The effectiveness of restaurant advertisement through social media in Dungun, Terengganu: a content analysis / Nurul Hamizah Salleh

There are many ways to advertise restaurant apart from the conventional methods. The use of social networking (social media), electronic media (website) and word of mouths are among the methods used by restaurant operators (Romaniuk et al., 2017). Today, people much prefer to use social media because it is easy and quick. Information which include promotional advertisement can be spread online at the tip of the finger. According to Balar (2012), social media has become marketing tools to promote restaurants. People mostly interested in social interaction and information seeking when using social media. This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of restaurant advertising through social media in Dungun, Terengganu. A total of five (5) restaurant was selected which have their own official social media platform to promote their restaurant. The Instagram app was their main mode of advertisement to their followers and customers. Using content analysis approach, this
study observed and recorded the number of likes that each of the five restaurants obtained throughout a period of eight (8) weeks. Results showed that the use of Instagram did have a positive impact on the restaurant advertising. Steady upward trend of likes obtained by the restaurants showed that it was one of the effective ways of reaching the customers. However, for future research, it is recommended that other perspectives should also be examined to seek the relationship between social
media and restaurant sales, growth and customers’ feedback.