5 Influencer Marketing Ideas for Restaurants

Brainstorming new ways to leverage influencers for your brand or venue?

Since releasing the Node beta, over 200 influencer campaigns have been created by our restaurant partners in Toronto, resulting in over 4000 unique Instagram posts from influencers.

Based on what we’ve observed, we’ve rounded up effective campaign strategies that you can execute with the Node App.

Ongoing Campaigns

Don’t have the time to collect more photos and videos for your social accounts? An ongoing campaign puts your content creation on auto-pilot and grows your visibility on Instagram.

Benefits:

• Requires little oversight. Set-up your campaign once per month and let the content flow-in!
• Receive a wide variety of photos with different action shots and angles.
• Continuously reach new audiences by having your brand regularly shared by influencers.

How to create an ongoing campaign:

1. Select a Date Range spanning 3-6 weeks. (you can exclude certain days/hours)
2. For your node Offering, indicate the items available. Allowing more options = a wider variety of photos.
3. Indicate any Exceptions to your offering. If your node is only available on specific days/hours— indicate the time or date here.
4. Influencer Targeting/Radius: Select a wide range to receive more visits and posts.

Things to keep in mind:

• If you’re hiring new staff at your venue, be sure to inform them that influencers will be visiting through the Node App.
• You can always log-in to the app to track posts and repost the influencer content as you see fit.

Media Events

Generate content overnight with a one-time media event. Events are perfect for promoting seasonal items and new openings.

Benefits:

• Get your venue buzzing overnight with a wave of influencer posts and stories.
• Show-off your venue’s aesthetic with staged photos and action shots.
• More control to plan and curate the experience in advance.

How to create an influencer media event:

1. For your Date Range, select a single day spanning 1-3 hours. For weekdays, we recommend scheduling your media event in the evening.
2. In your Offering, indicate that you’re hosting a media event and mention the items being showcased and offered for tasting.
3. Scheduling your node 1-3 weeks in-advance will provide guests with more time to RSVP for your event.
4. Visit Limit: Select the total number of influencers you’d like to host. If your goal is to pack the venue, we recommend allowing additional guests.
5. Use a unique hashtag to track the engagement from your event on Instagram.

Things to keep in mind:

• If you don’t want to stall your regular business-hours during a media event, you can section off a part of your venue for the 1-3 hour duration.
• Use this opportunity to network and connect with your influencer-guests on a more personal level. They might have great feedback to share with you.

Staged Photography

Seeking the perfect photo, but don’t have the time or equipment to capture it yourself? Node can help with that!

Benefits:

• Save money/time on photography.
• Get the perfect shot for a specific item.
• Requires very little planning or preparation.

How to plan staged photo-shoots:

1. Choose a Date Range that you would like for the influencers to visit your venue. Keep in mind it can take up to 7 days after their visit for the photo to be posted.
2. For your Offering, indicate the item(s) that you’re looking to have photographed.
3. Select the Visit Limit based on the number of photos you’d like to obtain.

Things to keep in mind:

• To have your photos to be captured with a specific theme, mention it in the Content Requests.
• If you have any special props or backdrops, you can ask influencers to include that within their content.

Grand Opening Event

You just opened a new venue, you’ve got the food and service figured-out— now it’s time for a grand-opening event. While it may seem like a simple concept, your grand opening is an opportunity to create momentum and drive early success.

Benefits:

• Create local interest in the community.
• Showcase your venue as a fun and exciting spot for social gatherings.
• Build a strong relationship with prominent influencers in-person.
• Generate a gallery of creative Instagram posts and stories overnight.

How to create a grand opening event:

1. For your Date Range, select a single day spanning 1-3 hours. We recommend scheduling your media event 3-6 days before your official grand opening to the public.
2. In your Offering, indicate that you’re hosting a grand opening event and offering an exclusive invitation to influencers for an early tasting. Scheduling your node 1-3 weeks in-advance will provide guests with more time to RSVP for your event.
3. Visit Limit: Select the total number of influencers you’d like to host. If your goal is to pack the venue, we recommend allowing additional guests.
4. In the Content Requests, be sure to ask influencers to mention the date of your public grand opening in their Instagram posts and stories. Use a unique hashtag to track the engagement from your event on Instagram.

Things to keep in mind:

• Including a special offer or promo during the early hours of your opening is a great way to create a lineup that gets onlookers excited.
• You can ask influencers to mention your grand opening promo for their followers to see.
• First impressions are everything. Make sure your staff are prepped for a grand opening.

Design Your Own Unique Influencer Campaign

There aren’t any rules to how your create your influencer campaigns, and these are just some of the techniques we’ve seen gain traction with brands that are using the Node App.

You can even combine some of these tactics to create your own hybrid influencer campaign to align more closely with your specific objectives.

If you have any suggestions that you think should be mentioned in this article, please give us a shout!