If you want to know how to connect and collaborate with the right restaurant influencers who can help promote your business, this guide is for you.

Working with restaurant influencers can get your business noticed quickly, bring in new business, and help you achieve other goals. But you must connect with relevant influencers to make the most of influencer marketing – especially if you’re a new restaurant. 

👋 In this article, we’ll share tips on how you can find, approach, and engage with influencers who can help promote your restaurant business.

We’ll cover:

• What food influencer marketing is.
• How your restaurant can collaborate with influencers to boost your business.

Ready to promote your business? Then, let’s begin with what food influencer marketing strategy is, and how it can help your business.

What is food influencer marketing?

Food influencer marketing is the process of working with well-known food influencers in the restaurant industry to promote your business.

In this partnership, restaurant owners have access to the large audience that follows these influencers for their recommendations and insights. You can leverage this influencer’s clout to promote your food business and achieve specific goals. 

Benefits of food influencer marketing

The following are some of the benefits you can enjoy by collaborating with food influencers:

• Get more people to notice your restaurant. Influencers can introduce your place and food to their followers and make you more visible.
• Attract new diners. When influencers constantly share positive reviews, photos, or videos of your restaurant, their audience may want to try your restaurant. 
• Gain customer’s trust and build a reputation for yourself. A good word from an influencer can make your restaurant more trustworthy and appealing.

📈 There is a generational element to influencer marketing. While research shows 37% of customers trust influencers over restaurant brands, Gen Z and Millennials are twice as likely to trust them than Boomers. 

• Target a specific audience. Working with local food influencers can help you reach the type of customers you want, like foodies or locals. Those who can spread the word about your dining experience. 
• Promote special offers or events. You can get influencers to spread the word about new menu items or special deals.
• Increase your social media activity. The more you work with social media influencers, the more your own restaurant’s social media following and engagement increases.

But who really is a food influencer in the first place?

What is a restaurant influencer/food influencer?

A food influencer is someone who uses their online platform to share their passion for food and culinary experiences. For instance, they do this by reviewing restaurants and their dishes, trying unique dishes, cooking classes, food tours, or sharing insights into their lives.  

Over time, they have built an online audience that shares similar interests through their content. People follow them on their platforms like social media, blogs, podcasts, etc., for their recommendations, endorsements, tips, etc. 

Why food influencers are so important today

📈 Generally, influencers are often seen as trendsetters. 81% of customers willingly follow their recommendations. Another 69% of customers trust influencer content over information coming directly from your business.

Restaurant influencers can be high-profile personalities like David Chang of Momofuku or Gordon Ramsay, who are already famous in their own right. Alternatively, it could be a regular person who has established a large audience online from scratch.

In a restaurant marketing context, these people use their clout to collaborate with businesses and promote food to their audience.

What are the different types of food influencers?

It’s more common for restaurant influencers to fall into one of the following categories based on what they do. Or the kind of content they create.

• Celebrities. These are the people with the biggest following and, naturally, the highest pricing rates to collaborate with. Think of local artists, movie stars, etc. 
• Micro-influencers. These are just regular people like home cooks. Their audiences may be small, but they are incredibly engaged. They may be ideal for small businesses testing influencer marketing. 

📈 Micro-influencers make up 47.3% of all influencers. The photos they share alone can bring in 20% more conversions than macro-influencers.

• Social media influencers. These are food enthusiasts with a large following on Instagram accounts, TikTok, Facebook, or other platforms where they post reviews, food photography, quick videos, etc.  
• Content creators. These include food bloggers, vloggers, YouTubers, etc. They make a living online and have some of the most authentic and active relationships with their followers.
• Food industry experts (and thought leaders). These can be popular food critics, business leaders, journalists, or award-winning authors who have a reasonably large and highly engaged audience.

Each type of influencer posts different forms of content and can help your restaurant marketing campaign in various ways. Let’s see how you can collaborate with them.

How can restaurants collaborate with influencers to boost their business?

The following are ways you can identify, reach out to, and collaborate with restaurant influencers in the long term.

Setting clear goals for working with influencers

Setting clear goals should always be your first step when starting a new campaign. So, before reaching out to influencers, first ask yourself: what are your marketing goals?

Is it to increase your brand awareness, boost your social media engagement rate, or promote a new menu item? If you reach out to an influencer without a plan, you’ll have a hard time explaining to them what you want to accomplish in that partnership. Let alone measure the success of the campaign afterward. 

Overall, it’s important to understand the purpose of your marketing campaign. This is because each goal or objective requires a different approach to achieve.

Physical goals, like higher sales or increasing footfall for your business, should automatically be included in your plan. That’s the whole point of restaurant influencer marketing – to help you make more money.  Here are additional tips:

Set measurable targets

Translate your objectives into measurable targets. For instance, if your goal is to increase foot traffic, you might aim to increase reservations by 20% during the campaign period. 

If boosting the engagement rate in your YouTube channel is the goal, you can target a specific number of likes, shares, or comments on posts related to the collaboration. 

Align goals with your restaurant business needs

Ensure that the goals you set align with your overall business needs. For example, if you’re a new restaurant, one of the primary goals might be to get an influencer to introduce your place to their audience. Or, build awareness around your brand by allowing influencers to use their voices to spread your message on their platforms.

On the other hand, if you’re launching a new menu, food enthusiasts or bloggers can help generate a buzz and get feedback.

Once you’ve set your goals for the partnership, the next step is to determine exactly what you want the influencer to do. 

Determining what you want the influencer to do

This step involves planning ahead of time actions, the type of content, requirements, timelines, and how much you’ll pay influencers. Doing this will avoid confusion that might ensue down the road.

Some of the ways you plan these details effectively is to:

Decide on the type of content you want

Consider what type of content can help you achieve your goal. It must align with your audience as well. For example, if your audience is active on Instagram or TikTok, you might consider posts, stories, videos, or reels. Conversely, if they prefer in-depth reviews, blog posts or YouTube content might do. 

Aligning content types with your audience’s preferences can help you find an influencer with nearly the same demographic. 

Specify content requirements 

Specify exactly what you expect from the influencer. 

How many posts do you want? Should they use specific hashtags, tag your restaurant’s profile, or mention certain features? Do you want them to highlight specific dishes, the ambiance, the overall dining experience, or other features of your restaurant?

Clear, detailed instructions help avoid misunderstandings and ensure the content matches your brand’s messaging.

Outline the timeline

Set specific timelines for when the influencer should create and post the content. This is especially important if you’re promoting a specific event, new menu item, or limited-time offer.

Communicate these deadlines and any important dates the influencer needs to be aware of. Agree on the timing of posts, compensation, and other details like the frequency of posting content. Timely and well-coordinated posts are key to the success of your campaign.

Note: In influencer marketing, anyone who consistently engages with your restaurant brand over an extended period of time is a potential customer. But getting people to talk about you once doesn’t really do much. It takes time for a brand to become a big deal.

Propose a fair exchange

Depending on the size of the influencer’s following, you might be able to strike a deal in exchange for a complimentary meal or exclusive access to an event. If not, pay them but negotiate. The exchange should be fair and reflect the influencer’s reach and the effort required for the content creation. 

📈 93% of influencers are willing to work with a business for free products if they like your brand. 

Finding the right restaurant influencers

Working with influencers that have a large following can help get your restaurant noticed. If you want to get your brand in front of the right people, you have to find the right influencers.

Use social media search tools

Start by searching platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube for influencers in your niche. Currently, TikTok has surpassed Instagram as the best influencer marketing channel.

📈 69% of influencers use it. Plus, they get the highest engagement rates on TikTok.

Search hashtags related to your cuisine or location, such as #VeganEats or #NYCFoodie, if you’re in New York City. These hashtags can help you find restaurant influencers who are already broadcasting interest in menu items similar to yours.

Tip: Work smarter, not harder! If you have competition, look through their social media accounts for food influencers. 

Review your influencer options

Be selective with who you choose to work with. Take some time to inspect influencer accounts further. 

Make sure that the influencer’s audience is similar to yours. What is their age and geographic location? What are they interested in? The goal here is to discover where your audiences overlap with each other. 

Tip: Double-check the content style and quality of the influencer on your list. Doing this will ensure the type of content and requirements you chose in the previous step matches theirs.

Influencer marketing platforms for restaurants

These platforms are designed to simplify and streamline the influencer review process. Tools like Upfluence, CreatorIQ, etc., allow you to search for influencers based on location, niche, follower count, and engagement rates.

Local community research

If you’re located, for example, in NYC, look into local food blogs, lifestyle magazines, or even community restaurant groups on social media. Influencers who are active in these spaces often have a dedicated local following.

📈 Per surveys, 82% of customers have said they are likelier to follow a micro-influencer recommendation than more prominent influencers. So, focus mostly on this group of influencers for promising results.

Making your restaurant appealing to influencers

Influencers are naturally drawn to unique experiences they can share with their audience. 

So, showcase what makes your restaurant stand out, like a unique ambiance, mouthwatering dishes, etc. Or an exceptional fine dining experience that influencers would want to highlight in their content.

Things like farm-to-table sourcing policy demonstrate your commitment to sustainability. These features also make for a compelling story influencers will want to share. 

Highlight other aesthetic details like stunning plating, decor pieces, etc., that influencers can easily photograph, film, and share on their social media platforms.

Get your influencers closer to your business

Also, provide influencers with something exclusive, like a behind-the-scenes tour, first access to new menu items, or invitations to special events. Exclusive experiences give influencers something unique to share with their followers.

Don’t forget the importance of a strong online presence as well. Active social media profiles, high-quality photos, brand colors, engaging stories, taglines, etc, provide influencers with ready-to-use resources to hit the ground running.

They can easily tag, mention you, share, and spread the word to their online audience and direct them to you. Overall, making your restaurant appealing makes influencers more eager to work with you.

How to approach the collaboration

Now that you have found food influencers to work with, it’s time to reach out.

Start by sending a direct message on social media platforms like Instagram. If the Instagram influencer has an email listed in their bio, follow up with a more detailed proposal there. 

Make sure you introduce yourself personally so that they feel like they know who they’re talking to. This should make them more comfortable and willing to ask questions about your campaign.

Important note: Always check if an influencer has said how they want to be contacted.

What to do when reaching out to restaurant influencers

Maintain a friendly, yet professional tone when reaching out to food influencers. 

Introduce your restaurant. Explain why you’re interested in collaborating with them specifically, and outline the mutual benefits of the partnership. Be polite and direct to the point.

Once you’ve made introductions, talk about your marketing campaign. Clearly explain the timeline, important dates, and pricing rates, and be as transparent as possible. Emphasize how they personally would be a great asset to your campaign to get them to work with you. This can go a long way.

Big note: Never reach out via a comment on a post. That’s unprofessional. Another thing you should never do is copy and paste the same message to every influencer. Instead, add a few personal touches to your introductory message for each food influencer.

Be open to your restaurant influencer’s ideas

Note that influencers may have their own ideas about what would work best for their audience. So, be open to their suggestions.

But before this, you can request their media kit or digital portfolio if they have one. In this kit, you’ll typically find details about their bio and audience demographics like location, social media metrics, past collaborations, pricing rates, and services. 

Such info can help you refine negotiation terms and agree on what works for the restaurant influencer and you as well.

Other tips for reaching out

If it’s a more formal collaboration, draft a simple agreement that outlines the expectations, deliverables, and compensation. It ensures both you and the influencer are on the same page.

Additionally, assure the influencers you’ll provide every support they need throughout the process once the collaboration begins. Whether it’s answering questions, providing additional information, or ensuring they have a great experience when visiting your restaurant. 

Doing this fosters a positive relationship and can lead to more genuine and effective content.

Engaging with influencers

The real work begins when your newfound food influencer accepts to work with you. 

When the influencer visits your restaurant, go the extra mile to make their experience unforgettable. You can do this through personalized menu items, a meet-and-greet with the chef, or an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour.

Such gestures can set the pace for a fruitful partnership or friendship. At the same time, influencers are far more likely to post content about experiences that stand out. Sharing these experiences with their audience can also encourage their followers to dine at your place.

Share your influencer’s posts about your restaurant business

Once the influencer posts about your restaurant, engage with their content. Like, comment, and share their posts across your social media platforms. Not only does this amplify influencer’s content and increase your visibility, but it also shows appreciation for their work.

It also signals to influencers that you value the partnership and make them more inclined to work with you on future projects.

Continue reading for additional ideas that can turn a one-time partnership into an ongoing brand advocacy.

Building long-term restaurant influencer relationships

📈 47% of content creators say long-term campaigns are their favorite way to work with brands. 

So, instead of one-off campaigns, focus on techniques that can build long-term relationships with influencers. One way to do this is to follow up every successful campaign with a thank you message. 

In the message, you can express interest in working together again. Also, discuss the possibilities for future partnerships, such as a series of posts or events. They’re willing to accept the deal if the first campaign was an experience and a half.

Most importantly, share the results of your campaign with the influencers. Doing this doesn’t only strengthen professional co-working relationships. It may also get influencers to work with you in the future. You can also receive insightful feedback from their team. This insight can help you significantly improve future influencer marketing campaigns.

Generally, working with the same influencers multiple times can turn them into brand ambassadors.

Other ways you can build lasting influencer relationships

The following are additional ways restaurant owners can win lasting friendships with an influencer:

• Offer continued perks

Keep the relationship alive, for instance, by providing ongoing benefits like exclusive discounts for their followers or invitations to VIP events. Doing this will ensure your restaurant stays on their radar. It can also encourage an influencer to feature you in future content and make your business a regular part of their posts.

• Stay engaged

Don’t limit your relationship to just the posts about your restaurant. Regularly like, comment, and share other influencer’s content, even if the posts aren’t about your business. Doing this shows genuine support and can build warmer relationships with an influencer post-campaign. It also increases the likelihood of future collaborations.

Tracking and measuring the collaboration

After the collaboration begins, track campaign metrics to determine if you’re reaching the goals you set out to achieve. Whether your objective was to increase foot traffic, boost social media engagement, or gain more followers. Tracking helps ensure your campaign is delivering results.

Set measurable goals

Make sure your goals are measurable. This means setting clear, quantifiable targets, such as increasing new social media followers by 500, achieving a specific engagement rate on posts, or increasing foot traffic by 20%. 

Measurable goals are easier to track and evaluate. The insight can help you assess the campaign’s effectiveness and refine future strategies.

Utilize tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, or custom discount codes to monitor a collaboration’s impact. These tools provide data on how well your campaign is performing. They also make it easier to measure your return on investment (ROI) and plan more informed campaigns in the future.

📈 How effective is influencer marketing? On average, brands earn over $6.50 for every $1 spent on an influencer marketing campaign. That is 11x more return compared to traditional banner ads.

After the campaign, ask the influencer for feedback on how the collaboration went from their perspective. Use this information to improve future collaborations and ensure they’re even more successful.

Get in touch with restaurant influencers today

Working with restaurant influencers can put your eatery in front of thousands, if not millions, of potential customers. This is what increases your restaurant’s brand awareness. 

In this guide, we’ve covered how to approach, work with, and build long-term relationships with food influencers. You can work with different types of influencers to put your restaurant on the map.

Celebrity/mega influencers may be expensive to work with, but the rewards are worthwhile. Nevertheless, as a small business, you can partner with a team of nano or micro-influencers for their highly engaged followings. 

They’re more affordable and easier to approach. Not to mention, most of their audience is likely located near your place. 

Start collaborating with restaurant influencers today and watch your brand grow!