How do local restaurants use Douyin?

Many of my fans and friends run offline restaurants, and they often ask me if I can teach them how to use Douyin to attract traffic and monetize local restaurants.

To be honest, this topic is too big to be covered in one article or one course.

Otherwise, the threshold would be too low!

So I would like to advise all restaurant owners here not to believe the so-called one- or two-day Douyin training crash courses on the Internet.

That can only get you started. The core still depends on your own continuous shooting, testing, and delivery, etc., to find the Douyin store traffic-driving method that suits you.

Of course, since this topic has been mentioned today, I would like to briefly talk about a few points with you to help some fans establish some basic understanding.

01 Is it useful to shoot Douyin?

To use Douyin, we must first recognize a basic problem, that is, is Douyin useful for attracting traffic and monetizing local catering?

There are two aspects to this:

First of all, for ordinary small shops, there is not much point in doing Douyin.

Unless you want to make it a well-known local snack and a local business card, you can put some thought into it, even if it's just making fried rice, selling cakes, or opening a Shaxian snack shop.

The village chief saw a girl selling lunch boxes on a tricycle on Douyin. By shooting Douyin videos and live streaming, she brought in a lot of orders, including corporate group meals.

Secondly, for restaurants with higher average customer spending, mainly focusing on staple foods, and related to banquets, travel, etc., such as barbecue, seafood, lamb and beef hotpot, buffet restaurants, etc., Douyin can be used to attract traffic .

02 Catering also requires good content

The core of Douyin is still content, so even if you are doing local catering, you must create good content.

There are two understandings of good content.

1. Good content and worth watching

For example, if the filming is beautiful, the plot is funny, and it touches people's hearts, users will like to watch it, but the cost and requirements in this regard are relatively high.

2. Rich content and continuous updates

As long as it is not a casual shot, even if the content quality is not particularly good.

But as long as you ensure daily updates or three to five updates a day, it will have some publicity effect.

For example, the Douyin guy who sold beef balls before, his content may not be that good, but it met the basic elements.

He tells you that he sells beef meatballs, all of which are handmade, a well-known local specialty, and affordable. Please place your order with confidence. This is the core content of his video.

03 Opportunities to create a local Douyin restaurant account

No matter whether you are in a big city or a small city, if you can create a Douyin account, you are actually one step ahead of your peers.

In particular, I have repeatedly emphasized two benefits of TikTok:

1. Same-city positioning recommendation

The content recommendations on the Douyin homepage can be directly located to the local street/township, affecting more precise users.

2. Obtaining traffic in the same city

Are there many people around you who are really dedicated to making Tik Tok videos? Especially local ones? Therefore, this traffic is considered a blue ocean in third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities.

You mean they don’t watch it? Of course I will read it, just like local public accounts and forums, everyone must read it.

04 How to attract traffic for Douyin catering

1. Content diversion

It is to shoot videos and release them, which has the function of informing and is more targeted at new users.

2. Welfare diversion

In many cities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the catering industry has reached its peak. A set meal of 99 yuan or 69 yuan includes five or six main dishes, and an additional drink is provided.

If you are in the third, fourth or fifth tier cities, you can also use it. A good traffic-generating package is worth it even if it allows users to take advantage of it.

3. Experts attract traffic

Cooperate with local media and store experts to do some publicity, especially to promote package products.

4. Customer flow

There was a technology that was popular for a while. That is, when users in the restaurant scan the QR code with their own Douyin, the user will be automatically asked to select a video to be released. Now this operation is a bit illegal.

It is still possible to guide users to post on Douyin, but we won’t use technology to force it. We can do some interest-guiding activities, such as how many likes and views they get, and what discounts they can redeem next time.

05 Three purposes of using Douyin in the catering industry

Some time ago, there was a catering brand on Douyin called Rongshanhe, which specialized in selling rice noodles. It became popular for a while because of a Douyin internet celebrity.

So everyone should think deeply about what are the purposes of restaurants using Douyin?

1. For individual brands

The purpose of doing Douyin is to promote the report and tell others that I am here and come to eat.

2. For chain franchise brands

The core purpose is to attract franchisees. Before the advent of TikTok, it was difficult for these chain brands to spread themselves.

They all rely on professional project websites, investment conferences and other methods to recruit agents, but the emergence of Douyin has increased the speed of recruiting agents.

3. Strengthen user awareness and trust

Just imagine, if a chain franchise brand does not renew its agents after recruiting them, what do you think the agents will think? What do local users who frequently visit it think?

So if you want to create a Douyin catering account, don’t just have a playful attitude. Either do it all the time or don’t do it at all.

06 What to shoot on local catering accounts

Finally, let’s talk about one of the most headache-inducing issues, which is what should a restaurant shoot when creating a Douyin account?

1. Take photos of dishes

Whether you have a single-item baozi shop or a restaurant with an extensive menu, you can always create photography around your dishes.

Many people would say, I only have one product, how can I shoot it?

The village chief has talked a lot about this in his series of articles on popular single products.

Even if there is only one product, there is always an endless supply of content to shoot.

2. Photo service

If you are a local farm or a unique restaurant, you can take pictures of the services your venue can provide.

For example, there is a very comfortable environment, unlimited beverage tasting, indoor dancing, special bottle openings, and even birthday and wedding banquets for customers.

3. Photographing customers

When it comes to dining, customers are the best witnesses.

If conditions permit, you can interview every customer who comes to dine, or set up an event and take photos of customers participating in the event.

You can also shoot videos of customers waiting in line, etc., with the purpose of highlighting the popularity.

Of course, for brands seeking franchisees, the purpose of taking photos of customers is also to attract agents and trust.

4. Filming the plot

If you are a well-known local hotel, the content can be upgraded again.

One is to organize a food class and invite a chef to cook special dishes.

Secondly, you can shoot some touching content around the hotel’s daily services, social issues, etc.

The cost of shooting is very high, but it is valuable for businesses with high customer unit prices.

For example, if you want to undertake large-scale conferences, business banquets, family marriages, etc., there is another condition: it would be best if the boss himself appears in person.

So, it is relatively difficult to do this, but the village chief has seen that many large hotels have achieved very good results by shooting in this way, and the barriers are also very high.

Okay, that’s all I’m going to share with you about some basic information about how restaurants can use Douyin.

If you want to really run a good Douyin restaurant account, it will involve many aspects such as positioning, content, delivery, packages, etc. We will discuss this in depth when we have the chance.

Of course, there is a simplest way if you are confident in your products and services.

You can try putting some products on Douyin’s local group buying app. If there is a chance that your products will be on the list, then at least from the perspective of exposure, it won’t be a big problem.

Author: Village Chief

Source: The village chief lives in Shili Village