A well-functioning restaurant is not the same as a well-known restaurant. Word of mouth isn’t enough to keep your restaurant full even if you do the basics right. You need to have good food and good service at a good price. Competition is very tough, and you need to do the right marketing for your restaurant, whether you do it offline or online, to get people to come to your restaurant. There are a lot of things you can do to market your business on the radio, in the newspaper, at events, and so on. Online marketing for restaurants, also known as digital marketing for restaurants, is about making the restaurant’s name and image known through digital channels like Facebook, Twitter, and the restaurant’s website.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to do digital marketing for restaurants, and we’ll show you how.
To learn about offline techniques as well, read this comprehensive restaurant marketing manual. It will help you come up with all-inclusive ways to promote your restaurant business.
Restaurants Benefit from Digital Marketing
In today’s world, digital marketing for restaurants is a must because of the Internet’s pervasiveness. In order to improve your Restaurant’s online reputation, you need Restaurant Digital Marketing. Digital marketing for restaurants has a number of benefits, including:
Online restaurant marketing has a wide audience and is less expensive in terms of the earnings it may generate. Virtually free, as long as you don’t spend money on promoting or boosting your postings online.
Your customers will be able to contact you directly if you have a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account. Your customers will be able to get in touch with you whenever they have a problem or a complaint, which will improve your customer service.
Using online marketing channels allows you to reach a large number of people, both current and potential, with your marketing initiatives.
Becoming a part of the online conversation with customers will allow you to better grasp what they want from a restaurant and how they feel about you.
The next step in developing digital marketing plans for your restaurant is to learn about the numerous tools you can use to promote your business online. Here are some ways you may use technology to promote your business online.
Restaurants need to use a variety of digital marketing tactics
A variety of options are available when it comes to your restaurant’s digital marketing strategy. It’s not as simple as it appears when it comes to digital marketing for restaurants, and it requires a lot of careful attention to detail. Listed below are some must-have restaurant digital marketing strategies:-
Social Media Marketing
Social media has become the easiest way to get people’s attention, thanks to Facebook’s 1.5 billion registered users. As a result, it only makes sense to use social media to promote your restaurant’s online presence. In order to promote your restaurant on the internet, here is a list of things you must do:
Keeping Customers Happy
It’s imperative that businesses use social media to interact with their customers. To be taken seriously, you must always answer their tweets, posts, or comments. You can manage all of your social media accounts from a single dashboard using a variety of available tools. It’s also possible to pre-plan your posts and tweets so that they appear on a regular basis.
Your fans and potential customers will be turned off if you only share a picture one day and then disappear for a week or more. The success of a restaurant’s digital marketing strategy depends on its exposure. Try to post something at least once per week even if you don’t feel the urge to do so every single day.
Marketing with Video
In the next phase of digital marketing for restaurants, videos will play a key role. Videotape your cooking and social gatherings and share them with friends and family. Encourage others to share it by include them in the call to action. Instagram and Facebook users prefer short videos, although Youtube prefers longer ones. There is no doubt that videos are the future of internet marketing. They are entertaining, educational, and more easily shared. As previously said, the success of restaurant digital marketing campaigns is directly tied to their ability to be seen by as many people as possible.
Campaigns and Contests
On Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you can run contests and campaigns, such as tagging photos, or a check-in campaign. As a result of this, you’ll be able to connect with the friends of your current clients, many of whom are likely to be your ideal consumers.
Pay-per-click (PPC)
In order to run geo-targeted advertising, you can select your audience based on age, gender, interests, and more. Because of this, fast-food restaurants can target young people under the age of 30 as their customers. Digital marketing for restaurants, on the other hand, offers a level of flexibility that isn’t available in traditional marketing methods, making it the preferred method today.
Google My Business Listing
Remember to include a Google My Business Listing in your restaurant digital marketing strategy. The ‘Local 3 Pack’ is a special Google mobile listing for eateries. It has a slew of advantages:
Your restaurant’s name and phone number will appear in the GMB listing, so customers may reach you right away.
Your restaurant’s location and driving directions are readily available to customers.
As a result, your restaurant will be more easily found in search engine results.
In order to display their menu in the listings, restaurant owners who have a GMB Listing can simply upload their menu.
Email marketing
For restaurants, email marketing is regarded one of the most effective means of digital marketing and can be done with the help of your CRM database. Your customers can begin receiving frequent greetings and offers by sending you a welcome email.
Marketing via email doesn’t have to be limited to sending customers greetings and offers in their inbox. Your customers will appreciate receiving a monthly communication from you. It’s possible to establish a more personal connection with your customers by sending them information about your restaurant, such as a profile of your staff or the name of the new pastry chef you’ve employed.
Guests will feel more at home in your restaurant if they learn about your heritage and share it with their fellow diners. Digital restaurant marketing isn’t only about acquiring new customers; it’s also about keeping those customers happy and coming back for more. Email marketing accomplishes just that.
Text Messaging Marketing
SMS Marketing is the next step in digital marketing for restaurants. Digital restaurant marketing is best done through SMS because they have a high open rate and maximum visibility. As a result, your clients are already assaulted with a plethora of promotional SMS and push notifications, and your SMS can get lost in the shuffle.
After a Call-to-Action like “Order Now,” “Try Our New Dessert, or Book Your Table Today,” you must always include a website or phone number to take that action, such as: Send promotional SMS messages to your consumers, or inform them about a new menu item. It’s time to send a ‘We Miss You’ SMS to clients who haven’t visited your restaurant in a while, accompanied with a discount voucher.
Delivery orders can also benefit from SMSs. Sending SMS updates to your consumers will help you keep them informed about the progress of their orders.
Internet Listings and Reviews
Online listing and review sites have recently grown increasingly popular with the general public. Customers may easily discover a restaurant to eat at thanks to the categorization of restaurants by kind, location, and service. If you don’t have an online presence, you won’t be able to attract customers.
You must also include your restaurant’s address and phone number, updated menu, and beautiful images of your establishment on these sites in order to attract clients. Customers can also leave reviews and provide comments on their dining experiences on these websites. You must take the time to respond to customer evaluations, especially the bad ones, because they are read by many potential customers.
A Fully Operational and Up-to-Date Website
Many restaurants have only a Facebook page and a listing on the review sites in the name of having an online presence. To be sure, restaurant digital marketing is incomplete without a fully operating and regularly updated website. Your website should be mobile-friendly. The following features should be included on any restaurant’s website:
- A Theme Page that portrays the identity of your restaurant.
- A page on your website dedicated to all of your favourite dishes.
- A page dedicated to showcasing your restaurant’s aesthetically pleasing interior and décor.
- Customers can provide you feedback about their eating experience by filling out this form. The evaluations that customers leave on your website can serve as a powerful marketing tool in and of themselves, allowing you to learn from their experiences and better your business.
- A history and culture section on your website’s “About Us” page.
A Call-to-Action that satisfies the hunger that is produced by the photos of your delicious dishes can also be implemented. Your website visitor’s hunger pangs will be alleviated if you include an Order Online Widget on your site.
It’s a terrific idea to have a virtual tour of your restaurant on your website. The visitor can take a virtual tour of your restaurant by clicking on the “virtual tour” button. Alternatively, you can allow consumers to select a table and reserve it in advance.
Tips like these can help restaurants get the most out of their digital marketing efforts. Let us know what you’ve learned; we’d love to hear from you as well.
For a complete list of restaurant marketing approaches, we’ll include offline marketing strategies in the future post. Keep an eye on things! Let us know how these internet marketing tactics for restaurants worked out for you in the meanwhile!