1. Keep things positive
Being positive promotes engagement and encourages sharing. Equally as important, being negative may cost you fans. People are quick to unlike a restaurant or business if posts are negative or controversial.
2. Make your posts informative by giving “tips” and including links
The most appealing updates are ones that offer something. Don’t disclose everything — this increases the likelihood that fans will click. Post an interesting fact. If you are an expert in the field, share tips. If you’re sharing a blog post or an online article, create a status update that features the piece’s most interesting fact or statement to stir reader curiosity and encourage click-throughs. Instead of copying and pasting a long URL into your status update, use a link-shortener like Bit.ly to make your post brief and more likely to be shared.
3. Always Include images and your logo
Posts with images get the highest amount of engagement on Facebook, so be sure to include one when you can. The perfect size is 800×600. Increase your brand awareness by including your logo on the images that you post. Creating content is “king.” The more original content you can create, the better. For a restaurant, consider images of your meals or diners enjoying their experience with you.
4. Keep your posts mobile-friendly
Use simple imagery that can easily be seen on mobile devices — anywhere from 50-70% of your fans read your posts on their phones. This means that when you are creating content, mobile users should be your first thought as opposed to being an afterthought.
5. Thank and reward your fans
Your fans want to feel as if they are part of a community. This turns casual fans into brand advocates. Make your fans feel as if they are benefiting from being your fan. Consider offering Facebook exclusive deals or restaurant discounts to thank them. This helps your business grow through word of mouth and proves popular as a post topic.
6. Always respond to posts
Posts aren’t the only activities that grab attention — comments and responses are equally as important. Engage with people and build relationships through conversation. This includes being available to respond and addressing negative feedback. Never delete a negative post. Instead, address it and own it. Admitting fault makes you look more credible.
7. All of your posts need to be engaging
Ask questions to get engagement. Multiple choice questions, fill in the blank, and describe this picture in three words are all simple techniques that increase engagement. You cannot simply share stories or information. Engage the audience with your posts. The more people are engaged with your content, the more people that will see your content. If you are posting consistently with your company logo (see #3), the more people will develop a connection between your company and your message.
8. You should be posting 5-10 times a week
A common mistake many companies make is posting too much or too little. You want to make sure that fans see your brand. Your “superfans” will see all of what you post, whereas casual fans will see less. Posting 5-10 times a week helps assure that if fans missed a message on Monday, they will see a different message on Tuesday.
9. Get feedback from your fans
All too many restaurants fail to get feedback from their fans. Your Facebook fans can be your own personal focus group and they are often interested in sharing their opinions. Additionally, they like to think that their opinion could help shape future business decisions.
10. Develop a consistent tone
It is important that you aren’t harming your brand by posting information that does not match your brand identity. Just because you find something amusing, doesn’t mean that your fans will.
Bonus:
11. Tell users what to expect
If you’re posting a video or linking to a lengthy blog article, set your followers’ expectations by telling them exactly how long it is so they know what to expect.
Day of the week:
Moods change by the day of the week:
Mondays: Morale is low but optimistic.
Tuesdays: People are at their lowest. The week feels as if it has still only started. People are also most susceptible to advertisements.
Wednesday: The week is starting to look up. People are more motivated.
Thursday: There is a light at the end of the tunnel. People are in good moods and like to be reminded of it.
Friday: People are checked-out and looking to get out. They are easily distracted.
Saturday: People are out enjoying their weekends.
Sunday: People are optimistic and motivated about the next week.
In essence, mood matters. This means that you should post different content on different days of the week.
Time of day:
Post when the audience is listening not just when your restaurant is open. This will ensure more user engagement. However, do not always post at the same time of day. Fans that are on in the morning are going to be different than the fans that are on in the evening.
In Summary:
On Facebook there isn’t one “perfect post” or ideal time of day to post. Instead, you can develop a strategy that gets different types of content to different types of people, at different times. The key factor to remember when creating Facebook content, is that you need to be vigilant—constantly looking to diversify what and when you post.
Adapted from http://www.business2community.com/facebook/10-rules-every-business-needs-know-posting-facebook-0833600
