Tik Tok operation skills in the catering industry!

1. Current market situation of catering industry

Food is the most important thing for people. Three meals a day are an integral part of people's lives and an indispensable part. Food and clothing is the first problem we need to solve. In ancient times, despite the lack of various conditions, people still made delicious foods such as beggar's chicken and roast duck. Not to mention the development of modern technology, the food is becoming more and more diverse. People's pursuit of delicious food is getting higher and higher, and the catering industry is also continuing to innovate. At present, the overall turnover of my country's catering industry has increased year by year with a strong growth momentum. In 2020, affected by the epidemic, the total turnover decreased year-on-year. However, from March to December 2020, the turnover has been recovering and showing an upward trend, and the market potential is huge.

At the same time, the rapid development of the Internet has also promoted new developments in the catering industry. The launch of the "Internet +" model has connected the online and offline catering industry, providing a one-stop trading platform from food supply to food production to sales. The transformation from offline to online promotion and transactions has provided unlimited possibilities for the development of circulation and services in the catering industry.

2. Advantages of using Douyin in the catering industry

Marketing is a means of promotion for enterprises. There are various ways of marketing, from traditional media to new media. Since its launch, Douyin short video has attracted a large number of users with its simple and easy-to-use operation, and the number of users has gradually increased. Short video marketing is very popular among companies, so what are the advantages of using short videos for marketing in the catering industry?

1. Douyin’s fair recommendation mechanism gives small and medium-sized enterprises a place

Douyin's traffic carrier is also called the traffic pool. The traffic pool is divided into three levels. Only after reaching the standards of the first level can it be pushed to the second-level traffic pool. Only after meeting the required standards of the second-level traffic pool can it reach the third-level traffic pool. The recommendation method is also relatively fair and just. Simply put, when you post a video on Douyin, the platform will push it to you. When the number of views, clicks, attention, comments, etc. of this video reaches a certain amount, the Douyin backend will help you push it to the second-level traffic pool to give the video greater exposure. Then, if there are users who like the video in the secondary traffic pool and like and share it, the video will enter the third-level traffic pool. It is precisely because Douyin's recommendation mechanism is relatively fair that the gap between fledgling catering companies and well-known brands has been narrowed, allowing small businesses to no longer struggle and compete in Douyin's marketing capabilities.

2. The user group is highly active and has strong spending power

After years of development, Douyin has many young users. According to the latest statistics, the monthly active users of Douyin reached 512 million in 2020. The users are mainly born in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The young user group is proficient in using the APP, has a high interest in new things and strong adaptability, and has advanced consumption awareness. The main audience of the catering industry is also mostly young people, which can achieve better communication effects.

3. More accurate users and higher conversion rate

Douyin has a powerful algorithm gene in its background, which can be distributed through the number of users and algorithm mechanisms, and the content that users are interested in can be delivered to better stimulate users' consumption psychology and realize value conversion.

4. Vivid display to stimulate consumption

The characteristic of video is that it can express the product vividly and achieve effects that cannot be expressed by words and pictures. It uses music as the entry point of the video. It has various forms and the pictures can clearly express the deliciousness of the food. It can record the food production process, tasting process, etc.

3. Types of catering industry that can operate

The catering industry can release various types of short videos on Douyin. According to the advantages and characteristics of the enterprise, choose the shooting type that suits you. The following are some common operation types.

1. Store visits

Exploring a store, literally speaking, means going to a store to experience it in person, examining the store's geographical environment, decoration style, food flavor and price, and taking photos, recording videos and commenting on it while eating. Exploring restaurants is like a food guide, telling you which restaurants have delicious food before you go to a place, so you can accept the recommendations and go to taste them. For example, Xiao* is hungry, so he goes to various places to experience the food, and displays and comments on the food while eating.

2. Production process

The process of making delicious food is pleasing to the eye. Some time ago, a video of the bread fermentation process became a hot topic on Weibo, and the comment section was full of healing words. In the new era, people live at a fast pace, and delicious food has the magic to slow down the pace. You can choose to simply teach the production process, such as Lin Shu*, which fully displays everything from ingredients to production to finished products, and you can learn directly from the video; you can also choose to incorporate clips of your own life, such as *Zi Jie, which extracts clips of your own life, including the interaction with her husband, the preparation of delicious food in the middle, the scene of the family eating at the table, etc.

3. Eating broadcast

Eating broadcast is to film yourself eating. In the past, most of the eating broadcasts were big eaters who ate a lot at one time. This method has gradually been eliminated. Now there are more delicate and small foods, and eating in moderation is more beautiful. For example, Xiao Lu’s Lu* shares pictures of himself eating, chatting while eating.

4. Tips for operating Douyin accounts in the catering industry

1. Video content

Tik Tok is a short video platform. Only by shooting good short videos can you attract users’ attention. The first element of the video is clarity and the content must be true. Generally speaking, you can capture clear images by choosing a resolution of 720P or 1080P. The users on the Douyin platform are highly interactive, and the dissemination and diffusion effects of catering marketing in this area are very good. The length should be neither too long nor too short, about 15 seconds. The title should be attractive and have a focus, such as cheap and fresh, see how restaurant chefs select vegetables; the fish-flavored shredded pork you make yourself is always a little worse than that made in the restaurant because you lack this seasoning.

(1) Present high-value content

The key points of high appearance are: filters, appearance of high-looking characters, and high-looking dining environment. Beautiful things are more likely to attract people's attention. Appreciating beauty is human nature. Food itself is a beautiful thing. Post-production such as filters makes the food more attractive. For example, the peach knocking function which was very popular on Tik Tok before gives people a very comfortable visual experience. Of course, a good-looking dining environment is indispensable to make the decoration distinctive and make customers want to take photos and check in.

(2) To create a hot topic, you must not only take advantage of it

The communication effect of the hot spot effect is obvious, and you can always get a share of the explosive traffic. While taking advantage of hot topics, you should also learn how to create them and become a source of communication. Every hot topic will attract other users to forward and pay attention to it. The created hot spots must be combined with the products, and marketing itself cannot be separated from the products. For example, the hidden menus of Haidi* and Answer* allow customers to participate in the combination and matching when consuming.

Tips: Use tools to find hot topics, such as Weibo Hot Search List, New List, Micro Index, Xigua Assistant, etc.

(3) Pay attention to shooting techniques

Using good shooting techniques such as camera movement and transitions can enhance the user's sensory experience of the video and add highlights to the video. Emphasis should be placed on highlighting the texture of the food, and sound can also be used to enhance the experience. If the company has the conditions, special effects, transitions, etc. can be used to optimize the video.

2. Update innovative forms of videos in a timely manner

Modern society is diverse and changes rapidly. Young people will feel novelty about new things, and unchanging things have little appeal. After something new becomes popular, similar things will appear one by one. Popular things are short-lived, and the direction of innovation must be adjusted in a timely manner. Pay more attention to the popular videos on Tik Tok and pay attention to the shooting techniques of the videos.

3. Establish account personality and package brand characters

Short videos involve real people, so it is important to maintain the account’s persona and be consistent. The brand character is synonymous with the company. When people mention this brand character, they will think of the company. The advantage is that it can enhance the promotion effect. For example, when we mention Golden Arches, we think of McDonald's, and when we think of lo mein (noodles tossed on the spot), we think of Haidilao.

4. Find a good entry point

The entry point can be selected according to the characteristics of the enterprise itself, selecting special points and points of concern to the public, such as food safety, packaging characteristics, tableware characteristics, etc. For example, the catering industry is most concerned about food safety, and transparent food production processes are very popular. A noodle restaurant called *Da uses this as a starting point. The videos it posts on Douyin are all about the transparent product production process. The careful selection of meat, the washing of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the tableware and cooked food in the kitchen are all presented to consumers. The kitchen also adopts a fully transparent design, which is open to the audience to watch, reassuring consumers and alleviating concerns about food safety. It can not only enhance its own brand image, but also directly encourage consumers to shop in stores.

V. Conclusion

Food is indispensable in people's lives and there is a demand for it. The catering industry has advantages in short video marketing. Find the right entry point and use Douyin marketing methods to help companies move to a higher level. Enterprises can choose the appropriate type to launch and operate on the Douyin platform based on their own advantages and characteristics, and I believe they can achieve ideal results.