Restaurant Marketing Archives

Why Restaurant Marketing is Important?

In Digital Marketing 8 Mins Read

Competition is strong in the restaurant industry. Lag behind and your competition can easily overtake all that you have worked hard for. Which makes marketing all the more important. It puts your name out there and allows to be easily discovered by a huge market simply waiting to be tapped. That alone is a huge reason to do your best in restaurant marketing, however, that is only the tip of the iceberg on why restaurant marketing is important.

The Challenges of Restaurant Marketing

Before tackling why restaurant marketing is important, it is necessary to first understand the challenges that comes with it. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. You don’t get to pick up a computer and start getting busy with your marketing strategies. That’s not how easy and fast it works.

Instead, there are a lot of risks and difficulties that need to be passed through every step of the way. At some point, it gets exhausting and tedious, but when you know why you do all of it, everything shrinks down compared to what you are getting in exchange.

So, here are the things that are going to make restaurant marketing difficult and a challenge.

1. Fast-paced and Rapidly Changing

Restaurants are constantly changing and so should you. From promos to new offers, the concepts that you use in your restaurant marketing is rapidly changing.

How long do promos last? In most cases, a month is already too long. Your new offers and specials? You’re lucky if it still maintains the hype it gets two months down the road.

Long story short, if you want to keep your marketing strategies competitive, you must be willing to keep on changing and doing something. You can’t expect that a single poster will last you for a year. Same goes for your slogans and other marketing materials.

2. Restaurant Marketing is Costly

A consequence of a rapidly changing marketing industry is the cost. The more marketing materials you need to produce and strategies you need to come up with and implement, the more budget you are going to spend.

Posters, social media banners and posts, and everything else are going to cost money to plan and produce. When you need to constantly have them, it means needing to repeatedly spend on your marketing strategies.

Down the road, those expenses are going to stack up quite easily. Before you know it, you are spending quite a lump of money and that can be problematic when you don’t have any reserve to tap on. Because restaurant marketing is a long-term investment, the returns don’t come that fast and easily. So, you cannot depend on the money it is going to return to fund your current programs.

3. Time-Consuming and Tedious

Another consequence of a fast-paced marketing industry is the amount of time and effort needed to produce materials and implement strategies. Your marketing isn’t going to make themselves; that is your responsibility.

While you may not necessarily be the one to do everything, you are the one who are going to be involved in the following.

Looking for a professional marketer and talking about your choices.
Hiring content writers and graphic designers.
Creating and managing a budget.
Conceptualizing and planning your marketing campaigns.
Tracking and analyzing data and results.
Coming with the next applicable marketing campaign.

When all of these are on your hands, it can easily physically and mentally exhaust you. Especially that you are not just talking about a one-time thing, but rather something that happens every month, whether you like it or not.

4. Requires A Lot of Attention

When you start using online mediums in your restaurant marketing, things get a lot harder. And it’s not like not doing online marketing is a choice.

Online mediums such as social media marketing for restaurants, creating your own website, and making the most out of review websites entails a lot of types of engagement. From replying to reviews to addressing messages and negative feedback, everything happens on online marketing.

What this means is that you constantly need to have an eye on all your platforms to address all these types of engagement. Especially that you don’t want a negative post ravaging havoc all over the internet and bringing down your reputation. Not to mention how a seemingly absent social media can strongly impact how you appeal to your market.

It goes without saying that it gets tiring and exhausting. As a matter of fact, doing it all by yourself is not entirely a possible choice to begin with.

The Benefits of Restaurant Marketing

Despite all the challenges, learning how to make a restaurant marketing plan is all going to be worth it in the end. When you compare what seems to be a huge struggle to the returns, it shrinks down to a point no longer worth worrying about.

So, if it is all that great, what are the benefits that you can get?

1. Restaurant Marketing Improves Brand Awareness

You already know this but it pays to further understand what brand awareness is all about. Most would think that it is just about putting your name out there for people to see and discover. However, it is more than that. That is the core concept, but it is also about creating a great reputation, cultivating widespread interest, and creating valuable engagement.

The more your brand gets known, the easier it is for it to be associated with a lot of things. Your brand gets mentioned more frequently and that not just makes it easily discoverable, but gives you a reputation that you are something that needs to be prioritized.

2. Increases Customer Acquisition and Retention

As you already know, one of the goals of marketing is to put your restaurant out there. The easier for you to be discovered, the more customers you attract. Ultimately, it results to new actual paying customers.

Acquiring new customers is only one part of it, another is retaining the prior ones. As a matter of fact, it is harder to acquire customers than retaining them. So, if you are capable of attracting customers, you are retaining your previous ones.

Marketing is able to achieve retention because it is one way to tell your prior customers of everything else they have missed. Think about it, if they only know one thing in your restaurant, they are bound to get bored and never come back again.

However, if you constantly feed them about what they are missing, you are giving them a reason to stay. The best part is that these people already have an experience with your restaurant So, it’s not so much a big decision since they know what they are going to receive.

3. Keeps You Competitive in the Market

There are a lot of ways to be competitive in the industry, and one of that is through marketing. Because no matter how great your services are, if others are presenting theirs a much better way, there is no way for the market to steer closer in your favor.

4. Increases Revenue

If you are inviting more customers into your restaurant, you are earning more revenue. The same applies with repeat customers, the more they come back, you are looking at making more money than you used to.

Marketing is what differentiates a couple of customers here and there from being full day and night. It is also marketing that makes it possible for customers to spend more than they used to.

5. Better Decision Making

Jumping to a less known benefit of marketing. When you do restaurant marketing, you are gradually growing your capability of making better decisions. While it may sound unusual, it does happen.

With the various features available with online marketing, you are able to hear the opinion and feedback of your customers. As a result, you are able to make changes and improvements based on testimonies that really matter.

Remember, sometimes, what you think is what your customers need isn’t really the case. The people who know what’s best for your audience are your audience themselves.

Marketing is A Worthwhile Investment

With the long list of restaurant marketing benefits, there are so many things on the line if you don’t do it properly or decide to not do it all. As a matter of fact, with so many, skipping restaurant marketing doesn’t seem like an option at all. Because it isn’t.

Without marketing, you are looking at the failure of your business due to the lack of customers and market penetration. So, no matter how little, as long as it is done right, restaurant marketing is something you should always have.

As mentioned earlier, marketing is not something you can do easily. It is a technical skill, therefore, there is no shame if you don’t know how to do it or where to begin. Everybody goes through that phase, but that doesn’t mean that it is inevitable for your restaurant to fail.

Instead, what you need is the help of the best digital marketing agency. You will be guided from start to finish, along with receiving the necessary resources to undertake all the needed tasks. So, contact us today to get yourself a free strategy consultation that will be right for your needs.

Social Media Marketing for Restaurants: 10 Marketing Ideas

In Content Marketing 8 Mins Read

According to a survey done by Sprout in 2016, approximately 75% of people who made a purchase done so because they saw it on social media. Around 60% of that population saw the product around 2-4 times before they were convinced. With these numbers, there is no doubt that social media presence makes a huge impact on people’s purchasing decisions. So, if you are running a restaurant, social media marketing for restaurants is not an option, it is a requirement.

With the internet being the biggest marketing medium in today’s generation, people are starting to ask if it is possible to not make the transition. While some restaurants may have survived, the general consensus is that it is unlikely. Almost everybody is on social media, let alone on the internet. Not getting seen in the social media world is a huge market lost.

In addition, most people now source their information from social media. If you aren’t in the platform, there is little to no chance that you will get seen. The logic is that, people can’t buy what they don’t know exists. With features like commenting, messaging, and sharing, social media is the most ideal place to have widespread reach. If you aren’t there, your competition is definitely outweighing you.

So, the question is not if you should be getting into social media, but rather how should you get started. You hear it again and again, but the topic is so vague that you don’t know where to start. It may sound simple, but with the wide range of possibilities, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Fortunately, here are 10 social media marketing for restaurants tips that everyone should know.

As you would know, there are more than one social media website. You need to look for the ones suited for you the most since not everything is created the same. Using more than one is ideal, allowing you to have a wider reach. However, how do you know that a social media site is the right one for you?

Understand your market

Who are your potential customers? Who are you marketing to? Knowing the marketing preferences of your audience gives you an idea which platform is more suited for them. If they are into content, then go with Facebook. Photos? Instagram. And so on.

Your Knowledge

Use a social media platform which you are knowledgeable in. If you are not able to utilize a platform’s features, you are not using it to its full potential. Facebook for example has a wide suite of post scheduling, audience reach features, and data tracking. Begin with the ones you are capable of using and then learn your way up on other platforms.

Social media marketing is not just about showing your audience what you have to offer, but to consistently engage them. If you want to keep their attention and loyalty, constantly give them something. If you don’t have any more products to advertise then write articles, post business-related photos, and so much more. The core principle is that you are becoming a part of their lives, making it hard for them to separate from your brand and restaurant.

Just like the words you use on your posts, make sure that your photos are of quality. Don’t just take mediocre images that seem they are out of an early 2000’s camera phone. Use proper lighting, angling, and color science. How appealing your photos are reflect your appeal towards your audience. If possible, hire a professional photographer. Whether it may be product photos or behind the scenes, images should be properly made.

Tip # 4: Engage with Your Audience

Remember that you are using social media, there are a lot more features than just marketing. Make use of them such as messaging, replying to comments, and so much more. If you want your followers to stay, you need to make them feel that they are a part of something more. Ignoring their engagement could potentially lose their trust. Remember to:

Reply to messages and inquires.
Answer negative comments in the comments section as best as you can. Reverse a negative impression with how you deal with it.
Conduct surveys and engage with interactive questions.

Tip # 5: Allow User-Generated Content

Your social media content shouldn’t be always about you and what you have to say. If there is something that potential customers are likely to listen to, it would be the sentiments of their co-customers. What this means is that allow people to leave a review or a feedback and make sure to highlight it as content in your page.

Remember a time when businesses used to give out printed coupons to passers-by? The problem with that is most of them end up not using them. You are marketing to a population that is not even interested in your restaurant. Now that you have a social media page, transition from that to digital promotions. It is likely to gain more engagement, have a wider reach, and your marketing penetrates the most vulnerable population.

Digital promotions are so effective that you can see them with almost every business. Discounts that can only be claimed through their social media pages, online raffle promos, and so much more.

Certain topics become trending for a reason: people are interested with them. When you get involved, you are participating in a huge potential market. Other than customers being susceptible to your marketing materials, your posts become more visible. Trending topics can range from viral videos, new trends, or seasonal events such as Christmas and Halloween.

Tip # 8: Pay For Ads

Your reach can only go so far. People will share and like your posts as much as they can, but it has its limits. If you want to further widen your reach, you need a little help with the use of paid ads. Depending on the platform you are using, you are going to have a wide array of payment options and implementations. Facebook for example allows for ads to be shown to audiences that are near and have a high susceptibility for your product.

Tip # 9: Complete Your Details

Most business don’t see the importance of a completely filled out social media page. Having your name and logo shouldn’t be where you stop. Make sure that you put in other specific details such as location, schedule, and so much more. Remember, people are going to your page to know more about your restaurant. If they can’t get the answers they are looking for, then you might as well say goodbye to a potential customer.

Keep in mind that when people are looking for a place to eat, they have a lot of considerations and questions. They wonder if it is open, the menu, is it nearby, and so on. Not having this information readily available causes a potential customer to immediately venture towards something else.

Tip # 10: Showcase What’s Behind the Scenes

If you are out of content to publish in mind, then showcase what goes behind the counter. As a restaurant, guarantying safe and quality food is going to be what you want to guarantee. Show to your audience what is happening inside the kitchen, the process of preparing dishes, and the level of sanitation you follow. All of these doesn’t just keep your social media activity going, it provides assurance to your customers of the safety and cleanliness you deliver, especially that most people would rather prefer sanitation over anything else.

In conclusion

There is no single instruction manual on how to conduct social media marketing for restaurants. There are different ways to approach it and in turn, there is no guarantee that one thing is going to work better than the other. However, these tips will get you started on the right path. Along the way, the only thing you need to do is learn and adapt according to the factors and situations that surround your industry.

If you think that all of these are too much to handle, there is a shortcut which guarantees results. You are going to want to seek the help of the best marketing agencies as a result. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.

Restaurant Marketing: 10 Guaranteed Strategies For 2021

In Digital Marketing 7 Mins Read

The restaurant business is tough. There are a lot of competition and each have their own twist to every service they provide. When you are running a typical diner, what do you have against exotic or foreign cuisines? The answer is simple, restaurant marketing. A great service can easily be toppled with the right restaurant marketing strategies.

You have always heard that the right path to marketing in today’s generation is social media marketing. It has been repeated so many times that it is starting to sound so cliché, and it is. People say that it is the cornerstone of modern marketing, but nobody talks how to use it.

Setting up your social media accounts is only the beginning. Where the real restaurant marketing starts is creating challenges or contests. If there is content that engages your customers the most, it is going to be something in which they can partake in. Remember to choose the right guidelines and criterion. The better the mechanics, the more engagement you are going to receive.

2. Advertise Locally

The greatest thing about modern online marketing is that website algorithms have become more effective. Go to Facebook and Instagram and you have the option to have your ads show only to people within the area. What this means is that you end up spending on advertisement on people who are likely going to be customers.

Don’t advertise internationally or even nationally, unless you have multiple branches. Don’t hold on to the thought that people are going to come to your city and would walk into your restaurant. That rarely happens, so you are better off advertising locally and investing in local SEO.

3. User Generated Content for Restaurant Marketing

Let your customers speak. Whether it may be on your website or your social media platforms, give your audience the chance to create content. It can come in the form of a feedback or restaurant check-in with a photo. What this does is give your business credibility. People are going to trust the satisfaction of a prior customer than the words of the business.

So, don’t limit your content to your marketing material alone. Urge customers to generate feedback, post photos, and so much more. This puts lesser burden on your side to think about content you can post as well as has a much bigger impact on your social media marketing.

4. Restaurant Marketing Involves Influencers

Online celebrities, also known as influencers, are getting more prominent. In today’s generation, most of them have much more influence over television stars. Not only that, since most of them are self-made, they don’t have a baseline on their minimum pay. Most are glad to do an endorsement with as little as getting things for free.

Invite an influencer and have them dine in for a mention in their social media platforms. It might be a small thing, but with what they are known to do: telling their fanbase what to do and not to do, it is enough to persuade a number of people to try out your restaurant.

5. Instagram is Still Alive in Restaurant Marketing

A lot of businesses flourished from the help of only one social media platform and that is Instagram. It is the most ideal place to post photos and attract customers purely from your aesthetic. It doesn’t matter how it tastes, if it looks good, people are going to surely visit.

Instagram has created a community of people who want to show off. The word “insta worthy” even became a thing which means a photo that is deemed worthy to be posted in Instagram. What we are trying to say is capitalize on this. People who post photos of your restaurant in an aesthetic standpoint are bound to create a lot of interest.

6. Loyalty Programs

Being in the business industry, you should be good at looking for cultural changes. While most people would walk into restaurants in the past, things have changed today. People would pull out their phones and either book a reservation or have food delivered. There are so many apps today that cater to the growing food industry, from food delivery to food review websites.

With so many avenues to sell your business, you also have a wide range of outlets to deliver coupons, discounts, and freebies. Make sure that you are making the best out of them by keeping your prior customers coming back for more. Think of different ways to create your loyalty programs. The more unique, the better it will be in attracting interest.

7. Improve Products and Presentation for Restaurant Marketing

Not solely a restaurant marketing approach, improving your products and how you present them is going to make a huge impact. Some people say that if it is great, don’t change it. However, times have changed. The restaurant industry is so competitive and innovative that there are new things available every day. If you are not able to cope up and provide your fair share of new things, you will be left in the dust.

You don’t have to make a new menu every now and then. It can be as simple as renaming an old dish in the menu and adding a few bells and whistles. Have specials during events and use witty naming schemes that are easy to publicize in social media. People are now susceptible to wit, being shared and engaged with more frequently than serious types of marketing content.

8. Repurpose Restaurant Marketing Material

What you have used a year ago doesn’t necessarily mean obsolete. If you are selling burgers prior and still do now, your old banner can still be used. However, why would you want to do that? Simple, for brand building. Staying true to your brand by keeping a consistent persona generates customer loyalty. While you provide something new and improve for the better, customers still feel that they are eating in the same restaurant which they have learned to love. Just make sure to do some minor changes on your restaurant marketing material.

9. Advertise Menu and Ingredients

Remember what your business is. You are selling food. If there is anything you should marketing the most, it should be that. Most people forget this, getting too occupied with formulating their aesthetic or their brand personality that they forget to mention their food. Look at a lot of restaurant social media pages, you can barely get a glimpse of their available offerings.

Always put your menu first. Make sure it is the first thing that your audience sees. People came to your social media page because they want to know more about what you have to offer. Next would be specify your ingredients. More people are now conscious with what they put into their bodies. Remember that you now have vegetarians and vegans along with lactose intolerant people.

A great additional feature to a number of social media platforms is the social media story. Upload short clips of how your business is doing on a daily basis without having to crowd your pages with unnecessary content. Also, don’t forget about the live feature. A lot of people are getting amazed by this that they are fast to click a live event as soon as it pops up in their notifications.

Final Words

Restaurant marketing strategies should differ year after year. Changes are going to happen in which you must adapt to. Listen to your market, understand your audience, and be versatile to the new opportunities that open before you. It is a continuous learning process but if you do it right, you will find yourself in the path to success.

If you think that it is too hard, don’t have enough time, need some help or simply don’t know where to start, we have the solution just for you. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.