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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Some restaurants use YouTube to market their business, and some use it to help build one.<\/p>\n
Inside Fallow in London, the restaurant is buzzing with customers. On social media, it\u2019s even busier.<\/p>\n
When Will Murray<\/a> and his business partner, Jack Croft<\/a>, started posting videos years back as a way to bring attention to their restaurant. Little did they know, they would eventually become YouTubers. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you can craft a narrative and you can create long-form content that people really engage with, they are the type of people that are gonna come and eat at your restaurant,\u201d Murray says. <\/p>\n The strategy paid off massively for the restaurant. Murray says they started making content four years ago, their social media grew 333%, and the combined platforms now generate between 85 million and 110 million views a month. The main driver behind why they started posting was to give people a window into the business. <\/p>\n \u201cCreating the restaurant and the business is the hard part. Creating a good window into it is actually more straightforward,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Murray, Croft and even the restaurant became recurring characters. Instead of chasing trends, the team documented what was already happening behind the scenes. <\/p>\n One of the biggest breakthroughs came from a quiet Saturday brunch. The team created the Royale with Cheese, a laminated croissant inspired by Pulp Fiction<\/em>, and shared a photo online. It generated roughly 1.6 million views and helped fill Saturday brunch for the next four months. Today, Fallow serves about 1,000 guests on a typical Saturday.<\/p>\n For Murray, it was another reminder that good storytelling could do more than build an audience. It could help build a business.<\/p>\n Murray says you don\u2019t need to have super expensive equipment to get started on YouTube. Even though you\u2019ll see a lot of videos that look super polished on the site, there are ways to create high-quality videos with just basic equipment. <\/p>\n \u201cThe first bit of advice I got was, \u2018Scrappy, not Spielberg,’\u201d Murray says. \u201cSo keep it scrappy. Keep it organic. If all you\u2019ve got is a phone, you\u2019re more than capable of getting millions and millions of views online. Don\u2019t overcomplicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Murray\u2019s favorite creators is Canadian restaurateur Steve Droulis, not because of polished production, but because he\u2019s authentic.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just seems like a bloke. Turns on the camera, you get what you get. I just love it because it\u2019s completely authentic and organic to what he does,\u201d Murray says.<\/p>\n Murray also points to Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt<\/a>, whose videos couldn\u2019t be more different. Whether it\u2019s simple cooking videos or classical French techniques, Murray says the best creators all have one thing in common.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to do it, don\u2019t do it. People will see that straight away,\u201d he says. \u201cThe UK is a really, really tough industry at the moment. There\u2019s just not enough meat on the bone unless you\u2019re willing to engage massively with social media and pull every lever that\u2019s available to you.\u201d<\/p>\n For Murray, the goal was never to become a YouTuber. It was to give people a reason to walk through Fallow\u2019s front door. The cameras, the views and the subscribers all came later.<\/p>\n \u201cRunning a business is tougher than ever with soaring costs in every different aspect, so communicating to your audience is more important than ever,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Restaurant Influencers<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point-of-sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience. Toast \u2014 Powering Successful Restaurants. Learn more about\u00a0Toast<\/a>.<\/p>\n Restaurant Influencers is proud to have PepsiCo as a sponsor of this episode. Partnering with PepsiCo Foodservice helps restaurant operators drive sustainable growth through smarter digital experiences, AI-backed menu optimization, and tools designed to create more profitable online orders. Check out PepsiCo Foodservice<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHere\u2019s their approach to storytelling<\/strong><\/h2>\n
About\u00a0Restaurant Influencers<\/em><\/h2>\n