Restaurant Social Media Statistics in 2024

Recent restaurant social media statistics show that social platforms now have the power to boost the sales of any food establishment.

An average person spends about 144 minutes daily on social media, which makes these platforms a viable and conducive avenue for promoting businesses and running special promos.

Along with using a QR code menu software, it’s also equally important for restaurants to create social media pages to reach more potential customers and establish a strong online presence for improved brand recall.

Gain better knowledge about the influence and relation of social media to business growth in this article.

Social media restaurant statistics

Benchmarking on social media is an excellent opportunity for your business to grow, considering the number of daily active users.

According to the recent restaurant industry statistics report, 88% of patrons trust online reviews much more than personal recommendations, and aside from online review platforms like Yelp, diners now post their feedback on a restaurant’s social media page.

50% of diners claim that social media can influence their restaurant choices. Also, roughly 22% of customers are inspired to revisit a restaurant due to its social media presence.

Meanwhile, 71% of patrons say they are likelier to recommend a diner that offers a convenient restaurant ordering system and responds quickly on social media.

Smart Insights and Clutch report that 27% of written articles, 26% of videos, and 24% of images are the most engaging social media items.

However, more than 45% of American customers concurred that after viewing a restaurant's social media posts, they are skeptical of it for the first time, while 21% claim that these posts may hinder them from dining in.

Nonetheless, these restaurant statistics clearly show that social media is a crucial facet of your business today. It can boost your online presence and drive more customers to your establishment.

What percentage of restaurants use social media?

Social media in restaurants has revolutionized the indsutry's advertising. Restaurants now view social media as the most successful marketing technique, followed by online directories and search engine optimization.

According to TripAdvisor, about 82% of restaurants in the United States use social media as part of their marketing strategies. 

Restaurateurs, hoteliers, and other business owners spend a portion of their budget investing in ads and other promotions to establish their businesses on the most popular social media channels. 

94% of U.S. restaurants monitor their online reviews and insights through social media, allowing them to see their businesses from their customers’ perspectives.

Furthermore, one out of 10 of these restaurants even hires a third-party company to handle social media engagements.

Statistics across all social media platforms

Knowing how social media is used in the restaurant industry is crucial. Since the platform has different uses, learning to gauge and benchmark in the online market will bring more opportunities to your business.

Leveraging social media in restaurant strategy keeps patrons informed and updated swiftly about your establishment – whether it is an updated interactive QR code menu or a promo deal for the season.

There are over 3.03 billion active social media users – which is beneficial if you want to boost your restaurant branding online.

Even 56% of restaurant owners believe online evaluations drive more customers to their establishments than conventional advertising.

Foodstaggramming

We are in an era where food flat lays is as important as saying grace before meals.

It has become customary to take pictures of food and post them on Instagram. This behavior has helped restaurateurs expand their customer reach with no extra advertising pay. 

As the saying goes, we eat with our eyes. Instagram shows no bounds and uses this adage to help restaurants showcase their menu offerings. 

#Food—the most popular hashtag on Instagram—has more than 250 million posts on the platform.

Users get on Instagram about 18 times a day, making food popular on this social network. 38% of Instagram users look at food content, and 27% of users share food content.

This is an excellent opportunity for your restaurant to open an Instagram account and connect with your target clientele – especially after understanding the food and social media statistics.

Instagram has a 2.2 percent per-follower interaction rate than the 0.22 percent rate Facebook.

Eight out of 10 individuals follow at least one business on Instagram, especially in the food service sector. This is where patrons can search for the best foods and drinks online. 

Additionally, Instagram has an engagement rate 84 times higher than Twitter. This is excellent for your business, especially if you want to engage and build stronger relationships with your patrons.

In essence, fast food chains outperform full-service restaurants on Instagram, with a 21.4 engagement ratio vs. an 18.4 engagement ratio. 

The ideal times to post are 9 AM, noon to 1 PM, and 8 PM. People are eating and gazing at their smartphones during these hours. These periods are optimum for your restaurant to upload content on Instagram.

Increased customer engagement on Facebook

Over 50 million SMEs use Facebook Pages as one of the restaurant's social media marketing tools to communicate with their customers, and around 8% pay for Facebook ads. This is almost the same as the percentage of restaurants using social media.

Nearly 75% of customers used Facebook to choose a restaurant based on comments, pictures, and reviews from other patrons.

Replacing traditional paperback menus with a QR code menu allows you to cater to a positive customer experience in your restaurant. 88% of restaurateurs even say that it helps streamline their business.

In addition, customers are more likely to submit positive reviews on Facebook than on any other review website.

Additionally, six out of ten restaurant owners use contactless payment solutions in the long run. This has a favorable effect on the hospitality sector, especially when building a brand on Facebook.

Stay trendy on Twitter

Even with the huge number of Facebook users, Twitter users have the highest engagement with restaurants compared to all other industries. 

32% of tweets mention food and beverage companies. And 39% of users tweeted pictures of their meals, and 45% of UK Twitter users tried a new dish based on something they saw on Twitter, which makes it one of the restaurant social media marketing tools that seemed to be effective.

More than half of consumers who visited a restaurant because of what they saw on Twitter mentioned promotional deals and discounts, 43% said it was a food photo, and 39% said it was because of the establishment's excellent customer service.

A person's passion for food and drink has become a far more significant component of who they are, leading them to refer to themselves as “foodies.”

Keeping up with TikTok

TikTok bagged the title of the most popular website in 2021. This social media platform allows you to engage with your target customers actively using innovative, eye-catching short videos.

There are 1 billion users of TikTok worldwide, and 65 million of them are in the U.S. 

The social media engagement of TikTok increased by 0.85% in 2021, in contrast to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This platform is good for effective restaurant social media strategy that can help you establish a brand online and boost customer interaction. 

You can post the bestselling menu items in your account since 51% of users visit a restaurant because of its menu contents. 20% of users also dined at a restaurant in a different location after seeing it on the platform.

Furthermore, 55% of users visit a restaurant after knowing its diversity of menu offerings on TikTok. It is best to include out-of-the-box culinary flair in your account to entice more customers.

TikTok is not just a platform where you can see videos of people doing dance challenges or singing song covers.

This social media platform allows you to surpass restaurant competition by attracting new customers, providing local exposure, generating engagements, and connecting with micro-influencers.

MENU TIGER: Boost restaurant social media strategy with a QR code menu software

MENU TIGER is a digital menu service provider that allows you to streamline your customers’ dining experience. 

It has the best features for the most affordable price. This no-code software allows you to create intelligent interactive menus you can edit and curate anytime.

What’s more, it comes with a ‘dayparts’ feature, allowing you to highlight and change your menu at any time. This can be from brunch to dinner and happy hour.

Establishing an online presence is one of your key goals, especially during this digital age. Your restaurant will need a website and engaging social media accounts to redirect your customers to your engagement platforms. 

With MENU TIGER, you can easily customize your built-in restaurant website and name it to your brand with the white-label feature. This will make it easier for customers to search for your restaurant on the internet hassle-free.

Moreover, you can also generate a customizable URL for your restaurant where you can link your social media accounts using MENU TIGER and QR TIGER.

Increasing your social proof will bring more customer engagement to your restaurant.

Be on trend with the restaurant social media statistics

Knowing the latest restaurant social media statistics will help you stay one step ahead of your competitors in the industry.

These ever-changing trends can guide you on what you should and should not do in your restaurant.

What better way to improve your food services than using a QR code menu software to help you provide an exquisite dining experience to customers?

Aside from that, the software offers convenience and increases visibility across your different social media platforms.

Create your brand account and engage more customers today using MENU TIGER.