreciate you showing that you care.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with hundreds of millions of members, and is growing rapidly. The platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs. Make sure to consider creating a LinkedIn account for your establishment. it is a great way for members to learn more about your business, brand, products and services, and job opportunities.

How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Account

  • Go to LinkedIn and navigate to the sign up page.
  • Input your personal informations such as, first name, last name, email.
  • Then create a password.
  • Now click “Join Now”.
  • Complete any additional information that is listed.

How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Business Page

  • Go to LinkedIn and navigate to the “Work” icon in the top right corner of your LinkedIn homepage.
  • Click “Create a Company Page”. 
  • Select the Page type you’d like to create from the following options: Small business, medium to large business, or Showcase page.
  • Enter your Page identity, Company or Institution details, and Profile details information.
  • Check the verification box to confirm you have the right to act on behalf of that company or school in the creation of the page.
  • Click ” Create Page”.
  • Click “Start building your page” to build out your Page

Instagram

Instagram is another powerful tool to increase online exposure for your business. You can set up a free business profile that tells viewers which industry you are in and a little bit about yourself, and you can also include a link to direct them to your website. Creating content through an Instagram business page will certainly allow you to grow your business and customer base. Not to mention that items like signature cocktails and food are extremely visual, creating a perfect opportunity to truly show off what your business is all about.

How to Set Up Your Instagram Account

  • Go to Instagram and create a new account 
  • On your mobile device, open your newly created Instagram profile and click on “Edit Profile”
  • Press “Switch to Professional Account”
  • Click through their section of what Instagram brings to your business and select the category of your business (these are pretty limited, so even if it is not applicable for your establishment, you might need to opt-out for “restaurant” – you can always choose to NOT display the category label in this step)
  • To complete profile, select your “business type” as “business”
  • Review your contact/business information
  • After setting up your Instagram account, you can connect it to your Facebook business page

Hashtags

The use of hashtags allows you to reach an even bigger audience and grasp the attention of users beyond your initial following. When you post a photo on Instagram and include, for example, #selfpour, #localbar, or #localeatery, you are allowing those who are interested in those exact things to find your business page more easily. This works especially well when you include a hashtag with your specific location, such as a city or neighborhood. With hashtags, you can be as broad or defined as you like, but either way, they will help increase your establishment’s discoverability and brand awareness.

Instagram Ads

Similar to Facebook, Instagram allows you to create advertisements to reach more users. You can create a post and decide which demographic you want to target. Those who are scrolling through their feed will see your ad, be more likely to click on it, and learn more about your business. As you create your advertisements, it’s important to consider the design, photo, and wording. A photo with a filter and eye-catching design will entice your viewers and stand out in their feed, as opposed to a bland photo that they’ll just scroll past. Also, include an informative yet fun caption that is compelling and will make your audience want to learn more about you.

Instagram Insights

Instagram Insights allows you to view how many people you reach and how many of those people are engaging with your posts. You can use these numbers to implement various social media marketing strategies. By analyzing page viewership and engagement, you can learn more about your target audience and what parts of your strategy are working and what’s not.

By creating a business account on Instagram, you can get the real-time metrics on how your stories and promoted posts (ads) are performing throughout the day. With this particular feature, you can get a pretty good insight into how your followers and other users are interacting with your posts and profile. 

Twitter

Twitter is one of the longest-running social media platforms and has proven to be very powerful when it comes to informing people about what’s going on in their local communities, as well as nationally in real-time. Through this medium, you will be able to quickly and efficiently send out updates about your business and keep your customers and community members in the know.

How to Set Up Your Twitter Account

  • Create a new Twitter account 
  • Fill out your personal information
  • Choose a profile photo and a biography to describe your business
  • Check off your interests or those similar to your business 
  • Follow similar accounts
  • Start Tweeting!

Twitter Ads

Similar to that of Facebook and Instagram, you can create ads on Twitter to reach many more people beyond your current following. By “promoting” your Tweets, you will also be promoting your account, therefore, increasing your overall visibility to potential customers. Through this form of marketing, you can quickly and easily grow your Twitter community, promoting your account even more by just word of mouth and interacting with similar accounts.

Business Insights

With the use of business insights, you can see how effective your advertising is on Twitter, and how many people you can reach and engage with through the use of hashtags and updates. Twitter allows you to learn how you can adjust your marketing strategy by offering personalized tips to guide your business to success

Google My Business

When a customer goes to their Google search engine and types in a restaurant, brewery, or bar they’re interested in, one of the first things that they’ll see is the business’ information. This includes a website link, address, days and times of operation, phone number, photos of the location, Google reviews, and Facebook reviews. Because of all the information available to potential customers through Google My Business, you must create an account for your business. 

How to Set Up Your Google My business Account

  • Go to Google, and press “Create Account” and then “To Manage my Business”
  • To create a Google account, you will need a Gmail email address – either create a new one or use an existing email
    • PourMyBeer Tip: We suggest having an email designated for your business rather than just using your personal email
  • Fill out your personal information for your business
  • After filling out the info, go to the 9 dots at the top of the page and click “My Business” at the top of the menu
  • On the left side, go to “Info” and fill out specifics about your business: Address, Times of operation, Phone number, Website, Photos 

Google Analytics

When you create a Google account for your bar or restaurant, you will also have access to various data and statistics collected from users. Google Analytics will track and report any website traffic from your business’ website and display it for you to analyze. You can utilize various metrics through this tool and determine important information about your audience and target demographics. 

Yelp

Yelp is one of the most utilized applications for viewing local bars or restaurants in one’s community. Through this medium, customers can leave reviews for their favorite spots and/or places that may need a little insight into what they can fix. It will certainly be helpful for you, as the business owner, to create a Yelp page so that you can hear about what you’re doing well and what needs a little improvement. 

How to Set Up Your Yelp Page

  • Go to Yelp homepage and scroll down to the bottom to see a list of categories
    • Under the “Yelp for Business” category, click on “Claim Your Business Page.” On this page, you can read up on how to get your business page started and how to use your account
  • Click on “Manage my Free Listing”
  • Enter your zip code and the name of your business
  • Fill out the information about your business: Business category, Business phone number, Website, Street address, Email address
  • After filling out your info, you must create a business account and complete the following information: First and last name, email address, and password
  • After a quick verification, you are all set and ready to start receiving reviews! 

One of the biggest elements of owning a business is being able to take criticism and using it to implement new strategies or improve on existing ones. Yelp allows you to get an overview of how customers rate your business and how they feel about it in general. Also, Yelp uses one’s location to suggest restaurants and bars in that specific location, therefore allowing new customers to find your establishment and read up on how other patrons enjoy it. Yelp users can even see more of the specifics about your restaurant, such as price range, proximity, and cuisine. This allows them to find exactly what they are looking for, so you must fill out all of this information regarding your restaurant. 

TripAdvisor

Lastly, utilize TripAdvisor to stay connected with customers online and to increase your exposure online. This website is helpful when it comes to informing travelers about your business, prompting them to want to visit your establishment. 

How to Set Up Your Tripadvisor Account

  • You will need to create a new account for TripAdvisor by clicking here 
  • Fill out all your business’ information
  • Click next to finalize and start making your profile “yours” by adding beautiful pictures and encouraging your customers for first reviews

Through TripAdvisor, those traveling to your area will be aware of your business and can see how customers reviewed it and even recommend including your business in their itinerary. Vacationers will gain all the information they need and want to know, and you can even link your other social media platforms, additionally giving you a new demographic of customers!

TikTok

As we’re sure you already know, TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms. TikTok allows users to create, edit, watch, and share videos up to 60 seconds long. Users can choose from trending audios and film right in the app or upload and stitch videos together from their photo library.

How to Set Up Your TikTok Account

  • Tap the profile button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
  • Tap “Sign Up with Phone or Email” to create an account. Or, tap the Facebook, Google, or Twitter logo to create a TikTok account by connecting to your existing Facebook, Google, or Twitter account. 
  • If you tapped “Sign Up with Phone or Email,” use the scroll wheels to set your birthdate. 
  • To create an account using your email address, tap “Email” to the right of “Phone” near the top of the screen. 
  • Type your email address and tap the red button on the right side of the screen.
  • A verification menu will pop up on the screen. Follow the instructions on this menu to verify your email address.
  • After you’ve added your email address to your account, type the password you want your account to have, and then tap the red button on the right side of the screen to finish creating your account.

TikTok For Business

TikTok For Business is a global platform designed to give brands and marketers the solutions to be creative storytellers and meaningfully engage with users. We recommend sticking to a regular TikTok account because TikTok For Business limits some of the features you are allowed to use. If you choose to use TikTok For Business, here is how you would go about setting up your account:

  • Within the app, click “…” on the top right of the “Me” page.
  • Then click “Manage account” and select “Switch to Business Account.” 
  • Choose the category that best fits your business to receive customized content, events, and solutions.

Once when all your social media accounts are properly set up, here is more information on how you can take your online presence to the next level. 

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Here When You Need Us!

As you can see, there are numerous benefits of having social media set up for your business. It allows your current and future customers to stay updated with news regarding your establishment, while also increasing your online visibility

We hope you found this article helpful as you start to navigate your social media platforms. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to us at cheers@pourmybeer.com. Cheers!

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