Social media marketing for a restaurant does one job: keep the place in people's heads between visits, so that when the "where should we eat" text goes around, your name comes up.
Daily specials do not do that job.
Posts about the food, the people, the room and the neighborhood do, and they can be made ahead of time.
Post three to five times a week on Instagram and Facebook about the things that stay true, put the perishable things (today's special, tonight's closure) on Google Business Profile and in stories, and choose who does the evergreen writing by how much of the job you want to keep.
This guide covers what to post, how often, what stays off the feed, and the four ways to get it done with what each one costs.
Why the daily-specials feed fails
Most restaurant accounts are a photo of today's special, posted at 4 pm by whoever had a free hand.
It reaches the handful of followers deciding about tonight, and nobody else, because the algorithm reads the scroll.
Within a month the account reaches fewer people, the manager notices nobody engages, and the posting stops.
The posts that travel are the ones a regular would send to a friend: why the brisket takes fourteen hours, where the tomatoes come from in August, who is behind the pass on Fridays, what a first-timer should order.
They are true for months, which means they can be written ahead, which means they get posted when the kitchen is slammed.
What to post: six kinds that stay true
- The dish and the why. Not "our famous lasagna," but what makes it yours: the recipe's origin, the one ingredient you will not substitute, how long it takes. One dish a week is a year of posts.
- The source. The farm, the baker, the fishmonger, the roaster. Name them. It is the post local suppliers share, and the one that answers "why is it more expensive than the chain."
- The people. The line cook who has been there nine years, the host who remembers orders, the owner's reason for opening. With their permission, one a month.
- The first-timer's guide. What to order, when to come for a quiet table, where to park, whether to book. It is the post that gets sent to the out-of-town cousin.
- The room and the rhythm. What a Tuesday lunch feels like versus Saturday dinner. Patio season. The corner table. People choose a restaurant by how it will feel.
- The neighborhood. The event down the street, the shop next door, the walk after dinner. It is the post a local group leaves up.
Everything in that list can be drawn from a restaurant's website, its menu page and its about page, which is why software can write it.
The 30 Facebook post ideas for restaurants go deeper with interview prompts for the owner who does not know what to say.
What stays off the evergreen feed
Anything perishable. Today's special, tonight's closure, the sold-out item, a price change, a new allergen note.
These are true for hours.
Put them in stories, on Google Business Profile and on the website, where a same-day person owns them.
Never let a scheduled post announce a special the kitchen has already run out of.
Anything about a specific guest without permission. A photo of a full room is fine; a named regular is a permission.
Health and allergen claims. "Gluten-free" is a promise with consequences.
A person who knows the kitchen signs off on every one.
Cadence a manager can hold
Three to five feed posts a week, made ahead.
Stories daily if there is someone with a phone and a free minute; none if not.
One Google Business Profile post a week, since that is where "restaurants near me" is decided.
Held through January, because the failure pattern is the opening-month burst and the busy-season silence.
Photos: you need fewer than you think
A dozen good photos of the signature dishes, the room and the people, refreshed each season, carry months of feed posts when the captions do the work.
Software can also make branded quote and tip images from the website, so not every post needs a plate.
Save the phone photos for stories.
The four ways to get it done
| Option | Monthly cost | Who writes and designs | Who checks and publishes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yourself, with Meta Business Suite or a scheduler | $0 to $25 | Whoever has a free hand | Same person | A restaurant with a staffer who likes it and three hours a week |
| Software from your website (Boomp Packs) | $9 | Software, from your menu, story and about pages | You, by email link; nothing connected | A restaurant that will post but never has time to write |
| Software from your website (Boomp Core) | $39 | Software, from your site | You approve in the app; Boomp publishes | A manager who can spend ten minutes a week saying yes |
| Software with a person approving (Boomp done-for-you) | $275 | Software, from your site | Boomp's founder approves; Boomp publishes | An owner who wants the evergreen feed off the manager's plate entirely |
| Freelancer who shoots and writes | $500 to $1,500 | A person, on site | You approve; they publish | A restaurant that wants fresh food photography every month |
| Restaurant marketing agency | $1,500 and up | A team | Agency, with your sign-off | Groups and openings that also need ads, PR and reservations campaigns |
Whichever row you choose, the perishable posts and the replies stay in the building.
The automation tools comparison goes tool by tool on menu accuracy, approvals and shelf life.
The cost question breaks the budget down by who owns each job.
The software rows, in plain terms
Every Boomp option starts the same way: the software reads the restaurant's website, the menu, the story, the about page, and writes posts of the six kinds above, with images.
- Packs, $9 a month. Ten finished posts by email link. The manager posts them. Nothing to connect.
- Core, $39 a month. Twenty posts, a carousel and a video, published to Instagram, Facebook and Google Business Profile after someone approves each one in the app. Ten minutes a week.
- Done for you, $275 a month. The same content, with Boomp's founder approving each post. Nobody at the restaurant opens the app. Sold-out items, price changes, closures and allergen notes are still yours, and anything that reads like one is flagged to you before it publishes.
No contract on any of the three.
A setup for this week
- Claim and fill the Google Business Profile: hours, menu link, ten photos, a post. Free, and it matters more than the feed.
- Business pages on Instagram and Facebook, same name, same photo, link to the menu.
- Take a dozen good photos in daylight: six dishes, the room twice, the people, the front.
- Decide who writes the evergreen posts: a staffer from the ideas above, or software from your website. The free door is ten finished posts made from your restaurant's website, no account or card, so you can read them against your own menu before anyone is paid.
- Give one person the perishable job: stories, specials, closures, replies. Same day, every day.
- Check in January that the feed is still moving. That is the whole test.
