Video marketing is a great way to promote your restaurant business. After all, what better way to demonstrate just how tasty your food is than to show it in the flesh?

Video restaurant marketing has come a long way since the days of badly made home videos that displayed cold plates of unappetising fare through, shaky, low quality lenses.

Now, the world is your video marketing oyster and you can quickly and easily create engaging and interesting video blogs with nothing more than your smartphone.

It’s not only easy to make video in the digital age – it’s just as simple to share it.  Social media sites and video sharing platforms have made internet marketing accessible for everyone.

Better still, video marketing no longer costs an arm and a leg to produce. If you have a smartphone or camera that can capture decent footage (most will record at full HD and beyond) and a bit if creative flair, you can create fab footage for free.

Looking for inspiration? Try these five great ways to use video marketing in your restaurant:

1. Make an announcement

If you’re opening up a new establishment, a new branch or simply introducing a new menu, what better way to tell the world than by publishing a short video?

People will obviously be interested in your food, but they’ll also be intrigued by the team behind it.

Shooting a quick video showcasing the interior of your establishment, a quick peek at your menu or a little something from the owner or head chef is a great way to engage with your audience.

Let your viewers meet the team, see what’s on offer and even have a cheeky look at your kitchen!

2. Testimonials and talking heads

All restaurants thrive on good reviews, whether online or in print. But why not go one step further and have your customers tell the world why they love your food so much?

All you need is a few video quotes from customers (and let’s face it, most people aren’t camera shy these days), and some great shots of the food they chose to create an authentic, engaging video testimonial.

3. Host your own cookery show

If you want to create a YouTube hit or spread the word about your restaurant on social media, this is a great way to do it.

Cookery shows are some of the highest rated programs on TV today, and short videos made by celebrity chefs are also booming.

Turn your team into legends in their own lunch hours by videoing simple cooking tutorials that will help your customers engage with your brand and understand a little more about how you cook the food on your menu.

4. Focus on your food

You’re proud of the food you create, so why not showcase it via a regular video blog that focuses on a different recipe each week? For example, one week you could show your delicious range of vegan food and talk about why you champion that particular cause.

If you offer a cocktail menu, or specialist drinks board, you could also create a video blog to promote the beverage side of your offering, too.

5. Turn your chefs into superstars

Celebrity chefs are everywhere these days, but the people behind your menu invent the dishes that your diners love. It therefore only seems fair to give them a moment or two in the spotlight.

Interview your head chef and ask about their inspiration, their favourite flavours and for an insight into how they create new dishes. All of this may seem a little superfluous, but behind-the-scenes glimpses like this help build a strong bond between you and your customers.

Welcome Table empowers restaurateurs to better manage their bookings, diary and capacity but we love to share advice and guidance on how you can book yourselves full.

We hope this blog has demonstrated that you don’t need to be a Hollywood director to create the perfect video marketing campaign for your restaurant; you just need a smartphone, a bit of time and some inspiration drawn from above!