How to Promote My Restaurant on Instagram

Short answer

Instagram now pushes Reels, not grid photos. So promotion is less about making the shop look good and more about having something to post every day. Pick a frequency you can actually keep, then worry about polish.

Who this is for

Restaurants and cafés in Singapore and Malaysia that already have an Instagram account but post in bursts and then go quiet.

Steps

1. Make the bio say three things: what you sell, where you are, when you open. Many people decide from the bio alone.
2. Shift to Reels. Vertical, around 15 seconds, and say what today is about in the first line.
3. Turn the questions customers keep asking into clips: do you take bookings, is it halal, what time do you close, do you do smaller portions.
4. Post on a fixed rhythm. One a day beats five at once — the platform will not push a batch posted in the same minute.
5. Reply to comments the same day. Engagement is what keeps it being shown.

Example output

"What time do you close? Weekdays nine, Friday and Saturday half past ten. Last order half an hour before." That clip answers a question asked ten times a day.

A first month on Instagram, week by week

You do not need a big plan. You need four weeks you can actually keep.

• **Week 1: fix the profile.** Bio says what you sell, which area, and opening hours. Add a WhatsApp or booking link. Pin three posts: your best dish, your menu or price list, and how to find you.
• **Week 2: one Reel a day, five days.** Each one answers a question customers already ask: opening hours, halal or not, parking, portion size, whether you take bookings.
• **Week 3: show the kitchen.** The pour, the wok toss, the plating. Ten to fifteen seconds of hands doing the thing. No talking needed.
• **Week 4: look back.** Open Insights. Which Reel got the most saves and shares? Make two more like it next week, and drop the type that got nothing.

What to post when you have nothing new

• The same dish from a different angle, or at a different time of day.
• A customer question you answered on WhatsApp this week, turned into a clip.
• Closing time, holiday hours, or a sold-out notice. These get shared more than you would expect.
• The prep nobody sees: marinating at 7 am, the stock pot, the first batch out of the oven.

Captions and hashtags

• First line of the caption repeats the hook: what the Reel is about, in plain words.
• Add the area and one way to reach you: "SS2, Petaling Jaya. WhatsApp to book."
• Three to five hashtags is enough: your area, your food, and your shop name. Long lists of popular tags do not help a small account.

How to tell it is helping

Views alone can mislead. Watch three things for a month: profile visits, taps on the WhatsApp or directions link, and people at the counter saying "I saw your video". If those move, keep going. If they do not, change the first two seconds of your Reels before you change anything else.

What ThinkNova does

ThinkNova turns one question into one vertical Reel: type the question and your answer, and a clip comes back in about two minutes, ready for Instagram. New accounts get free credits.

FAQ

Should I run ads?

You can, but fill the free lane first. Ads do not hold people on an account with no steady content.

How many posts a day?

One. Steady beats many. Do not dump a batch at once — the platform will not push them all.

Do I have to be on camera?

No. Point the camera at what you sell.

Make your own shop videos and posters at https://thinknova.top/?src=blog_promoterestaurantin. Sign up free and get 100 free credits — enough for your first video. Plans from US$29.8/month. No subscription needed for top-ups. Failed videos are refunded. Questions? WhatsApp +65 8940 1699.