As a business owner, you are probably familiar with advertising. You most likely have a web presence with a website, as well as social networks, but have you invested any time in using Pinterest to advertise your restaurant?

Pinterest is a social media site that lets users to share images and videos. It also allows you the added option of organizing your pins (photos and videos that you post) into pinboards that can be customized by theme. So, if you would like to post pictures of the breakfast, lunch, dinner, or desserts your restaurant offers, they can be separated into categories for easy sharing. Similar to other social media networks, Pinterest users can follow, like or repin content shared by other pinners. It is a user-friendly, image-based platform that gives restaurant owners like you the ability to share a visual component to drive business and bring more customers to your door.

Here are a few tips on how to start pinning:

Promote your Brand

Post. Post. Post. Remember, you are trying to attract followers with visual content, so photograph your foods in an appetizing way, making sure that the lighting and plating make your food appear as good as it tastes in real life. Also, when posting your images, make sure they are relevant to your brand. Keep any personal posts separate from your business posts.

Post Recipes

While you may not want to give away any recipes from your current menu, it is a great idea to share others. Pinterest followers love to find new recipes, so give them what they are looking for. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, as long as it is easy to prepare, looks mouthwatering and tastes even better, then you have a winner.

Add a Description

When you post images or recipes, add a description. Entice the pinners even more. The description can include the origin of the recipe, when or where you found the recipe, or it can even have information about your restaurant and what they can expect if they visit. For more in-depth results apply the fundamentals of SEO by using keywords in your description.

Analytic Tools

Like any social platform there are ways to increase the speed of your progress or at least track the results of your efforts. For Pinterest users, there are analytic tools like Pinerly and Pinfluencer that can help. These are free tools that can assist in tracking and measuring the popularity of your pins, so take advantage of them. With analytic information on your side, you can optimize your effectiveness to achieve greater success and results.

While social media platforms are of no cost to the user, there are several options that your business may require to increase advertising efforts that can be quite costly. If you need the cash to put your plan into action, commercial funding could be the right choice for you. Commercial funding is a debt-based funding arrangement between a business and a financial institution, typically used to fund major capital expenditures or cover operational costs that the company may otherwise be unable to afford.