When we were building Mustard, we dedicated ourselves to understanding the challenges faced by restaurant owners by interviewing hundreds of them. This deep dive revealed a common struggle: navigating the complex world of influencer marketing for restaurants. Former TikTok employee Lena Katz’s interview with Sam Oches for Nation's Restaurant News perfectly encapsulates these challenges, from targeting the right influencers to negotiating fair compensation and measuring impact and driving online and offline traffic using local micro-influencers.
Challenges
1. Targeting the Right Influencers
Lena emphasizes that focusing solely on follower counts is insufficient. Instead, local influencers with high engagement rates and genuine interactions are more valuable. Understanding which engagements are most beneficial for restaurants is crucial. Is it views, likes, or something else? At Mustard, we believe the real indicator is Purchase Intent, a metric showing how many local people have expressed interest in visiting the restaurant or trying the food as a result of these collaborations. While views and likes provide visibility, the ultimate goal is to drive customers to the restaurant. No one else in the industry focuses on this metric as we do, making our approach unique.
We measure the impact of influencer campaigns by tracking Purchase Intent daily and providing clear KPIs for measurable outcomes. This ensures that the influencers deliver professional, impactful content that drives local interest and foot traffic. At Mustard, we engage with over 12K vetted local food influencers across 27 cities in the US and Canada weekly. Our platform allows restaurants to accept influencers for collaborations who align with their brand and audience, ensuring authenticity and effectiveness.
2. Negotiating Fair Compensation
Negotiating with influencers is another significant challenge highlighted by Lena. When restaurants reach out to influencers independently, they often face higher prices, making it tough to secure a fair deal. Influencers tend to offer their services at premium rates because they recognize the direct need and urgency from the restaurant's side. However, when influencers apply for collaborations, the dynamic changes significantly. At Mustard, influencers apply directly through our platform, allowing restaurants to bypass price negotiations entirely. This approach not only facilitates better rates but also ensures that all logistics—from booking visits to content tracking—are managed seamlessly. While the payouts for influencers may not be as high as independent deals, the consistency and quality of work with reputable restaurants offer them a reliable and rewarding opportunity. This system significantly reduces costs for restaurants and saves time.
Can restaurants do it themselves?
For independent restaurants, navigating these complexities is often overwhelming. Larger enterprises struggle to systematize influencer marketing, especially when dealing with micro-influencers. Working with influencers can yield up to 10X ROI, according to various studies, but the logistics are daunting. Ensuring influencers show up on time, align their content with your brand’s vibe, and create videos that drive local interest is no small feat.
Our Uber-Like Approach
To make this happen, influencers need guidance and support through software and processes, similar to how Uber professionalized its service with a diverse pool of drivers. Local food influencers, like Uber drivers, are not professional marketers and need structured support to deliver high-quality marketing services.
Mustard's smart auto-matching system pairs the right influencers with the right restaurants, resulting in a significantly better ROI compared to other promotional methods. Our approach is easy, affordable, and effective, transforming the complexities of influencer marketing into a seamless, impactful process for restaurants.
Making a Difference
Lena Katz’s insights highlight the intricacies of influencer marketing, and at Mustard, we’ve built a platform that addresses these challenges head-on. By understanding and solving the real pain points of restaurant owners, we empower them to harness the power of local influencers, drive customer interest, and achieve significant growth.
For more on Lena's insights, you can read her full interview here.
.jpg)
