Did you know that LinkedIn is an ideal (but unsuspected) platform for restaurants?

Many people think that LinkedIn is only for typical professionals out there—lawyers, writers, nurses, graphic designers, to name a few. But believe it or not, you can now use LinkedIn for restaurants to flex your resto’s appetizing dishes to potential diners worldwide.

Aside from attracting customers, entrepreneurs are also using LinkedIn for restaurants to make valuable partnerships with investors, endorsers, and other professionals in the food business.

If you’re a resto owner and not yet sure how to use LinkedIn to your advantage, read on as we provide 7 tips to make an irresistible LinkedIn eatery brand.

The 4 Benefits of LinkedIn for Restaurants

Is using LinkedIn for restaurants worth it? If you’re able to create a unique and impressive dining brand on this platform, you’re on the way to enjoying these benefits:

  1. You can start strong partnerships with investors
  2. You can easily promote your culinary dishes to customers
  3. Discover new opportunities in the food business
  4. Meet other entrepreneurs and cooks who may send you referrals.

8 Tips to Build and Grow on LinkedIn as a Restaurant

Successful restos on LinkedIn have impressive brands that set them apart from other food businesses out there. Most of them highlighted their world-class culinary dishes, impressive brand identity, and unique connection with their customers.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can build an impressive LinkedIn for restaurants profile:

1. Create a Unique Profile

A restaurant LinkedIn profile is not that different from a professional profile (say, LinkedIn for lawyers profile).

But instead of showcasing the skills and expertise of an individual, your profile should highlight the business itself—what dishes or products it offers, how it connects to customers, and what people say about it.

It’s important to optimize your restaurant’s profile. That is, it should contain every information your audience should know. To ensure that you’ll not miss anything, consider the guidelines below:

  • Use your restaurant’s logo as the profile picture.
  • Add an engaging banner. It could be a collection of snapshots of your restaurant or the dishes you offer.
  • Write a LinkedIn headline that showcases the value of your business. This is a snippet of what your restaurant can provide to customers. If you’re struggling to write one, you may ask for Taplio’s Headline Generator’s assistance to write an impeccable headline.
  • The “About” section must comprehensively describe your restaurant’s products, services, and features that might be valuable to your target audience.
  • Highlight your restaurant’s achievements as well as reviews from your previous customers.

2. Write High-Quality Posts

Since you’re in the food business, your posts should “appetize” your followers to make your brand look attractive to them. With the help of AI, you can create striking posts within minutes.

Do this by publishing your latest dishes and sharing a snippet of how tasteful they are, as well as the quality of ingredients you’ve used. Don’t forget to add mouthwatering images of your food so the audience can see that your business is not just nobody in the industry.

You can also post about the latest parties or events that your restaurant has hosted. If you recently opened a new brand in another city, you must also update your viewers about it.

3. Create a Consistent Posting Schedule

One or two posts are not enough to be visible to the wide world of LinkedIn. You must post content regularly on your profile so your restaurant will be closer to people’s minds.

The more active you are on the platform, the higher the chance that your restaurant will pop up in their minds once they look for a place to eat in (or if they’re looking for a business to invest in).

4. Interact with Others’ Posts

Another way to be recognized on LinkedIn is to spend time liking, reposting, or replying to posts of other users on LinkedIn. Note that other users can see every reply or comment you make on the platform, so if you regularly do this, people will surely be interested in your restaurant and take the time to visit your profile.

5. Automate Direct Messages

Automated direct messages can help you build stronger connections with people who might be interested in working with your restaurant.

If you want to encourage them to invest or support your business, personalized automated DMs created by Taplio can help you grab those opportunities you’ve been eyeing for. You can also use this tool to answer people who have inquiries about the dishes or products your restaurant offers.

6. Share Visual Content

Words aren’t enough to entice your target audience that you’re in the business of offering tasty, palatable food. You also need to tease their taste buds with visuals that highlight your exquisite dishes and snacks.

Visual content has been proven to retain people’s attention by X. So, make sure to fill your profile with videos, photos, animations, or GIFs that will captivate your followers.

7. Get More Leads for Your Restaurant

Your restaurant’s LinkedIn profile must be able to turn your followers into potential customers, partners, or investors. By optimizing it, you can drive more traffic towards it and boost your online presence.

Don’t forget to add links to your official website, social media handles, or other online platforms where you can showcase your menu. You can also post blogs or cookbook-styled guides to generate more leads.

If you want to minimize time maximizing leads you can generate on LinkedIn, you can try our  17-minute personal branding strategy that applies well not only for professionals but also for food businesses.

8. Track and Analyze Your LinkedIn Performance

Make sure you always learn from each post or ad campaign.

LinkedIn provides you with a certain amount of information, such as number of impressions, number of interactions, etc. As well as valuable data on the people who interacted (city, job title, etc.).

Collect this data on a regular basis and analyze any drop in performance to optimize your strategy.

10 Restaurant Accounts You Should be Following on LinkedIn

Want to elevate your insights into the restaurant industry? Follow these 10 exceptional restaurant accounts on LinkedIn for a delectable blend of trends, innovations, and culinary inspiration.

1. Twin Peaks

This restaurant’s profile has a brilliant headline that captures the essence of its business—“EAT, DRINKS, SCENIC VIEWS.” This brief description immediately gives the audience an idea of what Twin Peaks can offer them.

2. Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery

This Arizona-based eatery has a great “About” section with a detailed description of the food, drinks, and entertainment this place can provide to customers.

3. Little Woodrow’s

Little Woodrow’s profile has a lot of posts highlighting their events, foods, as well as the sports teams they’re sponsoring! They successfully created a brand with an authentic connection with people near the restaurant.

4. Hooters of America

This massive franchisor of over 400 restaurants in the US effectively used visual content to captivate people’s attention. And oh, who can’t resist the photo uploads of their signature chicken wings?

5. Ojos Locos Sports Cantina

This restaurant has a tailored-fit brand that caters to its target audience. More importantly, it highlighted the foods and beverages it offers in the “About” section.

6. Dine Brands Global

This decade-old restaurant group brand uses videos, images, and informative articles to keep its followers engaged. They also feature their cooks and talents, which highlights the company’s commendable professionalism.

7. Olive Garden

Olive Garden’s profile checks all the right boxes for an impressive LinkedIn brand—a witty headline, holiday pub mats, palatable food photos, and behind-the-scenes cooking clips. It’s no surprise that over 52,000 people follow them!

8. Red Lobster

With over 31,000 followers, Red Lobster is a perfect example of a well-optimized profile with photos, videos, contact details, and links to their donation channels.

9. Chili’s

Chili’s spicy animations in their profile will surely keep your eyes engaged on their posts and updates. We also love that they include an option to visit their official website.

10. TGI Fridays

Vibrant and colorful visuals accentuate the flavorful dishes they offer their Texan customers. Their posts feature their top offerings, including frozen foods, rice dishes, wines, and chicken meals.

Struggling to build a compelling LinkedIn profile for your restaurant?