10 Restaurant Instagram Story Ideas to Attract More Followers

1.22 billion people use Instagram each month. It has become the number one social media platform to help businesses reach out to a much larger audience and present their products in the best light possible.

Instagram stories have taken the world by storm allowing businesses to create storytelling around their brand and showcase what they do in a fun and easily digestible way.

More than 300 million users interact through Instagram stories each day. It’s no wonder a wide range of businesses, including restaurants, are now taking advantage of this medium.

If you are running a restaurant and looking for some fresh new ideas on how to attract new customers, you should consider leveraging the power of Instagram stories for your next campaign.

Wondering how? We bring you ten fantastic restaurant Instagram story ideas you can use to increase your number of followers.

What Are Instagram Stories Used for?

Brands can use Instagram stories to connect with their followers in an authentic way that doesn’t take a lot of time and effort. Stories can be posted in seconds and they help you share your day-to-day operations with customers, taking them behind the scenes.

10 Restaurant Instagram Story Ideas

1. Take customers behind the scenes

Letting people see only what’s on the surface is not enough. You need to invite them inside and show them how things are done from start to finish.

One way to do this is by showing them what happens behind the scenes, and there are so many things you can showcase in this way.

Show them the market where you buy the freshest groceries for your meals, showcase pictures and videos of your staff celebrating various occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.), or a day in the life of your chef.

There are a plethora of ways you can attract your visitors’ attention and make them want to learn more about your restaurant. These can be a set of photos, a collage, or a video, extending throughout the entire week or even a month.

You can use different tools to play and experiment with stories, like a boomerang or various other filters to highlight visuals like smoke coming from a fryer.

2. Interview your restaurant staff

One way to grow your restaurant’s Instagram account and gain even more followers is to help them get to know your team better.

By knowing more about the people in charge of making their daily meals, they will feel more closely attached to you and see you as a friend they can always rely on.

To help them learn more about your staff, you may create a set of interviews featuring your waiters, cooks, chefs, and others. Some of the questions you may want to ask them are:

• What is your favorite dish?
• How do you prepare your favorite dish?
• How long have you been working in this restaurant?
• Where do you get the ingredients?
• Who is your biggest support here?
• What is the most exciting part of your working day?
• What’s the most delicious meal you have prepared recently?

Besides doing interviews with your staff, you can also make food tutorials and involve your team in making these videos.

Recipe videos are trending, and you should try making your own. However, don’t forget to include yourself in these videos and images.

Nothing is more important than showing how much you care about the people you work with daily. This way, you will make your visitors feel they can trust you.

3. Organize competitions

Instagram stories are the ideal tool for organizing competitions with your followers.

The most important thing when organizing competitions is to make sure they are well-planned from start to finish. Otherwise, they may have the opposite effect and disappoint potential customers.

There are a few things you need to plan well. One of them is the goal of your competition, the entry method, who will be in charge, the prize the winners will receive, and the process of selecting the winner.

Learn more: 20 Restaurant Contest Ideas That Will Delight Your Customers

4. Create a brand story

Now that you have many photos and short videos start formulating a story around your brand. You may choose to tell a story chronologically or focus on specific themes; the opportunities are endless.

Whatever you do, make sure you are consistent. This does not only mean using the same colors, designs, and tone of voice but also publishing on a regular cadence.

Also, ensure that you use the same restaurant handle in every story that you post and incorporate hashtags in your stories. However, don’t use too many hashtags, as this may make your posts spammy.

You might also like: Restaurant Instagram Marketing Ideas That Will Help You Increase Sales

Always remember that you want your brand to sound and look authoritative, unique, and consistent.

If you need experts to help you build a story around your brand, you can always reach out to a social media marketing agency. They will guide you and provide you with the steps needed to achieve your goals.

5. Partner with other brands and influencers

One way to reach out to even more followers is by partnering with a brand that shares the same market as your restaurant. For instance, this can be food or equipment that you use for preparing food.

This way, you can expand your social media outreach to new customers and build your network of followers.

However, remember that you need to pick a brand that resonates with your brand. Otherwise, your followers might find it hard to relate to your posts, which is something you want to avoid.

You can also find an influencer for your brand who is ready to visit your restaurant and post a review on Instagram stories to spark interest in your place among their followers. This will cause a buzz around your restaurant business.

Read more: Restaurant Influencer Marketing Guide: How to Do It and Why

6. Leverage user-generated content

There is no better marketing than word of mouth. If your visitors are satisfied with the service and meals you prepare and offer, they will be happy to share that on their Instagram stories.

People like sharing photos of delicious meals or excellent restaurants they occasionally visit. And, if your restaurant has something that distinguishes it from the rest of the restaurants (unusual furniture, extraordinary meals, or celebrities), they will post that on social media.

Reposting their stories is one of the easiest restaurant Instagram story ideas you can try. Also, you may consider asking your visitors and followers to write customer reviews so that your potential customers can have one more reason to visit your restaurant.

Read more: User-Generated Content for Restaurant Website or Free Advertising?

7. Include special offers and discounts in your stories

People love promotions and special offers. This will draw their attention and make them come and visit your restaurant or place an order online.

Creating discounts and special offers and posting them on Instagram stories is a great idea and should be on your to-do list.

Don’t forget to include a link in your bio to redirect users to your menu or order page.

8. Encourage direct reservations

Leverage Instagram to encourage your followers to make direct reservations. You can do this easily by posting stories encouraging people to visit your reservations page.

You can add the link in your bio. Once people click on it, they will be automatically redirected to your website, which allows them to make a reservation within seconds.

But, posting a link in the bio is not enough. You must constantly remind people they can book a table on your website, making the whole process more visible, accessible, and convenient.

9. Post daily updates

Another great way to inform your followers about what’s happening inside your restaurant is to share daily updates.

For instance, a story is a great reminder if you are preparing a new daily meal and would like to share the news with your followers.

Also, create videos to show when your restaurant is buzzing, when it’s fully booked or when a special event is going on, like a birthday party.

Finally, you can use your daily updates to inform your followers about the restaurant’s current capacity so that they know whether there are available tables or not.

10. Promote new blog posts

One of the cons of Instagram stories is that they don’t allow you to post links. The only way you can add a link is in your bio.

Luckily, you can work on increasing your number of followers. Once you reach 10,000 followers, you are allowed to add a swipe-up feature to direct your followers to your website.

Once you get this feature, you can create bite-sized snippets of your blog post (for instance, including quotes) and use them as teasers to draw your followers’ attention. Your call-to-action will always invite readers to swipe up and read the full version of the blog.

You might also like: 20 Restaurant Blog Ideas That Will Bring More People to Your Website

Take the next step

There’s no time to wait! Leverage the power of these restaurant Instagram story ideas to get as many followers as possible, who will eventually help you increase your return on investment.

This article is a guest post.