The Harrison Group 2025 Social Media Year In Review: Restaurants
In 2025, The Harrison Group’s restaurant marketing strategy focused on enhancing the overall guest experience while driving leads from both local diners and visiting tourists. By strengthening relationships with the OC Chamber, the local community, and festival partners, we strategically built demand around key weekends and seasonal moments to increase awareness, traffic, and overall dining engagement throughout the year.
2025 Objectives
The primary goals guiding restaurant social media efforts were:
Enhance guest experiences by showcasing menus, specials, and memorable moments
Strengthen local community and business relationships through partnerships and collaborations
Increase awareness and traffic during festival weekends to drive both online engagement and in-restaurant visits
Grow audiences and engagement while building leads from new and returning diners
Top Restaurant Promotions of the Year
Strategic promotions across platforms drove brand awareness, engagement, and revenue. The Wedge X Patron partnership increased visibility through a high-profile collaboration, introducing the restaurant to a wider audience and enhancing brand recognition. The Concert Souvenir Cup with Dewey Beer Co combined in-restaurant upselling with digital storytelling, increasing overall beer sales while leveraging Dewey Beer Co’s 40K followers for added social reach and engagement.
Seasonal campaigns like Thanksgiving Menus and Specialty Drinks created diverse, shareable content across restaurants. These posts drove the highest blog traffic of the year, increased social engagement, and prompted website clicks as guests planned their holiday dining in advance—directly boosting sales.
Seasonal Mimosa Flights offered consistent, visually appealing content that reinforced Marlin Moon as a go-to cocktail destination in Ocean City. These campaigns not only engaged audiences on social media but also created opportunities for promotion across other digital channels, ensuring year-round relevance.
2025 Performance Highlights
Across all restaurant accounts, social media growth and engagement were strong:
Total impressions: 10,274,974 (64% increase over 2024)
Total engagements: 120,038
Total video views: 239,894
Total audience: 59,616 (14% growth year-over-year)
Why It Worked
Key drivers of success included:
Strategic collaborations: Partnerships with brands and festival events amplified reach and engagement
Seasonal and festival-driven content: Timely, shareable campaigns kept audiences engaged year-round
Guest experience focus: Highlighting menus, drinks, and in-restaurant experiences strengthened relationships with both locals and visitors
Cross-channel storytelling: Integrating social media with blog content, email, and website promotions maximized impact
Restaurant social media thrives when it balances community connection, strategic partnerships, and seasonal storytelling. In 2025, The Harrison Group’s approach successfully increased awareness, engagement, and sales while reinforcing each restaurant’s position as a must-visit destination in Ocean City.