The Symbiotic Relationship Between Restaurants and TikTok: Exploring the Impact

Restaurants and TikTokers: A Budding Friendship

Amidst the pandemic, an interesting friendship developed between restaurants and TikTokers, as highlighted by The Washington Post. The rise of TikTok has captivated users like no other social platform, with cooking-related videos emerging as one of the most popular categories, as reported by ShortStack. In 2022 alone, the hashtags #food, #foodie, and #cooking garnered tremendous attention, accumulating over 300 billion, 85 billion, and 84 billion mentions respectively, according to eDigital. Hootsuite attributes TikTok’s impressive user engagement to its unique algorithm, which delivers personalized and constantly updated videos tailored to individual preferences and interests.

TikTok: A Platform for Culinary Creativity

TikTok has become a platform where aspiring chefs and amateurs alike showcase their culinary skills through engaging video content. Rahim Mohamed, a bodega manager from Brooklyn, gained TikTok fame with his unedited videos featuring sandwich creations, ultimately catching the attention of NYT Cooking. His success is not an isolated incident, as highlighted by The New York Times, with several other bodegas achieving recognition through TikTok. The hashtag #restaurants in Manhattan alone garnered over 42 million views, showcasing the public’s appetite for discovering new dining experiences, not only in New York but also in cities like San Francisco (29 million), Chicago (129 million), and New Orleans (262 million).

The Real-World Impact of TikTok Popularity for Restaurants

However, the crucial question remains: does TikTok popularity translate into real-world business for restaurants?

According to a survey conducted by MGH Advertising, 36% of TikTok users revealed that they visited or ordered food from a restaurant after watching a video about it, even if the video was not posted by the restaurant itself but by another TikTok account. Eater NY reported that Kam Hing Bakery in New York City witnessed a 20% increase in business after customers began sharing content on the platform. TikTok itself has also been inspired to venture into the food industry by partnering with Virtual Dining Concepts to deliver viral recipes, such as baked feta pasta, to households across the United States, as reported by Bloomberg.

Harnessing the Power of TikTok for Restaurants

Bar & Restaurant advises restaurants to utilize TikTok as a means to connect with customers and enhance their brand presence. Restaurants can showcase special menu items, collaborate with influencers, and promote exclusive deals. Following a similar approach, Chipotle, as revealed by Insider, became the most followed food brand on TikTok through branded hashtag challenges and strategic partnerships.

The advantage for restaurants lies in the fact that even with a small following, an uploaded video can go viral, offering great potential for smaller establishments with limited resources. Analiese Ross, CEO of AMR Digital Marketing, affirms this possibility, stating in an interview with Insider, “You can have 200 followers on TikTok and have a video go viral, and it gets a million views and it completely changes everything for you.”