How Video and Photo Can Tell Your Restaurant’s Story

Photo meets Video on Social Media 

The day has come where photos are no longer enough. Over the past couple years, it has been more about telling your story than showing a photo. At GAPCo in 2016 we knew then that captivating people with short video was the way the go. Video gives audiences a visual story that photos just cannot capture. In 2022, 82 percent of global Internet traffic came from video streaming and downloads.

Look at the rise of TikTok in the past couple years. It caught fire due to the ability to shoot raw footage on the fly. Instagram also has been pivoting toward video because of the popularity of viewers more attracted to video than photos. Marketers who use video content experience revenue growth 49 percent faster than those who don’t.

Photos do still have a place though. Showing a beautiful pizza shot from your phone with portrait mode can make your customers salivate. Showing a smile from one of your employees or customers can make people feel your culture. But we are in an age of storytelling, and everyone is tuning in to watch, laugh and listen. Roughly 91 percent of consumers want to see more online video content from brands. So how do you capture that attention? What works when shooting video or photos to give the audience what they want? And what are some things you shouldn’t do or worry about.

Both photo and video play together when thinking of a marketing strategy. But which do you choose? A lot of what you do depends on what you are shooting and what the focus is. Let’s dive into the dos and don’ts with social media when it comes to photo and videos.

Social Media Guiding Principles?

First let’s cover some guiding principles to shooting videos and taking photos. One of the things that all of us entrepreneurs struggle from is trying to make it “just right”. With video and photos, timing can be everything and time doesn’t wait for you. Catching a moment or a popular trend must be jumped on quickly. So, remember “progress not perfection”. Some content is better than missed or no content. This is a muscle you must develop to get good at capturing every moment.

Try to be active on every social media platform. At GAPCo most of our customer base was on Facebook which led to easy adoption of Instagram for us. With the popularity of TikTok, we have recently made the move to adding content there as well. At GAPCo we live by the philosophy of “always be top of mind”. You cannot be top of mind if you aren’t everywhere. You should do everything you can to put your restaurant in front of your current customers and new potential customers as much as possible.

Ideas for content will hit you every day, just watch and listen for the things people are doing and talking about. Whether it is a challenge online or a seasonal food item **Hatch Chili Peppers, cough cough** or even a national gimmick. There are ideas surrounding us day in and day out. So, when you see and have these ideas make it your own — put your branding on it, include your staff in it and have fun! Make the content exciting and it should make you smile. Just whatever you do, own it!

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts?

Do’s – When shooting video be sure to hold your phone vertical. The world is impatient. Short videos are great at getting quick attention. You want to post reels as much as you can. Consider adding in subtitles if you want both music and messaging. When customers tag you in a post be sure to review that content before just hitting repost. Also, thank that customer for posting. **Pro Tip** When a guest does something over the top like shoot multiple videos of them at your restaurant, DM them and send them swag! This has been very powerful in building customer loyalty to GAPCo. If you are shooting a long video, be sure to include audio. You want to sound clear and crisp. YouTube and Facebook are great outlets for longer videos. When shooting photos, having a high-res camera or a great phone can get the job done. There are many additions you can buy now for your cell phone like stabilizers, enhanced lenses and lighting to get the right photo or video.

Don’ts – Remember don’t get lost in the details. There are plenty of imperfect posts that get plenty of likes. Don’t question your judgment; you want guests that like what you like. Don’t put off ideas for posts. Get them out there as much as possible. At the same time, don’t feel the need to over-post. Three to seven times a week is ideal. Don’t feel like you must have music, a lot of video content doesn’t get heard because people are looking for visuals and generally have the sounds muted.

Social Media Strategy: Moving Forward

There are many ways you can get your content out versus just creating it and posting. You can consider live streaming, which you can promote beforehand to attract some engagement. You can have social media influencers come in and shoot their videos and photos to attract their followers, which then can become your followers. You can also hire a company to help you manage pushing your content out to your social media channels.

Lastly, if you are a visionary like me who can come up with some amazing ideas but struggle at know-how and execution, then grab the bull by the horns and hire someone to do it internally. You can really drive the creativity to a level you couldn’t do without a team. I was fortunate enough to hire my lovely wife Molly and long-time friend Phil Bossart who both helped contribute info for this article. Between Molly taking on social media and Phil covering the video I have the social and video pieces covered at GAPCo.

After reading this article I hope you are inspired to add video to your marketing strategy if you already haven’t. If you have already added it, I hope you were able to take some ideas away to ignite some new thoughts to push your restaurant and vision forward.

Sammy Mandell co-owns Greenville Avenue Pizza Company in Dallas, Texas. He is also a frequent speaker at Pizza Expo.