Easy tips for better social media photos

Social media is a visual channel. Obviously. And though phones have made taking photos way easier than it used to be, a ton of the stuff put out by bars, restaurants, and breweries still sucks.

The stuff Rob Austin puts out doesn't suck. He has a background in photography and videography and now runs marketing for Leader Bar in Chicago. We picked his brain for easy tips on how to take great social media photos, and he coughed up nine great ones:

1. Take photos on a sunny day and use indirect natural light. Don't rely on overhead lighting.
2. If you have a good photo-taking place or two in your bar, stick with it. Don't force variety.
3. Hold a big photoshoot when conditions are good. Take tons of photos of everything you can so that you always have content on hand.
4. Depth of field part 1: Show the subject of the photo up front. The bar should be in the background, but the thing you're posting about (e.g. a special food item) should be the focus.
5. Depth of field part 2: adjust if necessary. E.g. if you’re shooting a plate of food, tilt the back of the plate up by setting it on something that's like an inch tall. That'll help your audience see it.
6. Don't take just 1 or 2 photos of the thing you need. Take a minimum of 30. You won't get the perfect shot the first time.
7. Put all your photos into a Google Drive folder. If they're in the cloud, you—and your team—can always access them.
8. You can reuse a photo, but only if its been a little while. We're talking a few months.
9. Follow the examples of other social media profiles that you think do a good job.

For more depth and context on these tips—and examples of using them—check out the interview clip:

And for more service industry marketing advice from Rob, check out this playlist of all Rob's videos on our Youtube channel.

We looked at BeerMenus search data from March 21 to April 7 (encompassing the entirety of both the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments) to see what beers folks were searching for most.

Here are the top 5 in descending order (most searched for at the top):

	Löwenbräu Original Helles Lager · 5.2% · München, Germany
	Schlitz Pale Lager · 4.6% · San Antonio, TX
	The Alchemist Heady Topper Double IPA · 8.0% · Stowe, VT
	Forge Irish Stout Dry Stout · 4.3% · Dekalb, IL
	Busch Light Peach Lager · 4.1% · St. Louis, MO

❓ Why?

Because prospective customers often check out your website to decide whether or not to come in.

They'll click the "see website" link on their maps app, they'll click the link in your social media bio, or maybe they'll just run a google search for "bars near me."

Regardless, they're getting to your website, and if all they see on your website drink menu is "we have specialty cocktails and craft beer," it's easy for those folks to say "yeah, so does everybody else, this sure doesn't convince me."

And to be clear: you should keep all your menus—including your rotating beer list—up-to-date on your website.

Even if just a couple people each month are drawn into your place because you're website menu hygiene is on-point, that's totally worth it.

❓ How to do it?

Automate it

Manually

You could also keep your website menu up-to-date manually. This certainly isn't a time-effective option, but a lot of folks do it. Here's how the manual flow could look:

1. Create a menu page (or different menu pages for your different items) on your website. Most website builders offer an easy-to-use and professional-looking menu template that allows you to avoid using a PDF, meaning your menu will be mobile-friendly.
2. Add your menu content. Be sure to include all your menu items and descriptions.
3. Include an "Updated on" timestamp so that visitors can trust what's up there (sooo many places have out-of-date menus on their website).
4. Make sure everybody who needs it has access and the know-how to update the menu when items change.
5. Every time your menu changes, go to your website and make the updates. Don't forget to change the "Updated on" timestamp.

However you approach it, keep that website up-to-date if you can. Today someone will look at it, and if it's out of date, they'll be disappointed.

• Finally some good news for beer sales. Constellation brands reported better sales than expected over the last quarter. It's been awhile since we've written anything like that. Usually the story is about beer dying.
• Wisconsin is cool. For the last 8 years Milwaukee has hosted an outdoor sculpture event called Sculpture Milwaukee. This year they collaborated with Company Brewing to brew a beer for the event. That's cool, but the cooler part is this: instrumental in the beer was an organization called Beer Endowment, a "Wisconsin-based project that creates new beers to support artist-run organizations." Check out the beers they've helped bring about on Instagram.
• Stinky billboards. McDonald's has put up "scent emitting" billboards at a couple places in the Netherlands. They've placed them near McDonald's restaurants, hoping the scent makes folks strolling by think "you know what? I could use a burger."