A picture really is worth a thousand words when it comes to restaurant marketing. Instagram is a mobile app that was created in 2010 and has gone viral throughout the world. It is a fast and fun way to share pictures with beautiful filters. If you are a restaurant owner, you are probably familiar with this app. The “food porn” obsession is one of the biggest trends on Instagram. Restaurant visitors like to take pictures of their food, add a hashtag (example: #hotdog or #BurgerKing), and upload their picture.

Instagram currently has 100 million monthly active users and has approximately 40 million photos uploaded per day. Needless to say, it is a great place for your restaurant to be. Here are a few reasons why your restaurant marketing strategy should include Instagram:

An opportunity to showcase your food.  Show the world what your chefs can do. Instagram allows your customers and other users to see your delicious food without going into your restaurant. You may already post on Facebook on Twitter but there is no such thing as too much exposure for your restaurant.

Quick, easy, and free. Instagram is free marketing for your restaurant to take advantage of. It also does not take time away from your daily tasks. The picture is taken on a smartphone or tablet and uploaded to the app so there is no need to even sit down at a computer.

Kill six birds with one stone. When uploading a picture on Instagram, there is an option to post the photo and caption on Facebook and Twitter. It also has an option to upload it to Tumblr, Flickr, and Foursquare.

Instagram does not have to be used exclusively for pictures. It is a great way to engage with your customers, attract attention to your restaurant, and bring more customers in. By sharing photos on Instagram, you are given the opportunity to interact with customers. Instagram measured that their photos get 8500 likes per second and 1000 comments per second.  When someone comments on your photo, respond back and ask open ended questions when possible. Engage with them like you would a friend and make them feel involved in your restaurant. If you have time, go to their page and engage with them on there. Others will see your interactions and this will bring attention to your restaurant.

A few quick tips:

Utilize hashtags. When a word is accompanied by a hashtag, it becomes a topic. If I took a picture of a hamburger and hashtagged it (#hamburger), my photo could come up in searches for people looking for pictures of hamburgers. Things to hashtag: your restaurant name, city, and the item in your photo.

Consider hosting a contest. By hosting an Instagram contest, you are engaging with your customers in a unique way. You can have your customers take a picture of something and tell them to use a unique hashtag. Judges can search that hashtag to pick out a winner.

Don’t just use Instagram for pictures of food. You can also use it as a way to welcome new staff, advertise events, and show customers the inside of your kitchen. By taking pictures of other things, you are including your customers in your restaurant, not just your food.

Map yourself. Instagram now has “Photo Maps”. By having your restaurant location tagged on a map, you are showing your Instagram fans where your restaurant is. Having the location of your restaurant with a picture of your delicious steak is gold.

Instagram is just another way that your restaurant can create loyalty. By having a following on social networks, you are making your restaurant more than a place to eat – you are creating a community.