Restaurant owners: 7 tips to increase the number of subscribers to your Facebook page

You've set up a Facebook page for your restaurant, but you don't have enough subscribers? Don't panic, we've got a few tips to help you (re)start on the right foot and make a name for yourself on this essential social network.

Facebook reach - the number of people you can reach with your post - is an essential criterion for the success of your business. The larger your audience, the greater your chances of reaching a large number of potential customers. An additional subscriber is someone who has publicly shown their interest in your restaurant: they've discovered you, now you just have to convince them to come and enjoy a meal at your place. But how do you turn a subscriber into a customer? To your keyboards! All you need to do is follow these tips, arm yourself with a little patience, and you're in business.

1. Fill in all your details

Filling in your establishment's details allows you to be better referenced on Facebook and to meet the needs of your prospects. When someone visits your Facebook page, it's important that they can immediately find all the information about your establishment. Keep in mind that Internet users are impatient: if they don't find what they're looking for in a few seconds, they'll move on:

• The exact address of your establishment?
• What are your opening hours?
• The telephone number of your restaurant?
• Your website url?
• The opening date of the establishment?
• Your menu?

You can fill in these details in the "About us" tab on the left-hand side of your page. If you visit the Happy Dock restaurant in Le Havre page, you'll find all this information at a glance:

Facebook also gives you the opportunity to introduce your establishment in a few sentences, accompanied by a photo. The restaurant Bistro l'Atelier chose a beautiful shot of one of its dishes to illustrate its introduction. The photo is eye-catching and mouth-watering! The few lines that follow the photo are very clear: they indicate the precise location of the establishment (in the shopping center), and give details about the setting and what goes into the dishes.

2. Animate your Facebook page

There's no secret to getting your prospects to "like" your page! It has to be active. Your Facebook page is your restaurant's showcase: it has to make them want to discover it or come back. Regularly publishing content helps maintain a link with your subscribers. Feed your page withenticing photos, write posts, illustrate them with beautiful visuals, share your events with your fans (inauguration, anniversary, special menu, calendar holidays...). The Italian restaurant La Pizza d'Anita shares content every week to maintain a link with its subscribers:

The efforts are paying off for the pizzeria: as the weeks go by, the likes, comments and shares increase.Photos of your dishes, of your different areas, of your teams... You have many elements at your disposal to succeed in catching the eye of your Internet users, so it's up to you to play!

3. Organize competitions

Competitions are an excellent way ofencouraging your prospects to interact with your publications. On the occasion of the World Cup, the Bistro l'Atelier La Défense restaurant offered to guess the score of the French team's match, with a prize for the winner. The result: nearly 6,000 people reached in just two days, including 677 reactions, comments and shares from Facebook users!

4. Add the Facebook widget to your website

By adding the Facebook widget to your website, you'll drive traffic to your Facebook page and optimize your chances of increasing your subscriber base.

5. Advertise on Facebook

If done right, Facebook advertising is a real boost for your business. Thanks to sponsored posts, this social network enables you to reach your targets with an optimized budget. Not sure how to make a success of your advertising campaigns? We'll explain it all in our guide.

6. Connect your wifi with your Facebook page

A great marketing tool for catering establishments, wifi enables you to build customer loyalty and attract new ones. If you offer a free connection, you can link your wifi network to your Facebook page. In this way, every customer who connects to your wifi network is counted as a visitor to your restaurant's page. This trickimproves your ranking on the social network, so you're more likely to increase your number of subscribers.

7. Encourage your employees and friends to follow you

If your Facebook page is brand new, or you don't have many subscribers, encourage your employees to follow your page and "like" posts. Facebook users are more likely to subscribe to a page that already has a certain number of subscribers: your employees and friends can give you a big boost if you're just starting out. Invite them to like your page:

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, we'll be delighted to help!