Every restaurant uses a traditional marketing strategy to function such as distributing flyers or posting up an ad in the local newspaper. Whereas these functions are important, as the world moves digital, the competition amongst restaurants has greatly increased. This makes it very challenging for your restaurant to show up on the screens of the audience. Digital marketing does just work.
To put simply, digital marketing is marketing your product or service digitally through websites, social media, emails, search engines and online ads. Digital marketing is growing tremendously every year and it has become a very common yet significant strategy. We have brought 6 very effective digital marketing strategies you must use for your restaurant.
1. Upgrade your website:
If your restaurant does not have its own website, you are missing out on a lot of exposure that can attract your audience. A good website is the key to brand awareness. Fill up the elements starting from your restaurant story and on how it started. Post menus and highlight your signature dishes along with attractive pictures. You can also write a chef’s note alongside to stand out. Incorporate customer reviews and testimonies to add value. Overall, make your website look presentable and functional. Do not forget to add proper call-to-action features and social sharing options.
2. Be social on social media:
Creating engaging and attractive social media handles are very important owing to the rise in social media users every year. You must be ready with good, readable content that informs your customers about you instead of forcefully promoting your restaurant. Make your feed look organised and presentable using similar themes, fonts or even the same layout. This makes it look more organised and easy to read. Feeds look inviting when high-quality pictures are posted. To increase your reach, promote your restaurant by bringing in contests and giveaways. Also, use specific hashtags and be aware of ongoing trends. Finally, connect with the customer individually in case of any queries and seek feedback. This maintains trust and reliability.
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3. Practice SEO:
Search engine optimization will bring your website to the top whenever a user searches about your niche. However, you need to be familiar with some tips and tricks that involve SEO. SEO is a wonderful way to organically grow your restaurant and also add value to it. Use specific keywords instead of general ones. Try using keywords with your location in it. This will attract your local target group. Above all, create intriguing content on your website and add relevant, high-quality images and interesting links from trusted sources.
4. Content diversifications:
Do not limit your content to just your menu. A potential customer can look for other relevant content on your restaurant website. Provide value to your customer by publishing about the category of food you are serving. A forceful, direct sale could diminish your restaurant standards. You can try and add variations in the topics related to your restaurant. For example, if you are a vegan restaurant, publish vegan recipes and articles on vegan food. You can also incorporate guest posts from reputed bloggers, chefs and restaurants, or even become a guest writer for other websites.
5. Email marketing:
Emails are a great way to reach your audience personally. This will help you build a real conversation and hence, build a relationship. Email marketing encompasses activities such as creating a database from your market research and collecting details about your target audience. Creating short, concise yet impactful messages, writing a relevant subject line and adding interesting links are some significant bits that must be followed while curating your message. Inform your regular customers about special offers, launches, exclusive dishes and a newly published content on your website. Make sure you add the URL of your landing page only so that on just a click, your customer will be able to view and take the required action. Above all, do not spam but be consistent.
6. Online ordering:
Facilitate online ordering of your restaurant through the website or an app. You can get a lot of engagement through apps and it helps the customers to easily access your restaurant services. Online ordering and home delivery have become the need of the hour in the pandemic we are facing nowadays. You can prepare a dedicated team who can carry out home delivery services or link up with food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy. Food aggregators have a high-user reach providing just the amount of exposure you need.
The takeaway:
Digital marketing has shown drastic growth and can take your restaurant to new levels. This marketing strategy gives us the opportunity to closely communicate with the customers and address their needs and demands. To stand out from your competitors, it is essential for restaurants to incorporate digital marketing or else, they will be missing out on a lot. Don’t worry! We’re sure these tips would help you out!
Author bio:
Anushka Bhargava
Anushka is a passionate writer and a poet pursuing a degree in media and communications. She regularly contributes a Food Guest Post on F and B Recipes.