Restaurant influencer marketing sits inside a broader restaurant-discovery journey: diners search, browse social platforms, inspect food and ambiance, and sometimes act on creator recommendations. Toast’s July 15, 2024 survey of 850 U.S. social-media users found that 40% said an influencer’s restaurant review affected their decision to dine there. A separate Portuguese academic study, published in 2022, found that 81.27% had visited a restaurant after seeing related influencer content. These figures describe different populations and should not be combined.
Contents
- Restaurant discovery platforms and audience reach
- Search versus social discovery
- Pre-visit social-media checking
- Content formats that influence visits
- Why diners follow restaurant accounts
- Influencer impact on restaurant decisions
Restaurant discovery platforms and audience reach
Toast’s How Are Diners Using Social Media? 2024 Data Study measured which platforms surveyed U.S. social-media users used most to discover new restaurants. Facebook led overall at 59%. Instagram was the leading discovery platform for 19%, while TikTok led for 17%.
Age differences were substantial. Facebook was the top discovery platform for 80% of guests aged 54 and older, 70% of guests aged 45–54, and 62% of guests aged 35–44. Its figure was 45% among guests aged 25–34. Instagram was the top platform for 9% of guests aged 54 and older, 14% of guests aged 45–54, 20% of guests aged 35–44, and 27% of guests aged 25–34. It was also the top platform for 27% of guests aged 18–24 and about 40% of guests younger than 18.
TikTok showed the strongest concentration among younger diners in the same survey. About 60% of guests younger than 18 used TikTok most to discover restaurants. The share was 41% among guests aged 18–24 and 23% among guests aged 25–34. TikTok was the top discovery platform for 13% of guests aged 35–44, 13% of guests aged 45–54, and 7% of guests aged 54 and older.
These are survey observations from July 15, 2024, not estimates of every U.S. diner. Toast says its blind survey included 850 U.S. citizens aged 16 and older who used social media at least weekly, with an average 95% confidence-interval margin of error of plus or minus 3–5%.
Search versus social discovery
Social channels matter, but they do not replace search and local discovery services for most respondents. In Toast’s July 15, 2024 survey, 58% said search engines such as Google and Yelp were used more often than social media for restaurant discovery. The preference for search engines reached 69% among guests aged 54 and older.
Overall, 42% preferred social media over search engines for finding restaurants. Social discovery was especially competitive among younger adults: about 50% of guests aged 25–34 preferred social media, compared with 48% of guests aged 18–24. Women reported preferring social media over search engines at a 45% rate, versus 38% for men.
| Audience or preference | Share reported by Toast |
|---|---|
| Search engines preferred overall | 58% |
| Social media preferred overall | 42% |
| Search engines preferred by guests 54+ | 69% |
| Social media preferred by guests 25–34 | About 50% |
| Social media preferred by guests 18–24 | 48% |
| Social media preferred by women | 45% |
| Social media preferred by men | 38% |
For restaurant marketers, the figures point to two connected tasks: remain discoverable when a diner actively searches, and maintain social content that can shape the shortlist before the visit. The survey does not measure bookings, revenue, or the relative return on investment of search and influencer campaigns.
Pre-visit social-media checking
Restaurant social profiles are part of the decision process for most respondents in Toast’s study. Sixty-two percent sometimes checked a restaurant’s social media before deciding to dine there, while 28% always checked. Ten percent never checked a restaurant’s social media before making that decision.
The content most likely to influence a visit was food photography, selected by 57% of respondents. Positive reviews from creators were the most influential social-media content for 30%. Restaurant ambiance was the leading influence for 10%, and drink pictures were the leading influence for 4%.
The results distinguish between checking a profile and being persuaded by a creator. A diner may inspect a restaurant’s account without relying on an influencer review, while another may respond to creator content that brings the restaurant to their attention. The supplied survey reports these as separate observations; it does not establish a conversion rate from a social check to a visit.
Content formats that influence visits
Toast also asked what respondents preferred to see on restaurant social accounts. Photos of food and drinks served at the restaurant were preferred by 84%. Decor and ambiance photos followed at 47%, and promotions were preferred by 44%.
Video was meaningful but less widely preferred than food and drink photography. Thirty-eight percent preferred videos of the dining experience, while 19% preferred behind-the-scenes restaurant footage.
This distribution gives restaurants a practical content hierarchy grounded in the survey: show the food and drinks first, then provide visual evidence of the room, offers, and experience. Creator collaborations can fit that structure when the resulting content makes the meal, setting, or service understandable to a prospective diner. The data does not show that one format produces more sales than another.
Why diners follow restaurant accounts
Following a restaurant account can extend the relationship beyond a single visit. In Toast’s survey, 31% followed a restaurant after visiting and liking it. Thirty percent followed to learn about promotions and happenings, 24% followed because they liked the content shared by the restaurant, and 18% followed because the restaurant was new and they wanted to try it.
| Reason for following a restaurant | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Visited and liked the restaurant | 31% |
| Learn about promotions and happenings | 30% |
| Liked the restaurant’s content | 24% |
| Restaurant was new and worth trying | 18% |
Responses and messages also mattered. Forty-three percent considered restaurant responses to social-media comments or messages very important, and 48% considered them somewhat important. Nine percent considered those responses not important at all. Together, the reported categories show that 91% assigned at least some importance to restaurant responses, although that total is a direct addition of the supplied response categories and does not represent a separate survey claim.
For an influencer campaign, this context matters. A creator may generate attention, but the restaurant’s own account is where a prospective guest may look for current details, promotions, atmosphere, or answers. The survey supports the importance of that social touchpoint; it does not quantify how many followers become diners.
Influencer impact on restaurant decisions
In Toast’s U.S. survey, 40% of guests said an influencer’s restaurant review affected their decision to dine at that restaurant. Thirty-eight percent said an influencer’s review would not influence their dining decision, while 22% did not follow influencers or had no opinion about influencer restaurant reviews.
Influence varied by age. Forty-four percent of guests aged 18–24 said influencer reviews could influence their restaurant decision, rising to 49% among guests aged 25–34. Men reported influence from restaurant influencer reviews at 43%, compared with 38% among women.
| Toast survey group | Share reporting influencer influence |
|---|---|
| All guests | 40% |
| Guests aged 18–24 | 44% |
| Guests aged 25–34 | 49% |
| Men | 43% |
| Women | 38% |
The Portuguese evidence comes from a separate population and period. In The Impact of Instagram Influencer Marketing in the Restaurant Industry, a Portuguese survey published in 2022 found that 95% of respondents followed influencers on social media or recommendation apps. Food was followed as an influencer content category by 62.8% of respondents, and restaurants were the most interesting content type for 79.5% of respondents evaluating food-influencer content.
That study also reported that 81.27% of respondents had visited a restaurant after seeing an influencer share related content. Among those respondents who visited after influencer content, 91% used Instagram to find that content. These are observations from the Portuguese academic study, not forecasts and not results from Toast’s U.S. sample.
The same Portuguese study found that 50% followed more restaurant accounts than food-influencer accounts, while 22% followed more food influencers than restaurant accounts and 28% followed neither more restaurant accounts nor more food influencers. Among respondents aged 54 and older, 42% followed more restaurant accounts than food influencers.
Taken together, the two studies describe an audience that can respond to creator recommendations while still using restaurant accounts, search, and platform browsing. The strongest reported signals are directional rather than financial: younger U.S. adults reported higher potential influencer influence, food-led visuals were widely preferred, and the Portuguese respondents who acted after influencer content most often found it on Instagram. Neither source supplies a universal visit rate, revenue lift, or campaign return on investment.