As of December of 2014 there are over 300 million monthly active users of Instagram and over 75 million daily active users. This is a huge audience that should be looking at pictures of your food! Alongside Facebook and Twitter, Instagram needs to be added to your social media marketing arsenal. Here's some tips on how you can quickly use it to market your restaurant.

Obviously, the food.

Humans are visual creatures. As I'm surfing Yelp, the first thing I look at is the rating. The SECOND thing I look at is the food pics. Every time. If you're a foodie, you can instantly tell by looking at a dish its complexity and quality. Also, any good chef will tell you people eat with their eyes first.

The Instagram Menu

A restaurant in New York (Comodo NYC) generated over 280 million impressions with a $0 budget by placing their hashtag on their menu and allowing their customers to post pics of their food. The customer could then browse all the different dishes, show their choices to the waiter, and also see what their friends like. By seeing a visual representation of the dish prior to ordering, they could easily make a decision. They might even order a more expensive dish than originally planned because it just looks so darn good.

Retail Items

You're at a restaurant and loved the home made garlic pickles they served with your sandwich. In your head you're wishing you could buy a jar and take home, but forget to ask the waiter. If you had been checking out their Instagram page you would have seen the pics of these retail products. On the way out you are automatically looking around the POP area for these fabulous pickles to take home.

Your People

Pics of your happy, smiling and laughing employees creates a visual environment that entices your customers. No matter what your ambiance is, you can visually represent any mood by taking pictures of your people, table settings, events, parties, etc. If you're fast casual, show pics of your employees in goofy poses having a good time. If you're fine dining, show pics of a neatly dressed waiter serving table side.

Your Services

Do you cater? Show images of recent catering events and post a pic of your catering menu. If you have great drinks and specials, take a shot of your fanciest mixology and post it up with happy hour days and times.