Does social media actually bring customers to a restaurant?

It works when a post gives a stranger a reason to choose you tonight. Views on their own do not fill tables. Shares and saves do, because a share is someone sending it to whoever they are eating with, and a save is someone keeping it for later. So those are the numbers we manage against, along with profile visits and direction taps. We are also straight about the limit: we can show you reach, shares and comments where people say they are coming in. Tying a specific view to a specific bill needs tracking at the door, and we will tell you that rather than claim credit for your whole weekend.

How often should we post?

Two to three times a week, without gaps, beats posting daily for a month and then going quiet. Silence is what actually costs a restaurant account: three dead weeks lose more reach than a modest steady schedule ever would. Fewer posts with a real idea behind each one outperform filling a calendar for the sake of it.

Is TikTok worth it, or is Instagram enough?

It depends on what you need. Instagram mostly reaches people who already follow you, which is right for reminding regulars about a special or a new menu. TikTok puts your food in front of people who have never heard of you, which is what you need if the goal is new faces. Most restaurants want both, and the same footage serves both, so it is not double the work.

Do you film, or do we?

Either way works. Most restaurants film it themselves from our shot list, on a phone, between service. It is faster, it costs less, and the footage looks like the actual place rather than a commercial. If you would rather not think about a camera at all, we come and shoot it, and that is quoted separately per shoot.

Nobody here wants to be on camera. Does this still work?

Yes. The food carries a restaurant account. Most of what performs is the dish, the kitchen, the room, hands plating, steam coming off a bowl. A face helps when someone is willing, but it is not the requirement people assume it is.

Do we need to pay for ads?

Not to start. Organic content tells you which dishes and which angles people actually respond to, and it tells you for free. Paying to promote a post nobody has reacted to yet is paying to guess. Once something proves it travels, putting budget behind it makes sense, and we will say when we think you are at that point.

How much does it cost, and how long before it works?

Management starts from $700 a month and both tiers are on this page, with filming quoted separately if you want us to shoot. On timing: treat the first month as finding out what your audience reacts to, then expect month two and three to compound as the account builds a pattern. Anyone promising a full dining room in week one is selling you something.

A phone on a tripod set up to film food content

CASE STUDIES / RESTAURANTS / CALGARY

25 to 30 percent more new weekend guests, and an owner back on the business

A family-owned café in Calgary. Regular content brought new guests through the door, and the owner stopped spending evenings on social media.

THE SITUATION

Comfort food made from scratch and handcrafted drinks, served in the same Calgary neighbourhood for years. The food had loyal regulars and the Instagram account had close to three thousand real followers built over years.

The owner ran the account personally, in between running the café.

THE PROBLEM

Reach stayed inside the circlePosts were seen by existing followers, so the account worked as a reminder for regulars and brought few new faces
No plan behind the postsContent went out when there was time, with no recurring format and no shot list
No TikTokThe channel where people discover places to eat had a single old post
The owner's timeEvery hour spent on content was an hour taken from the team, the menu and the service

WHAT WE DID

A monthly plan and shot listsProblemContent went out when there was time, with no plan.What we didA written plan every month and a shot list per video: dish, angle, order and length.
Filming between servicesProblemA production day would mean closing the kitchen.What we didThe team films on a phone between services, with no crew.
Editing and publishingProblemEvery hour on content came out of the owner’s week.What we didWe cut every Reel, write on-screen text and captions, adapt each video per platform and post on schedule.
TikTok from zeroProblemThe channel where people discover places to eat had one old post.What we didTikTok opened to reach people who had never heard of the café.

THE RESULT

+25–30%New weekend guests, in the owner’s words

2,805 → 3,565Instagram followers

176KInstagram views in 30 days

91%Of views from non-followers

Insights

What the owner said

WHAT IT GAVE THE BUSINESS

Busier weekendsMore new guests every weekend, visible well beyond the regulars
Guests who saw the videosPeople arrive asking for dishes from the Reels, and several say TikTok is how they found the place
The owner’s time backThe hours went into growing the team, improving the menu and keeping food and service quality high

Valeriia and Emiliia, founders of Syntri Labs

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