The pandemic has affected restaurant business across the planet in 2020 and 2021, but we’ll get through this unpleasant situation.
Once this unpleasant situation is overcome, competition between restaurants will become fierce and if you have to promote a restaurant, you will have to give everything to be successful in the long run.
That’s why agency re7consulting has decided to help you with restaurant marketing ideas and strategies to help you improve your business and attract the attention of potential customers.
How to market a restaurant on Social Media
The restaurant landscape in Romania is vast, however, few of these restaurants have Social Media marketing activities through which they manage to differentiate themselves from competitors.
And if you’ve set out to open your own restaurant or already have one, we challenge you to differentiate yourself both in Social Media and in your restaurant. Why?
Because once you open your restaurant you will be in a business focused on creating positive feedback.
When a social media post creates positive reactions, it will work for your restaurant.
You need to understand that all restaurant Social Media posts are not a product.
Potential customer reaction is the product.
The restaurant’s posts in Social Media channels are just one vehicle used to generate positive reactions from the targeted audience.
Which means, from our point of view, that every restaurant should post at least 4 times daily on each platform: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, but especially at least once a week on YouTube.
Also, posts made to social media channels by a restaurant don’t always have to be about food, drink or restaurant activity.
If you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors, set up an area in the center of the restaurant where you can create the restaurant’s podcast and YouTube show.
When not in use, this area can become a great element for customer-generated content.
Creating a podcast and a YouTube show can help you produce a lot of content online and through which you can differentiate yourself from your competitors, while also managing to increase your restaurant’s visibility.
At the same time, you will also have to take into account that 1 extra customer per month can mean a 12% – 15% increase in restaurant revenue.
You can achieve this increase by implementing programs dedicated to increasing customer frequency.
Did you know that a restaurant needs a marketing strategy focused on 3 visits from a single customer?
Focus on customer loyalty
Customer loyalty – attracting customers back to the restaurant again and again should always be one of the main elements of any restaurant marketing strategy.
Loyal customers cost the least in terms of marketing to keep them coming back and are also more likely to tell their friends about your restaurant.
You can actively encourage customer loyalty through loyalty programs and reward schemes for customers who return consistently.
Presentation of dishes must be Instagrammable
Istagrammability of dishes is a relatively new factor in the restaurant marketing world.
The bottom line is that the way a dish or dessert is presented helps market and encourage customers to take photos to share on Instagram.
If you do this right you will be able to create an online viral for your restaurant and this marketing strategy can have the biggest impact.
Consistently collaborate with influencers
Influencers are people with social media accounts that have a large number of followers.
If you want to find out the costs of promoting on Instagram and working with influencers, we recommend reading our article about:
How much does it cost to promote on Instagram?
Remember, restaurants that really win the game in Influencer Marketing go the extra mile and provide the influencers they collaborate with an outstanding experience for followers in the influencer’s community to discuss that experience.
Do you have a restaurant and need an effective marketing strategy?
Social Media Services of re7consulting agency are at your disposal to promote your restaurant to potential customers.
That said, remember that you are now equipped with several restaurant marketing strategies that you can use to take your business to the next level.
However, here are a few things we recommend you consider:
- The online success of a restaurant depends to a large extent on its offline performance.
- Collaborate with dedicated specialists and agencies to stay on top of the industry.
Effective digital marketing strategies for restaurant promotion
If you need some suggestions and ideas for restaurant promotion, here are some valuable strategies you can adopt:
1. Perfect your website
First of all, even if you own a physical, local restaurant without deliveries, your storefront is no longer a mirror of your company. When 88% of consumers go online to search for products or services, they judge the credibility of a business based on the website above all else. If the restaurant’s website leaves something to be desired, they are likely to choose another restaurant, better promoted through restaurant marketing methods.
Your company’s website should be professional, functional and easy to use. Potential customers should be able to navigate a website intuitively to find useful information such as menus, hours of operation and restaurant address.
In addition, it’s good to be aware that most people use their smartphone to find out these details, whether they are at home, in the car, at work, etc. Therefore the restaurant’s website needs to be optimized as well as possible for mobile devices.
2. Focus on SEO
One of the most important steps in your restaurant marketing efforts is perfecting search engine optimization. SEO is all about getting organic traffic to your platform and ultimately the main method of attracting customers. When someone types into Google “Italian restaurants (or anything else) near me”, properly applied SEO will help you be easily found.
Whether you’re targeting locals or tourists, it’s good to make sure you’ve got your restaurant marketing strategy as well implemented as possible. If you know who your target audience is, you’ll be able to get your message across and gain popularity online.
You can improve your presence on search engines by using the following actions:
- Design a blog as a section on your website, full of engaging and relevant content. It’s good to make sure each page of your website uses local keywords and other forms of SEO coding (metadata embedded in images, videos, titles, etc.)
- Uses both internal links and external links
- Create a My Company account on Google
- Check your contact information and address to be prominently displayed and easy to find
3. Get more followers on social networks
Having a search engine optimized website is great (and necessary). However, there are a few more proactive ways you can generate traffic to your website. Over 70% of adults who frequent restaurants have a Facebook account. That means 70% of your potential customers can be found in one location.
Digital marketing for restaurants without a social media restaurant promotion strategy cannot be effective. Social networks are an endless source of customers who can be attracted to the restaurant, and posts mean increased online visibility and numerous advertising options, both free and paid.
For example, other ideas for promoting a restaurant online include various competitions and sweepstakes. On social networks such as Facebook or Instagram you can organize virtual competitions with prizes consisting of free meals, gift cards or prizes in various promotional items.
It’s important to use Social Media to expand your reach, encouraging users to leave likes on your account, comment and share your posts. Social networking will attract more and more users, who will probably start following your profile to compete for prizes, but will also become customers of the restaurant.
Paid social media ads can be a very successful restaurant marketing strategy. Each ad gives you analytical data about your audience and you will be able to analyze how each campaign worked and what results each campaign brought in Social Media.
4. Take advantage of influencers
Influencers on social networks are those who have established credibility in certain industries or demographics and, as a result, often have thousands, if not millions of followers.
If there are culinary influencers in your restaurant’s area, it may be a good idea to contact and invite them to try a free lunch at your restaurant. If they like your food, you can set up a collaboration.
; In exchange for social media posts promoting a restaurant, you can pay them a fee or offer them a certain number of free meals.5. Implement email marketing
Another effective digital marketing strategy for restaurants is email marketing. First, it’s good to have a list of email addresses of customers who have subscribed to your newsletter. Getting subscribers can be done by offering discounts to previous customers who have subscribed, through social networks, website promotions, affiliate websites and landing page ads.
Such emails should be friendly and express gratitude to customers while suggesting they return to the restaurant. Every communication sent to customers by email should also contain valuable content (discounts, promotions), otherwise people won’t open them and you won’t promote your restaurant as effectively on all channels.
Email marketing has proven to be one of the best restaurant promotion ideas because it is based on targeted marketing to people who have already shown interest or eaten at your restaurant.
6. Take advantage of online reviews
When people search for restaurants online, one of the main interests is the reviews left by other customers. You need to take advantage of online reviews and the level of trust that consumers give to your business.You can start by encouraging every customer to post a review on Google, your website or social media profile. Most people feel the need to be incentivized, so you can offer them a discount on their next meal at the restaurant if they agree to leave a review.
7. Connections with other local businesses
Another restaurant marketing strategy connects with small business owners in your area. You can build affiliate business relationships with complementary businesses.
For example, you can talk to representatives of a local hotel and suggest a partnership with your restaurant. You can also offer discounts to hotel guests who dine at your restaurant.
8. Keep a high level of engagement online
Finally, it’s important to understand that persistence in digital marketing is one of the conditions for success in restaurant promotions. If you want your audience to remember your restaurant’s name when it’s time to dine out, you need to make efforts to always attract and stimulate such actions. Running an advertising campaign once a year is not enough.
Regular approaches matter: updating the website and especially the menu, posting new and relevant content with a tone that respects your brand several times a week on social networks and promoting new products on the menu. Each marketing approach will positively influence the evolution of your sales and the development of your business.
With these marketing tips you will be on the right track for promoting your restaurant on Social Media. Remember that execution is everything!
