Effective Digital Marketing Strategies For Restaurant Business

Summary :The world is online, then what is your business doing offline? The digital potential is now limitless —thanks to COVID-19. You are missing 70% of your customers for want of digital solutions or effective digital marketing strategies for restaurants if you have that (digital solution). If you’re brainstorming to become a successful restaurant owner and want to have the best marketing strategies, this article is for you. We have jotted down the top restaurant marketing ideas to help you rule the roost in your field.

Restaurant trends are constantly flipping and changing. But, the COVID-19 wave left even bigger industries contemplating their existence.

As a result, in 2021, Statista revealed that the US Restaurant Market saw a 65.91% decline in consumer dining.

This has definitely bruised the sales and overall footfalls in the Restaurants. Even before the Pandemic started wreaking its havoc on humankind, about 50% of the Restaurant businesses were measured to fail in the initial five years itself!

So, how can the industry bloom just like it did before 2020?

Well, the answer to this question lies in some top-notch Online Marketing Strategies for Restaurant Businesses. In this article, we introduced some effective marketing strategies to help owner redefine their success goals and achieve them in their set timelines. But first, let’s explore the top facts of the restaurant sector.

Interesting Facts About the Restaurants Sector

Did you know around 95% of restaurant owners have admitted that technology support has improved overall efficiencies of the restaurant businesses?

Indeed, the digitization of food and drink services have has become the lifeblood for the restaurant sector. As most restaurants are having their own online ordering services via websites and apps, they are efficiently delivering food to their customers like never before.

According to Statista, around 34% of users spend $50 per order online.

• Whereas around 60% of dinners use digital channels to order food online, at least once a week.
• Digital ordering has recorded a 300% growth since 2014.
• Most importantly, 70% of consumers prefer to order directly from restaurants instead of using third-party applications.

Find more statistics at Statista

Top Effective Digital Marketing Strategies for Restaurants

You have switched your physical restaurant business to online. Digital Marketing Strategies for Restaurants can help to promote the business effectively and attract more customers. It has always been challenging for restaurants to reach and engage with their target audience. Here are 10 tips to help you create a successful restaurant digital marketing strategy: from establishing an online presence, optimizing search engines, and utilizing email marketing to harnessing the power of customer reviews and much more. By implementing these strategies, you can effectively promote your restaurant, increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and retain existing ones.

Here are a handful of techniques that you can adopt too and seek towering Success.

#1 Forging a ‘Perfect’ Website

A website is a window for your customers to peek into the basic information about your Restaurant. A heavy load of Customers relies on a Business’s Website to showcase the Services or Products you sell. Therefore, it must be user-friendly, fully functional, and optimized for Smartphone Customers! You can explore online for a better idea or visit our article that provides a detailed guide for creating a restaurant website.

An attractive set of features, an intriguing interface, and captivating visuals is the starter pack for designing your Website in order to enchant the Customers.

#2: Do SEO for Restaurant Websites

Why should you do SEO for your restaurant websites? You might have this question.

You should do SEO and promote your restaurant website for plenty of reasons:

• To gain higher online visibility
  Driver high traffic on your website
  Deliver the best user experience
  Build trust and credibility
  Score competitive advantages
  Get a higher conversion rate
  Secure long-term benefits
  And many more

So, how does SEO do all these? Simply put, it lets your website and pages be crawled and indexed in search engines like Google, DuckDuckGo, Bing, Yahoo, and others. You need to learn how to do SEO for your restaurant, and we have separately answered this. That means when your restaurant website is visible to Google and other search engines, it will be easy for customers to find your website and get information about your restaurant. It will result in more people visiting your website and placing orders online.

#3 Ah! Those Delicious looking Food Pictures are a Must

Your menu is the second-best factor on this list of Restaurant Digital Marketing strategies to allure customers. So, invest considerably but not pocket-wearing money and time to take some professional pictures for your digital menu.

This QR code digital menu has to be posted on your Website, Social Media handles, and other online ordering systems—capture and post mouth-watering photos. You could take help from professional food photographers if it doesn’t hurt your budget!

Read Also: Food Packaging Ideas to Escalate Your Restaurant Business

4# Stay Active on Lucrative Social Media Channels

Let’s cut the chase here because Instagram and Facebook are the top-most, bustling Social Media Channels when it comes to seeing the real face of a Restaurant, and both the channels pose a higher chance of getting you to the pinnacle of success.

How so? Industry experts have been doing some number crunching, and last year’s statistics say that nearly 77% of the US population stays active on social media every day!

One of the quick Restaurant Marketing Tips – Diners constantly share their dining experiences on Social Media. Take this golden opportunity and use it to gain the upper hand in your competitive market!

#5 Grow Your Social Media Following

Growing a social media following for a restaurant requires a combination of visually appealing content, for example;

• Strategic use of hashtags
• Audience engagement
• And consistency

Restaurants should create content that showcases their food, drinks, and atmosphere visually appealingly. In addition, they can utilize relevant and popular hashtags to reach a wider audience.

Regularly engage with their followers through likes, comments, and direct messages to increase audience engagement.

And consistency is key – regular posting, even if it’s just a few times a week, will help keep your audience engaged and interested.

Besides, collaborating with influencers in the food and hospitality industry can also help expand your reach and attract new followers. By implementing these tactics and delivering high-quality content, authentic information, and a strong brand presence, restaurant owner can quickly grow their social media following.

#6 Interactive Videos are a Plus

Oh! Here’s something interesting about restaurant marketing strategies.

Ask yourself, what will intriguing and interactive video content do for your business? It can get you to go Viral for one! Brands in the past have got positive sales figures by posting video content besides creative content write-ups!

The numbers tell that 45% of the entire internet visitors spend watching video content for a minimum of 1 hour every week. And so, this makes it a hundred percent true that you can wire in a hefty quantity of direct social media traffic to your Restaurant by sharing interactive video content.

#7 Offer Regular Discounts via Email or SMS

Send some lip-smacking, legit discount offer details to your customers. Trust this part when we say that none can resist a tempting discount offer such as:

“Buy one get one free”
“Free Beverages”
“10% Discount On Total Bill Amount”

Grab your Customer’s attention by performing some Online Restaurant Advertising, handing over flyers traditionally, giving discounts over Online Ordering, etc.

#8 Run Effective Email Marketing Campaign for Restaurants

Email marketing is the most effective online marketing tool for restaurants to reach and engage with their customers. Restaurants can use email marketing to;

• Promote special events
• Menu items or limited-time offers
• Share news and updates about the restaurants

To effectively use email marketing, restaurants should clearly understand their target audience and segment their email list accordingly. You can explore more about email marketing for a restaurant online or through our previous article, which gives you the comprehensive knowledge and essential information on how restaurants should use email marketing.

#9 Keep a tab on Food Reviewing Websites

Another Restaurant Digital Marketing tactic is to shape how Review Websites are portraying your image. Many Customers base the purchase of their next meal from your Restaurant by reading reviews from these sites.

Count these websites as ‘influential’ to a greater extent. Register yourself on various food reviewing websites and keep a tab on what they are saying about you. If dealt with patiently and with careful conscience, these websites can help you elevate your visibility and remark your online presence with excellence, drawing in customers from near and far!

Respond to all the reviews with utmost care and patience. Appreciate the positive reviews and assure improvement to ones with the negative evaluation!

Remember, one happy customer can draw ten more to your door.

So, use this Marketing Strategy For Restaurants carefully to improve sales and your eatery’s revenue!

#10 Google My Business Listing

Google My Business is a free business listing service tool provided by Google for local businesses, including restaurants. It does so many things for your restaurant, like;

• Google My Business (GMB) is a free listing service offered by Google as a platform for a restaurant to display crucial information that customers look for when searching for restaurants or food delivery options.
• It also enables restaurant owners to manage their online presence across Google, including Google Search and Maps.

For restaurants, having a complete and accurate GMB listing is critical for their digital marketing strategy. Even though it requires no rocket science to use GMB, understanding how to use Google My Business can help you utilize its full potential. In other words, it allows customers to find their location, view their menu, and see additional important information such as operating hours, phone number, and reviews. In addition, having an up-to-date GMB listing ensures that potential customers can quickly and easily find the information they need about your restaurant, which can help increase visibility and drive more foot traffic.

You can learn more about how GMP is used for businesses by visiting our another dedicated to how restaurants should use Google My Businesses effectively.

Explore:  15 Best Restaurant Promotion Ideas

In Conclusion

See these Online Marketing Strategies as the bystander for your Restaurant Business. Maintain a good companionship with them and see your brand name shining on the billboard of Best Restaurant Business!

Besides delivering high-quality services and irresistible delicacies, you have to ensure following the market-trending strategies! Take a step beyond what your business will do traditionally and put in a little extra effort to attract more orders!

Upscale your Sales and Profits by putting market-relevant strategies to efficient use!