TikTok for restaurants and local businesses: how to get started

Is TikTok worth it for a restaurant or local business?

TikTok has become a discovery engine: people search “brunch Manchester”, “best pizza Dublin” or “barber Toronto” there. Videos from independent businesses find an audience when they are genuine and show something real.

But TikTok takes time and consistency. Before you start, make sure the basics are solid: a complete Google Business Profile and recent reviews matter more for a neighbourhood business. For social media strategy in general, see our guide to social media for local businesses.

Which local businesses benefit most from TikTok?

If you are near the bottom of the table, Instagram, Facebook and your Google profile are usually a better use of your time.

How do you set up a TikTok business account?

1. Download TikTok and sign up with your business email, not your personal account.
2. Pick a username close to your business name, adding the town if it is taken (“@thecornerbakery.leeds”).
3. In settings, switch to a business account. TikTok describes it as free, and it gives you analytics on content performance, account growth and audience demographics.
4. Choose the category closest to your business.
5. Write your bio: what you do, where, and a call to action (“Book below”, “Open Tue–Sun”).
6. Add the link to your website or booking page when the option is available on your account.

Neighbourhood bistro in [town] · seasonal cooking · lunch & dinner Tue–Sat · book below

Craft bakery · sourdough baked on site · [area], [town] · open from 7am

Which music can a business legally use on TikTok?

This is the part most businesses miss. According to TikTok’s own business help centre, businesses cannot use the general music library for commercial use. They should use the Commercial Music Library, a catalogue of around one million pre-cleared tracks that is free for businesses, for all commercial activity: organic posts (including duets and stitches), video ads and branded content.

TikTok also warns that using other users’ original sounds or other licensed sounds in commercial content may require a proper licence.

• Business account: pick music from the Commercial Music Library
• Skip the trending song if it is not in that library
• Your own voice and the sounds of your kitchen or workshop are always fine, and often work better
• Background music playing in your venue: mute it or film without sound if it is not cleared

What should you post? 30 video ideas for local businesses

Behind the scenes and craft

1. Morning prep, sped up.
2. Your signature move (shaping a loaf, plating a dish, a skin fade).
3. One dish or product from start to finish in 20 seconds.
4. Today’s delivery: the grower, the fishmonger, the boxes for the shop.
5. End-of-service clean-down (people do watch it).
6. Something going wrong and how you fix it.

The people

7. A team member in three questions.
8. “A day with” the chef, the barista, the apprentice.
9. The local supplier who delivers to you.
10. A regular telling their story (with permission).
11. A new starter’s first day.
12. The team tasting the new recipe.

Products and offers

13. Today’s special in 7 seconds.
14. This week’s new item.
15. “What £10 gets you here” (with your real prices).
16. The seasonal favourite that is back.
17. Before and after: a haircut, a window display, a job.
18. The “secret” of a house recipe (without giving it all away).

Tips and questions

19. Answer the question you get asked most.
20. A common mistake (“Why your sourdough is too dense”).
21. A food and drink pairing or a storage tip.
22. How to choose (a loaf, a haircut, a bottle).
23. A video reply to a comment.
24. A myth busted.

Moments and events

25. Opening up in the morning or closing at night.
26. The Saturday night rush.
27. Getting ready for a date: Valentine’s, Pancake Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving in Canada.
28. Your business’s anniversary.
29. Reading a customer review aloud, with your reaction.
30. “How to find us” from the station or car park.

How do you film a good TikTok with just a phone?

• Vertical format, phone steady (propped up or on a small tripod)
• Natural light, facing the window; avoid overhead strip lights
• Show the subject in the first three seconds (the dish, the cut, the move)
• Keep it short: 10 to 30 seconds to start
• Captions: many people watch with the sound off
• One on-screen hook line (“The bread we start at 4am”)
• No identifiable customers without consent, no readable number plates

No special kit needed. Our guide to business photos with a smartphone covers light and framing, which work the same way for video.

How often should you post, and when?

One video a week for six months beats ten videos in week one and then nothing. A realistic rhythm for a small business:

Tip: film several clips on the same day (prep, today’s special, a portrait) and post them through the week. For timing, check your analytics after a month: they show when your audience is active.

You can reuse your videos as Instagram Reels and as videos on your Google profile (up to 30 seconds, according to Google’s help).

How do you know whether TikTok brings in customers?

Views do not pay the bills. What counts:

• Ask at the till or when people book: “How did you hear about us?”, and note “TikTok”.
• Check clicks to your website or booking page in your business account analytics.
• Compare searches for your business name on Google (your profile performance) before and after an active month.
• Watch comments such as “where is this?” and always reply with the address.

Our guide to Google Business Profile insights shows where to find searches for your name.

Which TikTok mistakes should you avoid?

• Using a trending song that is not cleared on a business account.
• Copying other people’s videos instead of showing your own place.
• Filming customers without their consent.
• Forgetting your address and town: in the bio, on screen and in replies.
• Giving up after three weeks: results take time.
• Neglecting Google: someone who finds you on TikTok then looks you up on Google Maps and reads your reviews. Our guide to Google reviews for restaurants helps you look after them.

And your other networks: how do you keep it manageable?

TikTok sits alongside your other channels. For Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and your Google profile posts, Voxtya’s AI studio prepares posts from a photo or an idea, adapts them to each network and helps you schedule them; you publish in two clicks. TikTok is not part of it today: you post your TikTok videos from the app, but they make a great starting point for posts on your other networks.

For ideas all year round, use our free marketing calendar and our guide to local business marketing ideas.

The steps at a glance

The steps to start TikTok for a restaurant, café or local shop.

1. Create the account. With your business email and a username close to your business name.
2. Switch to a business account. It is free and unlocks analytics.
3. Write your bio. What you do, your town, opening days and a link to your website or bookings.
4. Use cleared music only. From the Commercial Music Library, or your own sound.
5. Batch your filming. Prep, product, people: film several clips and post them through the week.
6. Measure after a month. Clicks, searches for your name, customers who say they came from TikTok.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurants
• Bakeries and cafés
• Bars and pubs
• Hair and beauty
• Shops

Go further

• Social media for local businesses
• Instagram post ideas for restaurants
• Business photos with a smartphone
• Restaurant social media automation
• Promote a new business opening
• Local business marketing ideas