Marketing

5 Social Media Marketing Apps for Restaurant Owners

Apr 19, 2018

If you're a restaurant owner looking to up your social media game, here are 5 great social media marketing apps for you.

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Bandita AwasthiContent Writer

Restaurants aren't doing enough to market their businesses online-in fact, 71 percent of global restaurants believe they could be doing more to promote their businesses online. And simply having a presence across the various social media platforms won't generate more customers if you're not sure where or how to target your marketing efforts.

Add to this the (seemingly) constant social media algorithm changes, which determine the how, the why, and the when your followers see your posts, and it's clear that restaurateurs need to invest in social media marketing tools to stay ahead of the curve.

Smaller restaurants may think that they don't have budget to invest in sophisticated marketing tools, so we've put together this list of apps for restaurant owners that can help manage, track, and capitalize on social media engagements without breaking the bank.

Falcon.io

Falcon.io is a social media monitoring tool which allows you manage and monitor multiple customer touchpoints through one interface. Users can connect their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and Instagram accounts, with the ability to post on and monitor multiple accounts at the same time.

Why is Falcon.io great for restaurants?

The platform allows restaurants to create a cross-channel and customizable inbox where they can gather reviews, comments, and feedback in one neat place. This feature includes individual profile card creation for customers, so that restaurateurs can personalize their customer engagement, and also creates custom response templates to save time and create a cohesive social engagement strategy.

Pricing: Falcon.io offer a three tier pricing package.

  • The 'Starter' package is limited to three users, 5,000 listen mentions, and 10,000 audience profiles.

  • The 'Pro' package is suitable for five users, and increase to 25,000 listen mentions, and 50,000 audience profiles. It also includes three custom onboardings and a dedicated social media consultant.

  • The 'Premium' package offers unlimited user and channel use, and pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Reach out directly to Falcon.io for detailed pricing information.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that helps businesses to not only schedule regular content on a wide variety of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but also to grow their audiences by assessing trends and user engagements.

Why is Hootsuite great for restaurants?

Aside from managing content and scheduling, Hootsuite is also a great social listening tool. Users can monitor social media platforms for both keywords and locations-which means that restaurants can both pick up on what customers are already saying about them, and target potential customers who might be looking for recommendations in the same geographical area.

Pricing: Hootsuite offer a free plan, and tiered pricing packages.

  • The free plan offers tracking for three social media profiles, basic analytics, and thirty scheduled messages.

  • The 'Professional' plan costs $19 per month for just one user and ten social profiles.

  • For twenty social profiles and three users, the 'Team' plan costs $99 per month and includes custom analytics reports.

  • The 'Business' plan costs $499 per month for fifty social profiles and five users. This plan also includes custom branded URLs and premium app integrations.

Canva

Canva is a web-based graphic design tool that simplifies the process of creating social media graphics, posters, flyers and more using a drag and drop interface. Users also have access to a huge stock library containing photographs, fonts, and graphics, as well as being able to upload and use their own photographs and illustrations.

Why is Canva great for restaurants?

For smaller restaurants especially, building visual brand recognition is essential. In fact, 32 percent of marketers now use online design tools for creating visual content. Canva offer customizable flyer, logo, and menu templates for restaurants-a simple way to create relevant and memorable branding material.

Pricing: Canva offer a free version for their simple drag and drop editor, whilst 'Canva for work' pricing starts at $12.95 per member per month for enhanced features such as access to 400,000 photos, illustration, and templates, image resizing options, and custom fonts and palettes for your own branding.

An enterprise version of Canva is also in the works, which is set to offer pricing plans for teams, and a dedicated account manager.

TINT

TINT offers a unique approach to social media marketing, compiling all of your user generated content from various social media platforms and marketing efforts together into one visualization. Once all the data has been collected, you'll get what's called a 'TINT', a social display hub that can be embedded on your website or anywhere else you want to promote your social streams.

Why is TINT great for restaurants?

Through visualization, your customers or potential customers can see what other customers are saying about your restaurant, pulling from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. With 97 percent of consumers searching online for local businesses and 85 percent of consumers trusting online reviews as much as they'd trust a recommendation from a friend, compiling genuine feedback into one eye-catching visual display is a great way to cut the search time for your potential customers.

Pricing: TINT's Pro plan costs $500 per month, and $1000 per month for extra content and moderation.

Ripl

Ripl is a mobile app that combines static images into videos for social media. Users can add multiple photographs, add text, hashtags, and destination URLs in order to share to various social media platforms. Ripl also tracks social engagement, so users can see which platforms are generating the most user interaction.

Why is Ripl great for restaurants?

Ripl provides a way for smaller businesses to create visual content without breaking the bank. While Instagram stories are free to use and great for targeting your existing followers, Ripl allows restaurants with a smaller marketing budget to create their own videos to help propel their brand identity.

Pricing: Ripl offers a free version which provides seven designs, three pro designs, and a selection of music tracks. Their pro version costs $9.99 per month, and offers additional features such as access to the pro design catalog, more extensive font and music libraries, and a content scheduling feature.

Looking for more social media marketing apps for restaurant owners?

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About the author

Bandita Awasthi

Content Writer
I’m Bandita Awasthi, a content writer at GetApp. I bring you insights about finance, accounting, and customer relationship management. I have a bachelor's degree from the University of Delhi and have created research-intensive and thought leadership content for over five years. My home base is New Delhi, India. I love cats and learning different languages. The tech trends I think you should keep an eye on: the cryptocurrency revolution knocking at the doors of traditional financial institutions.
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