Guide
Restaurant video marketing: what to film, what to say, how often to post
Updated
You need a phone, 20 minutes a week and a plan for what to say. No videographer and no ad budget.
In short
- Restaurant video marketing works with five kinds of video, from dish close-ups to answers to guest questions.
- Post three times a week, all filmed in one 20 minute session.
- The video that matters most is the chef or the owner talking, once a week.
- Start with the dish, stay under a minute, and say your city out loud.
- Editing takes about 90 minutes a video by hand, or about 4 minutes with Cutroom.
- Video formats that work for restaurants
- 5
- Posts a week, the minimum that holds
- 3
- One weekly filming session covers it
- 20 min
The 5 videos that work
Rotate these five. Keep each one shorter than feels natural.
- The dish video needs nobody talking, so a phone app with one line of text on screen covers it.
- The other four have somebody speaking, which is what an AI editor like Cutroom edits.
Five restaurant videos
| Video | Length | What to film |
|---|---|---|
| Dish video | 15 to 30 seconds | One dish, filmed close, from pan to plate. One line of text on screen, no talking needed. |
| Person video | 30 to 60 seconds | The chef or owner on one dish: where the fish comes from, why the sauce takes two days |
| Answer video | About 30 seconds | A question guests ask every week: walk-ins, parking, what is gluten-free |
| Behind the scenes | 15 to 45 seconds | 7am prep, bread going in, the delivery carried in through the rain |
| Announcement | Under 20 seconds | New menu, new hours, a Tuesday special. Say the date twice. |
Video: Dish video
- Length
- 15 to 30 seconds
- What to film
- One dish, filmed close, from pan to plate. One line of text on screen, no talking needed.
Video: Person video
- Length
- 30 to 60 seconds
- What to film
- The chef or owner on one dish: where the fish comes from, why the sauce takes two days
Video: Answer video
- Length
- About 30 seconds
- What to film
- A question guests ask every week: walk-ins, parking, what is gluten-free
Video: Behind the scenes
- Length
- 15 to 45 seconds
- What to film
- 7am prep, bread going in, the delivery carried in through the rain
Video: Announcement
- Length
- Under 20 seconds
- What to film
- New menu, new hours, a Tuesday special. Say the date twice.
Why the person video matters most
Every restaurant posts food. Far fewer put the person who cooks it on camera.
- A chef explaining why the short rib braises for six hours gives a stranger a reason to choose your place.
- A guest who saw that person in a video recognises them on the first visit.
- Make one person video a week. The other posts can be food and prep.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
What to say on camera
Do not write a speech. Answer one question.
- Open with the subject. "This short rib braises for six hours" works better than "Hi, welcome to our kitchen."
- Stay under a minute.
- Say the dish name and your city out loud, so both end up in the captions.
- Do not read from paper. Say it three times and keep the one where you laughed.
Three script starters
| Start with | Then |
|---|---|
| This is the dish people order twice. | Say why, in two sentences. |
| The question we get every day is... | Answer it completely. |
| We changed the menu this week. Here is the one to try first. | Name the dish and why. |
Start with: This is the dish people order twice.
- Then
- Say why, in two sentences.
Start with: The question we get every day is...
- Then
- Answer it completely.
Start with: We changed the menu this week. Here is the one to try first.
- Then
- Name the dish and why.
The 20 minute weekly filming session
Film everything in one go, or it will not happen.
- Use the slowest 20 minutes of the week, usually between prep and the first covers.
- Film yourself talking for 1 to 3 minutes, this week's person or answer video, said three times.
- Film five clips of about 10 seconds each, the pour, the plate going out, the pan, the room and the door.
- That is enough for three posts, and the same clips work with new talking videos for weeks.
- Put the phone at eye height, near a window or under the kitchen lights, and wipe the lens first.
One session, one week of posts
Film yourself talking
1 to 3 minutes, said three times
Five short clips
About 10 seconds each
Make three posts
With the editing route you chose
Post Mon, Wed, Fri
Same file to TikTok, Reels, Shorts
3 ways to handle the editing
Filming takes 20 minutes. Editing eats the evening, and that is where most restaurant accounts go quiet.
- Cutroom takes one clip of you talking, up to 3 minutes, and returns a finished 9:16 video with captions and clips in about a minute.
- With Cutroom you check the edit on the text of what you said, and move a clip if you disagree.
- Your first video is free within 7 days, with 600 credits and no card, so you can try it on a real post.
- Pick the route you can still keep up in your busiest month.
Three editing routes
| Route | Your time per video | Cost | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edit it yourself in a timeline app | About 90 minutes | Free | Lasts until your first busy season |
| Pay an editor | Little | Paid per video | Takes days, too slow for a Tuesday special |
| AI editor (Cutroom) | About 4 minutes | About 110 credits per 30 second video | Someone has to talk on camera |
Route: Edit it yourself in a timeline app
- Your time per video
- About 90 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Tradeoff
- Lasts until your first busy season
Route: Pay an editor
- Your time per video
- Little
- Cost
- Paid per video
- Tradeoff
- Takes days, too slow for a Tuesday special
Route: AI editor (Cutroom)
- Your time per video
- About 4 minutes
- Cost
- About 110 credits per 30 second video
- Tradeoff
- Someone has to talk on camera
Questions people ask
- How long should a restaurant video be?
- 15 to 30 seconds for a dish video, up to a minute when a person talks, and under 20 seconds for an announcement. Longer asks for patience new viewers do not have yet.
- Do I need a videographer?
- No. A phone at eye height near a window covers the weekly feed, which rewards posting often over polish. Book a videographer for the website shoot.
- Which platform should a restaurant post on first?
- All three. Film 9:16 once and post the same file to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Which one brings guests differs by city, and posting to all three costs nothing extra.
- What if the restaurant is empty when I film?
- Frame the food and the person, not the room. Prep hours film better anyway: steadier light, no guests to ask, and the kitchen sounds carry the mood.
- How much does restaurant video marketing cost?
- Filming on a phone is free. The cost is editing: about 90 minutes a video by hand. With Cutroom a 30 second video is about 110 credits, and Basic at $39.99 a month covers about 22.
- How fast will I see results?
- Nobody honest can promise numbers. The first sign is usually a guest mentioning a video at the table. Judge the plan after eight weeks of three posts a week.
Film for 20 minutes this week and post three times. Your first video is free.
Try for freeYour first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it