Social media tips to cook up winning engagement strategy

Winning social media tips for social media success

Guilio’s Italian takeaway is a high end, freshly made to order Italian takeaway with restaurant-standard food which has thrived during the pandemic.

Director, Gemma says: “Everything is done on tablets and all orders digitally going through delivery partners. We have very little contact with any customers, we are purely digital. There's no face-to-face."

Given that this was their pre-pandemic model, it meant little had to change for them and they weren't, like other eateries, desperately trying to take their business online to avoid lockdown closure.

Instead, Gemma was able to spend the pandemic focusing her efforts on using social media to increase visibility and acquire new customers.

Since lockdown has ended and restaurants have re-opened, Gemma concentrated on building a regular customer base from her delivery clientele. She has diversified the offering, adding in different themed evenings such as delivering specialised Italian desserts to keep people interested.

Gemma runs the social media herself. She spent three years honing her social media skills after having her daughter. She undertook online training courses in marketing and social media and has been consistently picked up social media tips and tricks from others along the way.

Gemma focuses her efforts on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook is great for her to reach an older demographic, but it's Instagram that best engages her younger audience. Instagram is a haven for foodie, and Gemma knows the importance of engaging with customers who share her food on the gram, and sharing their content to thank them for their support.

Instagram Stories helps Gemma show behind the scenes. She uses Stories to break the bad reputation of takeaways by showing the cooking and care the staff take over the food preparation. This gives customers a glimpse into their wonderful kitchen.

Gemma says: “Our main edge is competitions - people love them. We pick up 20/30 new followers each time we do a competition which could be anything from a Willy Wonka style golden ticket in the pizza box or tag to win competitions encouraging people to share with a friend."

Giulio's is an eco-friendly restaurant, so she focuses on that niche to offer something different. Gemma will show the sustainable and recyclable packaging or locally sourced ingredients. She knows her customers care about Giulio's eco ethos, and so she positions it front and centre within social media content.