Everybody is talking about Facebook and how small businesses can leverage the power of Facebook to get more people come through their door. This post, the first one in a series of posts about Facebook marketing, is for everyone that hasn’t set up a Facebook Page for their restaurant yet and is considering to do so. 

We don’t want to bore you with the (very impressive) statistics about the amount of users in the US alone (700 million worldwide) and the time they spend on Facebook (more than 7 hours per month). Here are a few things that make Facebook special from a restaurant’s perspective:

• Discovery. Not only do people spend a lot of time on Facebook, they interact with friends and through features such as the Facebook “Like” button can easily share and discover things, such as restaurants, with their friends. 
• Social Search. While Google might still be the number one destination to search for things, search has become much more social (and will do so even more going forward). Search results are shaped by recommendations from friends or trusted experts, fueled by data provided in social networks such as Facebook.
• Engagement. What options do you currently provide to your customers on your website or other sites to engage with you? How do you get to know your customers? How do you reward your most loyal customers? A well-run Facebook Page not only provides an easy way to let people interact with you (everything from a simple “Like” to a comment) but also a lot of valuable insights.

Curious what things you would be able to do with a Facebook Page? Here are a few that come to mind:

• Display your menu with specials (using Menuplatform) 
• Enable reservations directly through Facebook (using OpenTable app)
• Share news, special events or promotions (e.g. “Happy Hour today 5-7pm!”)
• Drive traffic to your restaurant website 
• Make sure to get found when people search for your restaurant on Facebook
• Learn more about your customers

Most importantly, it’s free to set up!

1. You will need a personal Facebook account to log into Facebook. Your personal account will be the “admin” account for your Facebook Page, but you can always add / change administrators once you are set up.

2. Go to www.facebook.com/pages and click the “+ Create Page” button in the top right corner. 

3. Select “Local Business or Place” from the following page. 

4. You will then be asked to fill in a few details:

5. You’re (almost) done. Your page is public, but it still needs some customization. For example, start by uploading a picture or logo for your restaurant.

Your page is now ready. It will have your basic business information, your logo, a “Like” button, and a wall that’s ready for your posts (similar to your personal wall). Also, provided that you gave an address, users will be able to “check-in” to your restaurant on Facebook. 

You can click on “Edit Page” and then select the “Basic Information” tab to add more information, such as opening hours, cuisines, or payment options. 

In one of the coming blog posts we will talk about how to personalize your page, add more functionality and how to get more likes. So stay tuned.

By the way, Facebook also has a help page where you can find further information about setting up your Facebook Page in case you have any further questions for now.