Restaurant social media marketing in Metro Detroit: a 2026 playbook

This playbook is for owners and general managers of independent restaurants, bars and cafes in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties. Every statistic links to its source. Where no reliable data exists, the advice is labeled as our guidance.

How do diners find new restaurants in 2026?

Toast, the restaurant point-of-sale company, surveyed U.S. adults who had recently dined in or ordered out from October 9 to 15, 2025, and published the results in July 2026. Word of mouth was the top way people found a new restaurant, at 38%. Walking or driving past came second at 30%. Facebook followed at 27%, then TV ads and map apps at 18% each, search engine results at 16%, Instagram and YouTube at 15% each, and TikTok at 14%.

Toast also found suburban diners rely more on word of mouth and physical location, while city diners rely more on social media. Much of Oakland, Macomb and outer Wayne County is suburban, so a sign people see from the road and regulars who talk you up still carry weight. TikTok was the top discovery channel for Gen Z at 38%, and its pull dropped sharply with older diners.

Once someone knows you exist, Toast found the deciding factors were price and value (55%), food quality (51%), menu variety (43%) and location or convenience (43%). Guests judge all four from your menu, photos and map listing.

An earlier Toast survey from July 2024 of 850 people who use social media at least weekly found 59% use Facebook most to find restaurants. In that group, 28% always check a restaurant’s social media before deciding to go and 62% sometimes do.

Pew Research Center’s 2025 survey found 71% of U.S. adults use Facebook, 50% use Instagram and 37% use TikTok. Eight in ten adults ages 18 to 29 use Instagram, compared with 19% of those 65 and older. If your guests skew older, Facebook and your Google listing do most of the work. If they skew under 30, Instagram and TikTok matter more.

What should a restaurant’s Google Business Profile include?

Google’s setup page for restaurants starts with address, phone and hours, including separate hours for delivery, takeout and pickup. Four more sections need regular attention.

Menu. The menu editor lets food and drink businesses list items with descriptions and prices, grouped into sections. You can also link to the menu on your website or upload menu photos or a PDF, and Google can build a structured menu from those files. Customers can upload menu photos too, and you can flag an outdated one for removal. Keep the Google menu matching the printed one, prices included.

Photos and video. Google’s photo and video requirements call for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, 720 by 720 pixels recommended, and photos that are “in focus and well lit” without heavy filters. Videos can run up to 30 seconds and 75 MB at 720p or higher. Set a cover photo and logo, then add your best sellers, the dining room, the bar, the patio and the entrance so a first-timer knows what to look for.

Posts. Business Profile posts come in three types: updates, offers and events. Offers need a title and dates, and events need start and end times. Google archives posts older than six months unless a date range is set. Use them for the weekly special, the patio opening or a ticketed dinner.

Attributes. Attributes are yes-or-no details such as outdoor seating, Wi-Fi, payment options, accessibility features and owner identity, for example women-owned or veteran-owned. Google says adding certain attributes can help you show up in searches for places with those features. Some are filled in from customer input, so check them every few months.

What should a restaurant post, and how often?

Diners told Toast they want food. In the 2024 survey, 84% said they prefer to see photos of food and drinks served at the restaurant, 47% wanted decor and ambiance, 44% wanted promotions, 38% wanted videos of the dining experience and 19% wanted behind-the-scenes footage. Asked which content most influences a visit, 57% picked pictures of the food.

We could not find a primary-source study that sets a correct posting cadence for restaurants, so treat the following as our practical guidance, not data:

• Instagram and Facebook feed: three or four posts a week, at least one of them a short video.
• Stories: most days you are open, for the day’s specials, a sold-out notice, live music or the game on the TVs.
• Google Business Profile: one post a week, plus an event or offer post whenever you have one.
• TikTok: only if you can keep up two or more videos a week and your guests skew younger.

Pick a cadence your staff can hold for a full quarter. A schedule that collapses after three weeks leaves a stale page for the 28% who always check before they go. For timing, Instagram’s insights show when your followers are most active once you have at least 100 followers.

How do you shoot food and the dining room on a phone?

These steps are our practical guidance.

1. Use window light. Put the plate near a window, turn off overhead lights that tint the food, and light the dish from the side or slightly behind.
2. Match the angle to the dish. Pizza and boards read best from overhead. Burgers and layered desserts read best from the side at table height. Bowls work at about 45 degrees.
3. Shoot it fresh. Plate one for the camera and shoot within a few minutes, before sauces set. A pour or rising steam is worth a few seconds of video.
4. Clean the frame. Wipe plate rims and clear phones, receipts and condiment bottles.
5. Shoot the room twice. Get a clean wide shot before service with the lights at their evening level, then shoot a busy service. Ask guests before you feature their faces.
6. Shoot vertical for video. Reels, Stories and TikTok are vertical. Shoot stills both ways for Google, the feed and print.
7. Edit lightly. Google asks for profile photos without significant alterations or excessive filters, and a dish that looks better online than on the table disappoints guests.

For video, Instagram’s ranking explainer says it deprioritizes reels that are watermarked, muted, framed with borders, mostly text, or already posted on Instagram. A TikTok re-uploaded with its logo is a watermarked reel. Export clean files for each platform and keep the sound on.

Reels, carousels or Stories: which format does what?

In its 2023 ranking explainer, Instagram says of Reels that “the majority of what you see is from accounts you don’t follow.” Stories come from accounts a person follows, and the Feed mixes those with recommendations.

Instagram says it ranks Reels partly on how likely a viewer is to reshare, watch to the end, like the reel and visit its audio page. In practice, open on the food in the first second and save the logo for the end. Stories disappear after 24 hours unless you save them as highlights, so keep standing highlights for the menu, hours, events and private dining.

How should a restaurant respond to reviews?

On Google, you need a verified profile to reply to reviews. The reviewer is notified when you reply. Google checks replies against its policies first, which usually takes up to 10 minutes but can take up to 30 days.

Our practical guidance on replies:

• Answer every review within a few days, and mention something specific the guest wrote.
• For a complaint, apologize, skip the argument and give a manager’s name and a way to reach them offline.
• Never post a guest’s personal details.

Asking for reviews is governed by three sets of rules, and the platforms are stricter than federal law:

• Google lets you ask for genuine reviews and gives you a review link or QR code. Its contributed content policy bans offering discounts, free items or payment for reviews, discouraging negative reviews, and asking only happy customers.
• Yelp asks businesses not to request reviews at all and says its software may not recommend reviews that look prompted.
• The FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews, incentives tied to a positive or negative sentiment, undisclosed reviews by employees and managers, and threats to get negative reviews removed. It also covers buying fake followers and views, and the FTC’s announcement says it can seek civil penalties against knowing violators.

How do creator partnerships work under FTC rules?

A free meal is a material connection. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides questions and answers address restaurants directly: guests who receive a complimentary meal and then post about it should disclose that fact. The FTC’s Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers sets out how:

• Put the disclosure in the post itself where people will see it, not only in a bio, below a “more” cut or in a pile of hashtags.
• On a photo, superimpose it on the image. On a video, put it in the video, not only in the caption. On a livestream, repeat it.
• Use plain words such as “ad,” “sponsored” or “Thanks to [restaurant] for the free meal.” The FTC says to avoid vague tags such as “sp,” “spon” or “collab.”
• Talk only about dishes the creator actually tried.

The restaurant carries responsibility too. The FTC says advertisers should train and monitor the people posting for them, can be liable when a material connection goes undisclosed, and should not rely on a platform’s paid-partnership label alone.

Our practical guidance: put every creator deal in writing, covering what you provide, the disclosure wording, the posting date and whether you can reuse the content.

What Michigan liquor rules apply to social media promotions?

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission’s Code and Rule Book, updated September 2026, contains the statutes and rules below. This is a summary, not legal advice.

• Unpaid social media is expressly allowed for some promotions. MCL 436.1610 lets a retailer use unpaid social media, including its own website, to advertise an on-premises brand promotion, beer, wine or spirits tastings, or where a product is available, in line with all other laws. The statute speaks to unpaid posts, so ask the commission before you put ad money behind a post promoting a specific alcohol brand.
• No bottomless drink specials for the public. MCL 436.2014 bars an on-premises licensee from selling, offering or advertising an unlimited quantity of alcohol at a set price, except at a qualifying private function with a written agreement. It also bars selling, offering or advertising three or more identical drinks to one person for one price.
• Contests need approval. Rule R 436.1321 says alcohol advertising tied to a prize for completing a contest requires the commission’s prior written approval, and it prohibits gambling devices and games used for advertising. If a giveaway involves drinks, ask first.
• Supplier-made ads with your name are off limits. Rule R 436.1315 bars manufacturers and wholesalers from furnishing, and retailers from accepting, advertising that carries the retailer’s name or money for advertising space on the premises.
• The old happy hour rule is gone. The commission rescinded R 436.1438, indexed in the rule book as its “Happy Hour” rule, effective February 3, 2025. The statute above still applies.

Questions go to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

A simple monthly content calendar

A template based on our practical guidance:

What should a restaurant measure?

Google Business Profile. The performance report for verified profiles shows the search terms people used to find you, profile views, calls, direction requests, website clicks, menu clicks, bookings made through a booking provider, and offer views and clicks. Google updates search terms monthly. Direction requests and menu clicks are the actions closest to a visit.

Instagram. Instagram insights show views, viewers, interactions and accounts engaged, and for posts and Stories they split accounts engaged into followers and non-followers. Non-follower engagement shows whether a post reached new diners. Insights cover up to the past 90 days, so record your numbers monthly.

In the restaurant. Our practical guidance: ask “How did you hear about us?” at the host stand or in reservation notes, and run one social-only offer code a month so redemptions can be counted.

How we handle this at Full On Social

Full On Social is a marketing agency in Metro Detroit, and restaurants and hospitality are one of the four industries it focuses on, alongside health and beauty, auto and local shops, and real estate. Our restaurant marketing work draws on the services covered in this guide. Content creation covers food and interior photography, short-form video and reels, aerial video and photography, and event coverage. Social media management covers strategy, posting, community management and paid social. Our AI search optimization work covers social media SEO and AI search visibility, with performance tracking, so a restaurant shows up where diners are already looking. For a restaurant that needs a new look or a new site first, we also do brand identity and web design. You can see past work on our work page, read more about how social search works in our social media SEO guide, or contact us to talk through your restaurant.

Updates

• October 7, 2026: Guide published, facts checked against Toast, Pew Research Center, Google Business Profile Help, Instagram Help Center, the FTC, Yelp and the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.