{"id":1008,"date":"2019-09-18T16:28:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T15:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rfsmarketing.co.uk\/?p=1008"},"modified":"2020-08-30T09:51:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T08:51:59","slug":"restaurant-marketing-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rfsmarketing.co.uk\/restaurant-marketing-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"6 restaurant marketing ideas that really do work – UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fierce competition, tight margins, ever-changing trends; the restaurant marketing isn\u2019t for the faint-hearted. And now you\u2019ve got to deal with digital marketing too. But there is a silver-lining. Countless restaurant owners and marketers have already tried and tested every digital strategy and marketing platform out there and we\u2019ve waded through the results to bring you 5 of the most effective restaurant marketing tips.<\/p>\n
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Instagram is a restauranteur’s dream. It isn\u2019t just millennials who love snapping pictures of their food to post on Instagram. Over a third of all Instagram users in the UK are aged over 35 and with 22 million users across the country, you\u2019re certain to have a sizeable Instagram audience in your local area.<\/p>\n
Before you start posting on your Instagram account, here are a few words of advice to nail your restaurant PR:<\/p>\n
All of your dishes may look great but it\u2019s worth creating a signature dish or drink; something creative that is unique to your restaurant which you can really go to town with on Instagram.<\/p>\n
Make sure all of your foodie photos are of a high quality. This means clear, clean, sharp images with no glare. Good lighting is key, so find a spot in your restaurant where natural light floods in.<\/p>\n
To break up the parade of foodie pictures, include photos of the inside your restaurant so your audience can get a feel for your dining atmosphere. Also, include photos of your staff; front-of-house, chefs, the whole team. Showcasing the friendly faces that make your restaurant will make it more inviting.<\/p>\n
Create a hashtag that is unique to your restaurant and use it consistently. Don\u2019t forget to add in geographical hashtags so you can draw in a local crowd.<\/p>\n
Instagram is a 2-way street when it comes to restaurant marketing; it\u2019s just as important to get your customers posting. Here are a few ways you can make this happen:<\/p>\n
Remember to repost photos from your followers to show that you\u2019re grateful for their contribution.<\/p>\n
Customers looking for somewhere new to eat will often turn to Google searching for reviews. Yelp, Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor reviews and the like will be listed in their search results. If you\u2019re not on these platforms, you could still be racking up reviews. To stay in control of your reputation it is therefore important to claim your space on these platforms and put up as much useful information as you can: photos, opening hours, your location, a mobile-friendly menu, price ranges and other facilities you have (WiFi, parking, outdoor seating etc.).<\/p>\n
Next, set up Google alerts, so whenever your restaurant name appears somewhere new online, you\u2019ll know about it. Good restaurant marketing isn\u2019t just about creating positive chatter about how great your restaurant is, it\u2019s about dealing with negative reviews in a way that can turn an unhappy customer into a happy one. Reply to negative reviews quickly, politely and in a friendly manner; apologise for a customer\u2019s bad experience and offer to redeem things with a free meal or discount.<\/p>\n
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Once again, Google reins supreme when customers are looking for a restaurant near them. Local marketing for restaurants is made easy with Google Maps. If you can nab one of the top 3 spots in Google Map\u2019s results panel, you\u2019re certain to get more traffic to your website.<\/p>\n
To be featured on Google Maps you need to set up a free Google My Business account and populate it with all the information a customer would find helpful: your opening hours, address, contact information and photos. Reviews will also show up here, so make sure you follow tip #2 too. It also helps to keep you website updated and all of your restaurant details consistent across platforms.<\/p>\n
Keep your customers coming back for more with a simple loyalty programme. The lure of getting something free stills works but today any decent loyalty programme needs to be digital.<\/p>\n
Digital loyalty cards come with the added benefit of giving you data on what keeps your loyal customers coming back. Offer an incentive for new customers to sign up when they\u2019re at the till, such as a 10% discount off the bill they are about to pay. Finally, make sure you promote your loyalty card perks on your social media accounts, in your email campaigns and on your table tents<\/p>\n
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Facebook is still the biggest social media platform out there with arguably the most powerful reach. Facebook check-ins are an easy way to promote your restaurant by getting your customers to do much of the legwork.<\/p>\n
A Facebook check-in is a type of post that highlights where someone is located and when. For businesses it acts as a personal endorsement. By encouraging your customers to check-in on Facebook when they visit your restaurant, you\u2019ll get instant exposure as Facebook check-in posts are on average seen by 150\u2013200 Facebook friends of the customer who checks in.<\/p>\n
No matter how finessed your restaurant PR is, there is nothing quite as powerful as being recommended by a friend or family member. In fact 92% of people trust family and friend recommendations, which is why Facebook\u2019s algorithm is now more heavily weighted to these recommendations over what businesses advertise.<\/p>\n
We find you can get incredible results by getting joined up: don’t just rely on social media, enhance your presence with a paid-for ad targeting your local geography and fans of your type of food.<\/p>\n
Then, link that post with a chatbot. A chatbot is simply software that automatically carries out an on-line chat ‘conversation’ via text message to your potential customer. As part of that process, you can request the customer’s email address, and incorporate them into your email marketing so you can start to build a long term relationship with them too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Below are some ways we use Chatbots and Email to get results for restaurants:<\/p>\n
One of our most popular products. Our giveaway package gets you a huge amount of attention from new potential customers using an attractive giveaway offer.<\/p>\n
We then convert a significant amount of them into immediate paying customers using a clever Chatbot sequence \u2013 so they aren\u2019t just there for the prize draw. PLUS we integrate their details with your email marketing system (or help you build a new one from scratch) so you term short term \u2018likes\u2019 into long term love for your brand.<\/p>\n
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