3 Most Important Factors in Your Restaurant Marketing Strategy

When thinking about how to apply the 3 most important factors in your restaurant's marketing strategy keep this in mind: In order to get the most out of a good restaurant marketing strategy the subject matter should focus on either (or both) 1. Value the customer cares about 2. The culture of your restaurant. Beyond the importance of subject matter the two relevant factors in your online restaurant marketing strategy are placement & timing. With a great restaurant marketing strategy you have the opportunity to consistently grow your customer base in the most cost effective way. 

Successful online restaurant marketing allows restaurants to create a fun culture adding to the customers dining experience with minimal effort on the restauranteurs part. 

As a professional digital marketing agency with clients in the restaurant industry we employ very specific tools and techniques to get our customers the most effective results. This article shares our experience working with small & large restaurants. 

Stuck in a rut? Want to take your restaurant marketing to the next level? It all starts with your customer experience from the moment they do a local online search looking at your restaurant information online and onto their experience inside your establishment. Here are the 3 most effective digital marketing strategies for restaurants: 

Culture/Persona - Create a culture around your restaurant. This extends to design of the interior, the customer service surrounding the customers dining experience. Create a culture behind your brand. 

Think about what distinguishing characteristics your restaurant has and build off of it. Are you a fine dining experience, or a casual dining spot? Start broad and then get down to the cultural experience your establishment can connect with. 

Consider the style of your advertising, the imagery, and the descriptive words you use. The culture of the brand can also be showcased by the channels you use in adverting. Print vs. online, where you advertise has different demographic appeal. Creating a social experience for customers involves a consistent style but can appeal to different demographics in different ways. 

Here is an example: One of our customers owns a small Brick Oven Pizzeria. Starting with the design of the restaurant interior the restaurant owner/manager created a culture around fresh, quality, casual dining. 

With the design of the interior he took advantage of the small size by showcasing the brick oven, it was visible from every angle. The prep station for making the pizzas was also placed where everyone could see the fresh pizzas being made. The counter where the POS systems were located created a boundary between the prep area & the seating. Fun murals were painted on the walls giving the impression of the Italian rolling country side. Inside & outside seating was available with fun bright colored seats & tables. Large LED displays were mounted above the POS with beautiful pictures of food playing on a slide show next to the menu items. 

Then the customer experience was incorporated into the culture he cultivated. The restaurant owner & manger took time to speak with regular customers. Staff made sure the customers had everything they needed rather than asking if they need anything else. There is a subtle but important difference which only takes a moment in every service. 

The design behind the restaurant & the customer service was a casual feel with emphasis on quality control. People appreciated the two complimenting focuses of the restaurant. They played on this general concept and cultivated a culture around quality fresh ingredients. 

The same emphasis was given to advertising. Consistent branding of the brick oven and images of fresh ingredients. This branding was displayed on their logo, on the print advertising, the pizza boxes, their website, the social media pages, and the direct marketing to members of the loyalty program. All included pictures of brick ovens, basil, and other fresh ingredients with the words “quality ingredients” and “made fresh”. The restaurant owner was also sure to include vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options and advertised these key words throughout the advertising campaigns. 

This is a simple concept which shows just how easy it is to create a culture around what sets your resultants apart. 

Unique experiences - Creating a unique experience for customers can be as simple as emphasis on quality like in the above example. Or, it can be more complex like special events, live music, photo booths, charity fund raising events. 

Creating a unique experience does not have to cost the restaurant owner any additional money. Taking advantage what sets your restaurant apart from others showcase the unique qualities. 

A more formal dining experience could showcase special moments and celebrations, either by offering an extra touch with a greeting & congratulations by the chef, or by capturing the moment by simply offering to take a group picture. This picture you can be sure it will be posted on social media without you even having to ask. 

A table set in a special way for a special occasion encourages foodies to snap a picture of their plate set on the carefully designed table. All of these are simple things to do which you can implement consistently. 

Consistency is the key to the implementation. What can you incorporate into your customers experiences which you can do consistently to create a brand behind your customers experiences?

Promotions customers actually value - Loyalty Programs are my favorite restaurant technology trend to implement with restaurants because we get such incredible results. The customers are offered special promotions by signing up with their cell number & email address. 

Promotions are sent to the people who sign up by text, email, and social media posts to the restaurant’s FB & Twitter page. We also launch keyword campaigns to encourage sign-ups at special events. 

The targeted restaurant promotions which are then sent to people who sign up on the loyalty programs include links which are then tracked, or we include a special coupon promo code. These promotions are sent out weekly and also posted on the restaurants website & business listings. Once a month we look at the results and change the promotions according to the results. What items did the customers take advantage of, what words were used in the call to action? 

Doing a special promotion doesn’t mean offering whatever you think will be the most enticing. Often we find unexpected offerings are received the best by customers. We find out which promotion and what words to use in our CTA by trying a variety of promotions. 

By focusing a culture around the restaurant’s brand we create consistent marketing which customers can connect with. Offering customers value with unique experiences adds value and a connection to your venue whether they are special events, or simply acknowledging the customer’s special occasion. Promotions customers value encourages increased regular visits. These three factors are the most valuable when creating an online restaurant marketing campaign. Share and post the value you add with these features on all your marketing channels and you will see consistent improvement to your return on investment. 

Read more about demographics of specific social media channels here! Main Goes Big Digital Marketing Agency is proud to serve clients worldwide including our local communities of Bentonville, Arkansas & San Diego, California. 

Source Links Used In This Article: 

https://www.maingoesbig.com/restaurant-marketing

http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/6-tips-to-turn-servers-into-service-stars

http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/After-more-than-a-decade-menu-labeling-is-appetiz

http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/Research/Mapping-the-Technology-Landscape

https://www.maingoesbig.com/2018-trends-social-media-landscape-for-restaurant-managers-owners

http://www.arhospitality.org/members/ar-restaurant-association/

https://www.calrest.org/