Pizza Today - March 2021 - 36

The Standard-Bearers: Instagram
and Facebook
With 2.7 billion and 1 billion monthly
active users, respectively, Facebook and
Instagram dominate social traffic, yet
both continue to evolve and offer new
ways for restaurants to engage audiences
and distribute unique content.
Facebook, for instance, continues to
take larger steps into the e-commerce
arena. Users can now purchase products
from Facebook as well as Instagram, its
sister network, without ever having to
leave either platform, thereby cultivating
the faster, more seamless checkout experience today's consumers crave.
" For restaurants looking to diversify
revenue streams through merch and
other e-comm products, Facebook's tools
could play a significant role in helping to
launch, sustain or grow these businesses, "
Goff says.
Meanwhile, Instagram Stories enables
restaurants to post more off-the-cuff,
authentic-feeling content that counters the heavily edited content that can
dominate Instagram feeds, Liu says. With
little more than a smartphone and basic
knowledge of overlay tools and captions,
restaurants can create appealing content
on Instagram Stories.
But beware: on both ubiquitous platforms, investing in paid options - which
can be economical and evaluated, it's
worth noting - are necessary to maximize
reach.
" You can't get around paid on Facebook
and Instagram because of the algorithms,
so familiarize yourself with paid options
on both, " Liu suggests. " To not do this is
to miss out. "

The Rising Star: TikTok
Over the last two years, TikTok has
been the belle of the social media ball. In
February 2019, the video-sharing network
claimed nearly 27 million monthly active
users in the U.S. Today, it boasts well over
100 million, half of whom are daily active
users, according to company data.
" Without question, " Goff says,
restaurant marketers should consider
developing a paid and unpaid presence on
TikTok given the exposure the platform
delivers, the variety of creative paths it
offers and its fresh appeal.

" The TikTok opportunity exists today,
but it might not exist tomorrow as
more brands jump on board, " Goff says.
" Restaurants should look for ways to immediately start participating on TikTok,
particularly through the use of low-cost
TikTok influencers. "

The Not-to-be-Ignored: Snapchat, LinkedIn and YouTube
While Snapchat, LinkedIn and YouTube are all established platforms, each
provides its own unique, though often
overlooked appeal.
With TikTok's surge, many wrote off
one-time Gen Z darling Snapchat. The
10-year-old messaging app, in which
pictures and messages vanish after a short
time, has wooed back users with some
strategic development and new promotions, Goff says, including a daily $1 million giveaway for the best user content. Its
resurgence is worth monitoring.
While LinkedIn is mostly used for professional networking, the platform now
rewards high-engagement content with
equally high organic reach in its news
feed. With that, Goff says restaurants
might " seek out ways to create engaging
or shareable content on the platform with
the intention of reaching a large, tuned-in
user base at little to no cost. "
And don't sleep on video powerhouse
YouTube, especially for longer-form
video. Restaurants might use the platform
to share instructional tips for home cooks
or detail the development of a new menu
offering.
One important note: as so many
restaurants leverage multiple social media
channels, Liu suggests using a scheduling tool such as Hootsuite or Buffer
to streamline posting and spur a more
calculated plan.
" Using a scheduling tool will lead to
a more thoughtful approach and also
help improve the efficiency of your social
media efforts, " he says. ■

DANIEL P. SMITH Chicago-based
writer has covered business issues and best
practices for a variety of trade publications,
newspapers, and magazines.

THREE QUESTIONS TO
ASK BEFORE LAUNCHING
A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA
PROFILE
In the rush to capture social media's
benefits, pizzerias should not jump onto
a new digital bandwagon without first
considering the practical and strategic
aspects of adding another social channel to their marketing mix. So, before
launching a new social media platform,
consider these central questions:
What social networks are my core
customers using? Investigate where
customers spend their time online for
inspiration, news, entertainment and
the like. That's where you want to be.
Am I committed to doing this well?
Social marketing is a marathon, not a
sprint. Absent an investment of time
and energy into developing consistent
and relevant content, a new social
media channel will likely fall flat and
struggle to deliver a reasonable ROI.
Who will oversee content? Someone
competent must manage a new social
media channel and that individual
should be invested in doing it well.

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