5 Questions Every Restaurant Should Ask an Influencer/Blogger Before Inviting Them In

A potential client suggested I write this to help everyone, and I accepted the challenge.

The number one question I received when talking to restaurants is, "How do I know this will work." It encompasses their concerns for both influencer marketing, if the influencers are real, and social media as a whole. I don't blame restaurant owners, as this is a relatively new medium and so there is going to be a learning curve, even if the platforms are fully built and at scale.

To ease their concerns, I always show the Owners or General Managers my insights page, live, and in real time, so they know my audience is real. Over time I developed these 5 questions that I suggest they ask to set their minds at ease. I hope all decision makers, PR and marketing firms develop a similar standard to some degree.

While these are specific to Instagram, you can see how they apply to all social media platforms and outlets:

#1. Can I see the numbers of your followers by top cities on your Insights Page?

#2. Can I see the numbers of your followers by top countries on your Insights Page?

#3. What is the time line and minimum number of pictures you will post, on timeline or stories?

#4. Who have your collaborated with? (Bloggers and Restaurants)

#5. On average, how many unique viewers do you have per week?

The first three questions are really the deal breakers in my book. If an Influencer is not willing to show you who their audience is, and where they are, it is impossible to know if they are real or not. It also is important to know what they are willing to do for a business. After all, this is an exchange of value.

It is not too much to over communicate to know what both parties expectations are moving forward.

The final two questions are really concerning context. This is going to let you know a little bit more about an industry specific audience and what their actual audience is. Collaborations generally show how well individuals are circling within their industry.

Unique viewers is a little different. For instance, if someone has 20,000 followers but only reaches 5,000 people per week, they MAY have some "bots" following them. "Bots" aka, fake followers, generally do not consume content as exist as ghosts.

Regardless, these are very fair questions that any influencers who has nothing to worry about should be more than willing to answer.