Social media #101: What, when and where to post

Gone are the days of social media content needing to be perfectly shot and styled. Carmen says that authentic, rustic content is actually preferable.

“There’s an element of ‘rough and ready’ that is going to cut through the – being your real human self is the best thing for that,” she says.

Carmen suggests budgeting for quarterly photo shoots when you drop a new seasonal menu, and topping up socials with simple newsy videos in-between.

“Video attracts audiences in big numbers – the average user spends 45 minutes a day watching TikTok compared to 20 minutes on Facebook and 23 minutes on Instagram,” she says.

It can be daunting to think about putting yourself on camera and hearing your own voice, but Carmen insists it’s the secret to social media success.

“We get value from seeing someone talking or holding up an ingredient to the camera or showing a plating up experience,” Carmen says.

Next time you visit a local supplier or are delivered a bounty of beautiful ingredients, have your phone ready and make a clip about one small thing.

“Get more granular about the ingredients – the best performing videos will have someone ripping open a loaf of bread and talking about why it’s so good, or breaking apart a finger lime and talking about what you smell and why you’re going to use it in a featured dish,” Carmen says.

“If you’ve got gorgeous oysters coming in, make a 30-second video of the head chef talking about how to shuck them and why you love these particular oysters. Or if you visit an asparagus farm, take a video of the asparagus in the ground and ask the grower a few questions about their produce. Just one little update will provide value to your customer.”

You don’t need anything fancy to make content that connects – Carmen says a good quality phone, some natural light on your face and maybe a simple tripod is all you need.

“You can perch the phone on a window ledge; ask a colleague to hold it; or film it as a selfie. Make sure you’re framed with a bit of ‘breathing room’ above your head and around you so you can maybe add some captions,” she says.

“You might make ten 30-second videos – each will be worded slightly different and you’ve suddenly got a mass of content you can use. If you’re unsure what to write for your captions, try asking ChatGPT for suggestions, remembering that people rarely read the captions with video content.”

Think of your social media posts as another opportunity to deliver incredible customer service.

“Realise that it’s not about you – it’s about your audience – and by making regular informative videos, you’re doing a good thing for the industry by sharing information,” Carmen says.

“Look for those things you really care about and ask yourself, ‘How can I help other people to understand the value of these things as well?’ Don’t worry about how many followers you have – that’s irrelevant. It might be that someone geographically close to you goes, ‘Oh, that’s really interesting’ and shares it or makes a booking at your restaurant.”