Restaurant marketing is essential to running a successful business, but many restaurant owners need help with their marketing efforts.
The restaurant industry is so competitive. It doesn’t always matter how tasty the food is or how good the dining experience is. If you haven’t marketed your restaurant successfully, you’re unlikely to reach your maximum potential.
Luckily, the basics of restaurant marketing are easy enough to understand. In this short guide, we’ll help you grasp the concept of restaurant marketing and give you some ideas to help you get started.
Restaurant marketing is a way of letting people know about your restaurant business. Whether you’re a local restaurant or a large multinational company, you must use marketing strategies to ensure the general public knows about your restaurant.
By building a good restaurant brand and marketing your restaurant well, you can attract new customers and encourage your existing customers to remain loyal. The right marketing tools and strategies can let you turn a new restaurant into a popular place where customers keep returning.
Restaurant marketing can be overwhelming if you haven’t done much of it before. There are a few simple steps you should take before you get started.
The first step in any restaurant marketing plan should be identifying your target audience. Think about who you want coming to eat at your food establishment and draw up a few personas to help you get to know them.
If you already have a restaurant, consider asking your customer base to fill out a short survey so you can better understand their demographics.
Use this information to see your customers' typical age and jobs. You’ll now know who to target with your future marketing efforts.
Use your target market personas to create a brand identity that appeals to your ideal customer base. You can look at competitor restaurants in your neighborhood or use an online template to help you.
Branding is vital in restaurant marketing, as you can use it in all printed and digital marketing assets. For example, your restaurant logo and chosen color scheme should appear on your menus, the website, and the restaurant itself.
You can even use your brand’s primary color to customize any customer-facing technology, such as a self-service kiosk or online ordering portal.
Building an online presence is a critical part of restaurant marketing. A restaurant website allows your customers to find you online and decide whether they want to come by.
You can use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to encourage visitors to your website. Using keywords that your target market is searching for on search engines like Google can increase your website’s chances of appearing on search engine results pages (known as SERPs).
Also, think about improving your local SEO to help potential customers in your area find your restaurant. One way to do this is by creating a Google Business Profile and keeping it updated.
Social media marketing is a fantastic option for business owners with a small marketing budget, as it’s free to use and makes it easy to engage with customers in a digital space.
Start accounts on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Post a few images or videos using relevant hashtags. Posting regularly and building an online community can help you get word-of-mouth referrals.
You can also post user-generated content (images and videos of your restaurant that other users have posted). This is an easy way to show an online audience that people respond positively to your food and dining experience.
Once you’ve developed a brand identity and built an online presence, you can start a restaurant marketing campaign to build brand awareness and increase your customer base. Here are a few ideas.
Digital ad campaigns are an essential part of digital marketing. Design a post or video, and use Facebook Ads to ensure that people in your area who are interested in eating out see it. Ads are an effective way to build awareness of your brand, but you’ll need to ensure you have the budget for it.
Even if your marketing budget is small, try to encourage customers to leave testimonials on review sites like Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor.
Positive reviews play a crucial role in attracting new customers. Be sure to monitor for new reviews so you can respond to any negative reviews and thank customers for their kind words.
Email marketing campaigns are one of the most effective marketing channels available to food brands. They can help you improve your restaurant revenue by putting your brand into customers’ minds and encouraging them to purchase something.
One effective email marketing method is to include promo codes as prizes for customers who sign up. They can then use these promo codes to get a discount or a free meal item when they come in.
Promo codes are easy to set up with a restaurant point-of-sale (POS) system, and you can even use them with self-service devices, like the KioskBuddy app. Customers just enter the code at checkout and receive their discount.
Putting your restaurant on online delivery services like Grubhub and Uber Eats can be a fantastic way to boost brand awareness and reach more potential customers.
The third-party app or website will list your menu items, and customers can place their orders directly with the app. You’ll then prepare the food and get it ready for pickup or delivery.
These platforms can help you market your restaurant because you can reach potential diners who may not have heard of you before. It’s also a relatively cheap marketing solution, as most providers take a percentage of each order rather than charging a monthly fee.
Customer reviews on far-reaching sites like these can benefit small businesses looking to expand.
Another strong restaurant marketing idea is to start a customer loyalty program that provides incentives to loyal customers. Customers can sign up with their email address or phone number and earn loyalty points for each dollar they spend in your restaurant. They can then use these points to get money off a future order or unlock special prizes, like a free dessert or a drink.
Customer loyalty programs encourage existing customers to return time and time again, making them a highly effective marketing strategy.
You can also offer a referral bonus to encourage existing members of your loyalty program to get their friends to sign up. If both current and new members get a reward, they’re more likely to sign up and claim their prize.
Marketing your restaurant doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right strategies, you can spread the word about your restaurant effectively and affordably. From email marketing campaigns to customer loyalty programs, so many options are available to restaurateurs.
For self-service devices with customer loyalty integration, KioskBuddy is a perfect choice. Your customers can collect points with every purchase, even without a staff member to help them.
Sign up for KioskBuddy to set up self-service in your restaurant business.