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.
Table of Contents
1. Social Media Challenges or Contests
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.
10. Going Live and Social Media Stories
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.
