TikTok is social media's latest obsession. If you aren't an active user, we bet you know someone who is.

It's an incredibly powerful platform with an insightful algorithm that gives your content a much longer lifespan than an Instagram feed post. TikTok is projected to increase its follower base to upwards of 84.9 million users in 2022.

Don't feel pressure to post polished and professionally edited videos on the site. Your TikTok audience will actually prefer uncut gems!

"TikTok is a medium meant for bite-sized content. It's less about hyper-polished images and more about imperfect personality," suggested Marcus Walker, a client services manager at Menufy.

But can this new platform help drive online orders and grow your business?

Follow these TikTok content ideas for restaurants, and you'll start growing a loyal following of hungry foodies whose growling stomachs will lead them straight to your ordering website.

Tease Your New Dishes on TikTok

Got a new seasonal item coming out?

Announce it on TikTok!

Create a video showing your chef creating the dish, add a sprinkle of delicious visuals and trending music, and you'll have viewers drooling.

It's an interactive way to engage with users and let your food speak for itself. You can even solve customers' FOMO problem by including an online ordering link in your restaurant's TikTok profile.

Old Shawnee Pizza, a Kansas City staple, introduces pizza specials on their TikTok channel and gives their followers a peek behind the curtain

Teach Your Audience a Recipe

Recipes are a popular topic on TikTok.

Jump on the bandwagon and teach your audience different culinary techniques, food hacks, and secret recipes.

Not sure if this is going to work?

TikTok pasta took off like wildfire, and the recipe became an overnight viral sensation.

Choose easy-to-follow recipes for your TikTok tutorials and keep them short. Videos under 10 seconds perform best on the platform, and if it's snappy, you'll hold users' attention and boost your retention rate.

For some inspiration, take a look at @Susi.Vidal. The TikTok star is famous for hilarious follow-along recipes. She uses jump cuts and quirky references to show viewers how to make her favorite dishes from scratch.

Take Users Behind the Scenes of Your Restaurant

Indulge customer curiosity by taking followers on a tour of your restaurant. Show users behind-the-scenes operations and introduce your staff members to make people feel as if they are a part of your community.

Here are some questions to get the ideas rolling:

• How do you run your kitchen?

• What is your food preparation process?

• How do you cook your burgers?

• Where's the cheese? It's under the sauce!

Another simple but effective TikTok content idea for restaurants is to capture your food prep. Post a video showing your chef creating the perfect poached egg, flipping a pancake in the air, or rolling up a crab rangoon.

Our restaurant partner Komotodo Sushi Burrito loves capturing their chefs in action. Their easily digestible videos are satisfying to watch and stir customer appetites.

Play Around with Food Textures and ASMR

Speaking of satisfying food content, engage users' senses by creating videos that use touch, sound, and sight.

Shoot close-ups of your food and interact with the dish. Twirl a fork in a pasta dish, grab a piece of corn on the cob, or break open a lava cake and capture the chocolate oozing out.

In Chicago, Triple Crown restaurant lures in patrons with bao bun close-ups.

Hearing the sounds of food being prepared and enjoyed can trigger a pleasant sensory response in some people, the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). 

Capturing food sounds on video has therefore become a TikTok phenomenon. Feed the ASMR trend by capturing sounds. Record your stir fry sizzling in the pan, have someone split a croissant in two, or record french fries frying in piping hot oil.

These are all small things you can do to tempt your followers and make their stomachs growl.

The Final Bite

TikTok isn't only for dance videos. It's a gold mine for promoting your restaurant and capturing the taste buds of foodies.

"It's a good way for restaurants to build relationships, show what's going on behind the scenes, and be a little silly," explained Chloe Helling, a digital marketing specialist at Menufy.

Adding this viral social channel to your restaurant's marketing provides another platform to help direct customers to your online ordering website.

Start documenting the daily workings of your restaurant and use your delicious food to help you grow your social media presence and reach your business goals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa Dimmitt, Marketing Communications Coordinator

Melissa began her digital marketing career nearly a decade ago at a restaurant group. She worked with restaurant managers and executive chefs while coordinating seasonal menu releases, executing photoshoots, and creating fresh digital content.