Is it just the food that makes a restaurant successful? What about the atmosphere, service, and overall experience? These are all defining elements in driving customers to your restaurant and bringing them back.
But even with all these must-haves done exceptionally well, the finest dishes won’t sell themselves without proper restaurant marketing. We know that, you know that, everyone knows that. So what to do?
Building a Strong Foundation for Restaurant Marketing
Did you know that over 77% of diners check a restaurant’s website or social media accounts before deciding where to eat? So, without a proper online presence, you are missing out on a huge potential customer base.
But being online is never enough. Instead, building a brand identity and understanding your target audience can make all the difference.
Defining Your Brand Identity
Successful restaurants tell a story that evokes emotions instead of just showcasing a logo and a name. Are you operating a family-owned pizzeria with a rich history and traditional recipes? Or maybe you have a trendy downtown bar with signature cocktails and vibrant nightlife.
People should feel your brand identity and see it reflected in your restaurant’s logo, website, social media accounts, and any other marketing materials.
Understanding Your Target Audience
The secret to successful restaurant marketing is knowing your customers. Who are they, and what do they want? Conducting market research can help you identify your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and behaviors.
Your most frequent visitors may be busy professionals looking for quick, healthy lunch options. Instead of focusing on expensive dinner promotions, you can advertise lunch specials through targeted social media ads.
Well-curated restaurant marketing strategies can make all the difference for your business to withstand the tough game rules. Let’s now analyze this in more detail, exploring offline and online marketing strategies that work for small businesses.
Enhancing Online Presence: Digital Marketing for Restaurants
Digital marketing offers numerous opportunities to reach and engage with potential customers. Your biggest task is knowing how to choose and implement the right strategies that will work for your restaurant business goals.
Developing an Engaging Website
Website equals a virtual front door. If the doorway is cluttered, confusing, and hard to pass, people will walk away without stepping inside.
Here’s what every great restaurant website needs:
- An online menu: Include accurate pricing, clear descriptions, and mouthwatering photos. Show diners exactly what they can expect.
- Key information upfront: Display your address, working hours, and phone number in a prominent place. Don’t make people hunt for it.
- Online reservation system: Customers should have the option to book a table directly through your website or a third-party app.
Implementing Local SEO Strategies
When someone looks for a “restaurant near me,” does your website show up in the results? Local SEO makes sure it does.
There are a couple of must-dos to ensure your local SEO strategy is on point:
- Optimize your Google Business Profile: Your page should have fresh and high-quality photos, detailed contact information, and relevant categories.
- Encourage reviews: Customer reviews build credibility and increase your rankings on Google. Ask happy customers to share their experiences on your Google Business Profile or other review platforms to boost your local SEO.
- Use online directories: You may use Yelp, TripAdvisor, or other relevant directories to get a backlink to your website and also gain more visibility across the web.
Social Media Marketing for Restaurants
Social media is where you can get creative and make your business voice heard even louder. Use various platforms to share your daily workflows, pretty and real backstage footage of your kitchen, and mouth-watering images of dishes.
Social media marketing is about telling your story and connecting with your customers on a deeper level.
- Interactive stories: Platforms like Instagram or Facebook allow you to engage with people in real-time. Show your chefs in action, highlight customer favorites, or celebrate team milestones.
- Be open and true to yourself: People always feel more comfortable with businesses that are authentic and genuine. Don’t overthink the process, even a quick post about today’s special or a heartfelt thank-you to your regulars can go a long way.
Email Marketing for Restaurants
Yes, email marketing for restaurants is a real thing. It may feel a bit old-school, but trust our 15+ years of industry knowledge, we’ve seen some good results from email marketing.
What should you send?
Email marketing presents a more thoughtful and long-form way of communicating with your customers. Share exclusive offers like “20% off your next visit” or updates about new menu items and upcoming events.
The trick is to keep it relevant.
- Send your weekend brunch specials to the target group of businesspeople.
- If a new person joins your list, offer a discount to bring them in.
The more tailored your emails are, the more likely people will love to revisit you.
Offline Marketing Strategies for Restaurant Business
Face-to-face interactions and traditional forms of advertising are still rather effective for restaurants. And creating a buzz around your name requires well-thought tactics and an excellent product.
Hosting Events and Promotions
Nothing brings people together like a great event. Hosting in-house activities or promotions fills tables and creates excitement around your restaurant.
What would resonate with your audience? Is it a wine tasting, live jazz concerts, or a themed dinner?
For example, your Italian restaurant can host a “Pizza or Pasta Night,” encouraging people to participate and vote for new menu items. The winners get added to the menu, and the participants feel like part of the restaurant’s story.
Implementing Loyalty Programs
Who doesn’t love rewards for their loyalty? Creating a loyalty program can help you keep customers coming back. It can be a simple punch card for a free drink after 10 visits or a membership card that allows customers to collect points and use them for extra treats.
Starbucks offers stars that can be redeemed to purchase food, drinks, or even custom merchandise. This makes people feel connected and part of something special.
Engaging in Community Involvement
Don’t view your restaurant only as a business. Instead, treat it as a part of the community. Participate in local events, sponsor charity fundraisers, or host a food drive.
You may collaborate with other community members to support each other and grow together. For instance, as a bakery, you may want to work with a local coffee shop and come up with a joint “coffee and pastry” deal.
Any sincere action toward building brand awareness will position you as a caring and well-respected establishment.
Innovative Marketing Techniques to Use for Your Restaurant Business
If you want to survive the business game, you need creativity and a more innovative approach to building your strategy.
Innovative doesn’t mean expensive and complicated (although you may need a solid investment if you aim for a viral marketing campaign). We’ve gathered some forward-thinking marketing techniques for restaurants to guide you through the process.
Collaborating with Influencers
Influencer marketing requires money, but it’s worth the investment. Find local food bloggers, chefs, or lifestyle influencers who align with your brand values and target audience. This will ensure you find the right people to become your ambassadors.
For instance, you can collaborate with a couple of local influencers, inviting them to try your signature dishes. You should have clear expectations about the process and outcome, so influencers know exactly how to present your restaurant. Once they share their experience on Instagram and generate excitement, people will want to visit you to see what the buzz is about.
An example of effective influencer collaboration is @thecarboholic, a popular Instagram food influencer based in New York.
Local restaurants get huge foot traffic and exposure, every time she showcases their dishes, and her posts go viral. By working with such influencers, restaurants can connect with highly engaged audiences and grow much quicker.
Utilizing User-Generated Content
UGC is content generated by your loyal customers, meaning they become your ambassadors like influencers but at a smaller price. UGC is authentic, visually appealing and drives more customers to your restaurant. It’s also a more marketable form of advertisement because it comes from real people, not your brand.
For instance, you can host a photo contest inviting people to share their best shots of your food with a branded hashtag. You can then feature the best ones on your social media pages or offer discounts. Wendy’s provides a great example of using UGC to generate buzz around new menu items. For their Cinnabon Pull-Aparts launch, they encouraged customers to share photos and videos of their experience with the product on social media.
This is an example of content generation and an act toward making your customers feel a part of your story. Such campaigns also help foster a sense of community and connection with their audience.
Embracing Technology: Implementing Interactive Marketing
Your competitors are constantly looking for ways to stay ahead, and so should you. Technology doesn’t stand still with numerous advancements each day. Thus, you must be constantly updated to keep up with market trends.
Please give a link or embed a photo, video example of each one below
- Digital menus: Some people like checking online menus before making a reservation. A digital menu offers more than just food options; it can also include pictures, reviews, and even the ability to order ahead.
- Virtual tours: Use 360-degree photos and videos to give customers a virtual tour of your restaurant. This will give them an immersive experience and help build anticipation for their visit.
- Augmented reality (AR): This is a whole new level for restaurants to showcase 3D versions of their best dishes. Customers can use their phones to see the dishes come alive in front of them, making for a fun and interactive dining experience.
Monitoring and Measuring Success
Having a well-functioning strategy and implementing innovative solutions is only half the battle. You should also know how to monitor and measure the impact of your restaurant marketing.
In-depth data analysis can show how your campaigns perform and whether you are moving in the right direction.
Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Start by identifying success metrics most relevant to your business goals. Some of the relevant KPIs for restaurant businesses are:
| Customer footfall | the number of people who visit your restaurant. |
| Reservation or booking rate | the percentage of customers who booked a table or made a reservation. |
| Repeat customers | the percentage of customers who visited more than once. |
| Social media engagement | the number of people interacting with your content. |
| An average order size | the amount spent by each customer on average. |
| Return on Investment (ROI) | the profitability of your marketing efforts. |
Analyzing Feedback and Reviews
Always monitor what people say about you on the web. Failing to react promptly to negative comments about your business can have an awful impact.
Study any type of feedback to find areas for improvement in your business process. For instance, if several reviews mention slow service during peak hours, that’s your cue to address staffing or workflow. Positive feedback, on the other hand, can highlight what you’re doing right, like an adored signature dish or cozy ambiance.
Adjusting Strategies Based on Data
Track your marketing campaigns to react and change quickly when something isn’t working. Analytics tools and detailed reports can offer valuable insights into the latest trends and your competitors’ strategies, helping you fine-tune yours.
If you notice a dip in engagement with a specific promotion, try testing a different message, format, or platform. For example, shifting from a generic “10% off” deal to a more specific “Family Night Special” might better resonate with your audience.
Transform Your Restaurant’s Marketing
Promoting your restaurant online requires more than just creating social media pages and posting regularly. It’s an integrated process with constant planning, monitoring, and swift adjustments to stand out in a competitive environment.
Marketing a restaurant is an exciting blend of creativity, strategy, and a little trial and error. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Only with a thoughtful approach and consistent analysis, you can reach the desired results and beat the competition.
While doing this alone is possible, it can be time-consuming and overwhelming. That’s where Andava Digital comes in. We believe in taking a personalized approach to restaurant marketing. Taking the time to understand your specific goals, target audience, and competitive landscape, our dedicated teams develop a customized marketing strategy that aligns with your brand and objectives.
Need help navigating the complex world of restaurant marketing? Check out our hospitality case study to see how Andava Digital helped a client achieve remarkable results through tailored SEO and PPC strategies.
Collaborating with Andava Digital means gaining a reliable partner to build your restaurant’s reputation and online presence.
Let’s cook up something amazing for your restaurant together!
