A decade ago, restaurant coinsurers and casual diners alike were referring to Yelp, the digital one stop place for food lovers everywhere to read reviews, and learn about any restaurant they wanted that peaks their interest. But now, times have changed—and with modern times, come the modern ‘review’ – in pictures. Here, we’ll examine the benefits of Instagram, and if it’s in fact, taken over Yelp’ strong media presence.
Click, Eat and Tweet
We live in a world of instant gratification—which means that foodies (and the rest of the world that simply cares about eating) needs to see what they’re going to consume, and they need to see it now. That’s the true beauty of Instagram, it’s strong suit and why it’s dominated social media sites like Yelp when it comes to dining, shopping and cooking. With Yelp, you’re writing up a review, uploading some pictures and clicking ‘send’ – but with Instagram, you’re communicating your message with pictures to an entire social network. Instagram has found a rare way to share food (and everything else you can think of) with the rest of the world.
It’s User-Friendly
Have you navigated through Yelp lately? If you want to find a particular restaurant, you can search for it and find reviews according to that search. But if you want to click and share with multiple social media networks, you might want to forget about it. Instagram on the other hand, is ‘Yelp’ of modern times. Built for social media and mobile users, it’s not only an easy way for consumers to get a taste of what he’ll find at a restaurant, but it’s the perfect platform for restaurant owners to advertise.
It’s a Marketers Dream
Instagram is aesthetically pleasing, and let’s face it—in a world where everything is at the click of a button, what’s more inciting, marketing wise, than a picture of a gorgeous steak and a colorful, bright salad? One of the greatest joys for business owners is having a constant flood of visual pictures that pose as advertisements for free. If you’ve got a strong following, then you’ve got a constant customer base, who will salivate at each picture you post.But more than anything else, Instagram lets followers connect through photo sharing, as well as Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook The beauty behind this operation? An on the spot restaurant review that shares the restaurant location information immediately. By being user friendly, modern and easily accessible, it’s no wonder Instagram is taking the restaurant industry by storm.