How to promote your restaurant on Facebook & Instagram

Restaurant marketplaces can bring new diners through the door, but they charge a fee, typically a monthly subscription plus a few euros per cover, every time someone books through them. Facebook and Instagram let you reach the same local diners directly, often at a lower cost per booking, while keeping the guest relationship (and their data) with your restaurant instead of a third party.

This guide walks through setting up both channels and explains when they’re the better option.

Part 1: Set up your foundation

Before running ads or adding booking buttons, you need the right accounts linked together.

1. Create a Facebook Business Page for your restaurant if you don’t already have one (facebook.com/pages/create).
2. Convert your Instagram account to a Business or Creator account: in the Instagram app, go to Settings → Account type and tools → Switch to Professional Account.
3. Link the two accounts: in Instagram settings, connect to your Facebook Page. This lets you manage both from one place and keeps booking buttons in sync.
4. Set up Meta Business Suite (business.facebook.com). This is your control center for posting, messaging, and ads across both platforms.

Part 2: Add a “Reserve” or “Book Now” button

This turns your profile into a direct booking channel, no marketplace listing required. With the Resos Reserve with Facebook & Instagram add-on, guests can book a table directly from your profiles.

1. Go to your Instagram profile → Edit Profile → Action Buttons.
2. Choose Book Now or Reserve.
3. Select your booking provider from the list and log in to authorize the connection.
4. If your Facebook and Instagram accounts are linked, the button will automatically appear on your Facebook Page too.

Once live, anyone browsing your profile can book a table in two taps: no phone call, no third-party app, no commission.

Part 3: Organic content that drives bookings

Paid ads work better when your page already looks active and appetizing.

• Post consistently: 2-4 times a week is enough. Photos and short videos of dishes, the dining room, and behind-the-scenes moments perform best.
• Use Stories and Reels: these get more reach than static feed posts and are ideal for daily specials, last-minute table openings, or events.
• Reply to DMs and comments quickly: many diners will ask about availability or large-party bookings directly in Messenger or Instagram DMs. Treat this as a booking channel, not just customer service.
• Encourage tagged photos and reviews: reshare guest content to your Story; it’s free social proof.

Part 4: Running paid ads

When you’re ready to actively drive bookings rather than just build a following:

1. Access Ads Manager at business.facebook.com. You’ll need a payment method on file.
2. Choose an objective: “Leads” or “Messages” work well for reservation inquiries; “Traffic” if you’re sending people straight to your booking widget.
3. Set local radius targeting: restaurants benefit enormously from geo-targeting. A 5-10 mile (8-15 km) radius around your location usually outperforms broad demographic targeting. Meta’s automated “Advantage+” audience tools can handle most of this for you once you give the system a conversion goal.
4. Prepare creative: a square image (1080x1080) for feed and carousel, and a vertical image or video (1080x1920) for Stories and Reels. Food photography and short video consistently outperform text-heavy graphics.
5. Set a test budget: 30-50 euros per day for 1-2 weeks is enough to see what’s working before committing more. Restaurants typically see costs in the range of a few euros per lead, though this varies by market and season.
6. Send traffic to your booking widget, not a generic contact form. Every extra step between ad and confirmed reservation loses potential guests.

Part 5: Why this can beat a marketplace

	Facebook / Instagram	Third-party marketplaces
Cost structure	Ad spend you control, no per-cover fee	Monthly subscription plus a few euros per cover booked through their network
Guest data	Stays with your restaurant (CRM, email, remarketing)	Largely stays with the marketplace
Brand control	Your page, your content, no competitor listings nearby	Diners see competing restaurants on the same page
Repeat guests	Free to reach again via organic posts, email, retargeting ads	You pay the same per-cover fee whether it’s a first-timer or a regular
Discovery for new restaurants	Limited, depends on your existing following and ad spend	Strong, marketplaces have built-in diner traffic actively searching

The short version: marketplaces are good at discovery, putting your restaurant in front of people who weren’t already looking for you. Facebook and Instagram are good at conversion and retention, turning your existing audience, past guests, and local awareness into bookings without an ongoing per-cover cost.

When a marketplace still makes sense

• You’re a new restaurant with little local following or reputation yet.
• You’re in a tourist-heavy area where diners are actively browsing marketplace apps rather than searching your name directly.
• You want the review and reputation boost that comes from being listed alongside established restaurants.

Many restaurants use both: a marketplace listing for discovery, and Facebook and Instagram (routed into their own booking system) to capture and retain the guests they’ve already earned, without paying a commission on every single one.

Quick checklist

• Facebook Business Page created
• Instagram converted to a Business or Creator account and linked to Facebook
• “Reserve” or “Book Now” button added and tested
• Posting schedule set (2-4 times a week, a mix of feed posts, Stories, and Reels)
• Ads Manager account set up with a payment method
• First test campaign launched with local radius targeting and a 30-50 euros per day budget
• Ad destination confirmed to link directly to your booking widget

We hope you found this guide useful. If you have any questions about promoting your restaurant or any general questions about Resos, do not hesitate to contact us at hi@resos.com. Our support representatives are excited to offer their help!