Givex, a cloud-based operations management solution, spoke to 202 people in a senior management position in a restaurant to understand their business priorities. A third said they would invest in sales and marketing activities on Facebook and Instagram.

Also one third of those surveyed stated they were planning to develop loyalty programmes. The most popular suggestion was discounts (48%), followed by a free meal or drink (40%) and 21% said exclusive invites to events. Over one quarter of those surveyed (26%) said they didn’t track customer loyalty.

Jurgen Ketel, managing director at Givex, said: “There is a huge untapped opportunity for restaurants to use social media to reward their customers, and increase loyalty. The best reward programs are the ones that understand customer behaviour. With so many customers on social media, it’s the perfect platform to tap into.

“If you’re looking for inspiration of restaurants that do social media well, take a look at Pret A Manger (on Facebook and Instagram) and Wildwood (Facebook and Instagram). Both companies have an engaged, loyal audience and use social platforms to reward their customers and let them know about special offers.

“If your restaurant is measuring engagement on social media, it should also be rewarding it to increase loyalty. Any customer that interacts with your brand, by sharing a post on social media, referring new customers or writing a review, should be rewarded. It’s cost-effective, and it can encourage customers to choose you instead of your competitors, over and above pricing.”