10 TikTok Video Ideas for Restaurants

If you are a restaurant owner in 2022, you need to be on TikTok. I know what you’re thinking, “It’s a video social network, where the heck does my restaurant fit in there?” 

Creating engaging content that resonates with your customers is the future of marketing. And TikTok is a great medium to put this content on, as it is a powerful tool that gives businesses the opportunity to reach a large audience in a short amount of time. As per TikTok stats, TikTok has become a top social network for teens and young adults, so it’s no surprise that it has quickly grown into one of the most popular platforms on the internet. 

TikTok is the perfect place for restaurants to be due to its younger demographic, high engagement levels, and growth potential.

Creating TikToks Can Boost Employee Engagement 

Restaurant employees are used to completing repetitive tasks on a daily basis. Giving them the opportunity to contribute to the brand's TikTok account not only breaks the repetitive pattern that they are used to and also helps bring more business for your restaurant. 

Allowing employees to work on creating TikToks will give them a creative outlet for their ideas, and ultimately boost employee engagement.

Here are 10 tiktok ideas for restaurants that you can use to reach out to your target audience and promote your business.

1. Use TikTok to give people a behind-the-scenes look at your restaurant

Take them on a tour of the kitchen, introduce them to members of your team, and show them how you prepare your food. This will make them feel like they are part of your community and will create a connection with your brand. Pay attention to small details that can create a unified brand image. 

2. Feature your vendors in your videos

This is one of the most underused TikTok ideas for restaurants. Customers are interested in the places their food is sourced from. Showcase the farm where you get your ingredients from or introduce viewers to the baker who makes your bread. This will help create a sense of authenticity and transparency that younger adults crave.

3. Offer cooking lessons to home chefs who want to learn fundamental skills

Private chef Adam Witt (@omnivorousadam) creates cooking videos that show viewers how to make things most probably haven't thought much about or never will make, such as churning butter or carbonating fruit. However, these are fun and interesting to watch regardless.

4. Ask your employees to show what they do on a daily basis

TikTok/Youtuber Milad Mirg (@miladmirg) works at the Subway that his parents own. And makes TikToks of him making the Subway sandwiches that the customers order. 

While the idea might sound uninteresting on paper as making a sandwich involves a lot of repetitive tasks, it's a huge hit with the audience. And the testament to that fact is the five million-plus followers he has on TikTok. 

5. Host a live event

Once you reach the threshold of 1,000 followers on TikTok, you can start hosting live events. You can run a contest, have a cook-off between your staff, use your creativity. There are a number of things you could do with the live event option on TikTok. 

6.  Collaborate with influencers

Search for the right influencer, preferably someone popular in the food blogging niche, and invite them over for a collaboration. Influencers hold a great deal of sway over their audience. And when an influencer gives your food a positive review, more often than not, it convinces their audience to come to try your food. 

Dunkin is one such restaurant that collaborated with an influencer to get more recognition. It collaborated with none other than Charli D'Amelio, the most followed person on TikTok. 

That being said, you don’t need the most followed person on TikTok for your collaboration. Simply find a local influencer in your city, and invite them over for a behind-the-scenes look at your restaurant.

7. Introduce new menu items 

This is another underused TikTok idea for restaurants. Have an idea for a crazy menu item? Can't wait for your patrons to try the new gastronomic extravaganza you came up with? Put it on TikTok. Create a mystery surrounding the new item. Maybe play a game of guessing the ingredients. Conduct a live event. Basically, create hype. And nothing excites people on TikTok more than a hyped-up new launch. 

8. Conduct Mini Games 

Any type of content that increases interaction with your audience is a hit on TikTok. Mini games are an excellent way to do that. For example, a simple sweet vs spicy food poll gives your audience the chance to let you know their preferences. Not only you engage them with your account, but also get to know what they want. It's a win-win. 

9. Challenge Your Audience 

Challenges have been popular on TikTok since the beginning. Be it the ice bucket challenge, the bottle flip challenge, or even the recent cake flip challenge. All of these challenges have gone viral on TikTok and beyond. Chipotle's #guacdance challenge was one such huge hit. If you don't see a challenge you can jump on to, why don't you create one yourself? Something simple as asking your followers to crack an egg without breaking the yolk can work wonders. 

10. Create fun testimonial videos 

Testimonials aren't just a great TikTok idea for restaurants but are a powerful marketing tool as well. And on TikTok, testimonials can be fun. Use the latest trends. For example, the ‘ messages to quotes' trend were used by a lot of restaurants to turn their customer reviews into quotes. 

When you are looking for TikTok ideas for your restaurant, keep in mind that the most popular types of videos are those that are entertaining, involve dancing, or are prank-related. People use TikTok as a way to have a laugh, take part in challenges, and escape from the mundane reality of everyday life, so try and reflect that in your own content.

Be relatable and be ready to make content without inhibitions. And that should pave the way for your success.