The Followers to Customers Checklist

Turn the attention you earn on Instagram and TikTok into names, emails and phone numbers in your own guest list, with permission to stay in touch.

  • Free checklist
  • 10-minute read
  • PDF, 9 pages
  • Restaurants, lounges and bars

If your restaurant has 20,000 Instagram followers but you do not know who your actual customers are, you have a problem. Meta knows who those 20,000 people are. Your restaurant probably does not.

I want you to keep creating content and growing your audience, but the relationship cannot stop on Instagram. This is the checklist I would use to connect the whole journey: someone sees you on Instagram, visits your website, books, orders or registers for an event, and becomes a customer you can name and invite back.

Martins Udotai, co-founder and CEO of Dinesurf

What's inside

  1. Social media rents your attention. Your customer database gives you an asset.Read it below
  2. Step 1: Make your profile a front doorRead it below
  3. Step 2: Move bookings and orders out of the DMs In the PDF
  4. Step 3: Give every post a next step In the PDF
  5. Step 4: Turn moments into names and numbers In the PDF
  6. Replies and captions you can copy In the PDF
  7. Step 5: Measure it every month In the PDF
  8. Step 6: Keep the relationship going In the PDF

Social media rents your attention. Your customer database gives you an asset.

A follower is someone who might come. A customer is someone you know: their name, their phone number, their email, what they ordered and when they last visited. Instagram decides how many of your followers see each post, and it keeps the list of who they are. If your account is hacked or restricted, or the algorithm simply moves on, the audience you spent years building goes quiet.

Your guest list works the other way round. You decide who hears from you and when, and every booking, order and event ticket adds to it. So the aim is not fewer followers. Grow to 20,000, then 100,000. Just make sure that every week, some of those people move into a relationship your restaurant actually owns.

This checklist covers every point where that can happen: your profile, your DMs, your content, your events and your floor. Work through it in order, then measure it every month.

Step 1: Make your profile a front door

A follower who wants to visit checks your profile first. If it does not tell them what to do next, they send a DM or move on. This takes an hour, and you can do it today.

Your bio

  • One link, to your own website, where people can book, order and see eventsIf you use a link page, put booking and ordering at the top.
  • A line that says what to doFor example: "Book a table or order for delivery: link below."
  • Your area and opening hoursFor example: "Victoria Island. Open daily from noon."
  • A WhatsApp number that someone answers during opening hours

Your highlights and pinned posts

  • Highlights for Menu, Book, Order and EventsEach with a story that carries a link sticker to the right page on your website.
  • A pinned post that shows how to book or order with you
  • Your menu and prices on your website, not only in a highlightA screenshot of a menu goes nowhere. A link brings people to where they can order.

Everywhere else

  • The same link in your TikTok bio, on your Facebook page and on your Google Business Profile

The rest of the checklist is in the PDF

6 more parts, ready to print or keep on your phone:

  • Step 2: Move bookings and orders out of the DMs
  • Step 3: Give every post a next step
  • Step 4: Turn moments into names and numbers
  • Replies and captions you can copy
  • Step 5: Measure it every month
  • Step 6: Keep the relationship going

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Dinesurf

Run this checklist on Dinesurf

  • Your own website, on your own domain, with your menu, reservations, ordering and events: the one link your bio needs. See how
  • The booking widget works on your website and as your Instagram link, with a deposit at booking that comes off the final bill. See how
  • Event pages sell tickets on your own site, and every buyer lands in your Guestbook. See how
  • Every reservation, online order and ticket creates or updates a guest profile, and you can import the contacts from a giveaway. See how
  • Send newsletters to your whole Guestbook, a tag or a filtered group, and turn on the birthday and win-back emails.
  • Add your Meta Pixel ID under Website, then Booking widget: it fires when the booking form opens, a booking starts, a booking is confirmed and a deposit is paid, with its value.
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