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Looking to attract more customers on a tight budget? Online marketing can help your restaurant go from unknown to the “it” place to be at. Online marketing applies to connecting with new and potential customers via your website, blog, email, Youtube, social media (ie. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and any other digital channel.
It is also, generally easier and more cost effective to set up than traditional offline campaigns. Since today’s consumers will undoubtedly search for you online before deciding whether or not to dine at your restaurant, it is important that their online experience is a positive one.
Not only can online marketing help you generate buzz and find new customers, it is also extremely powerful in shaping public perception.
Here are the 8 powerful online marketing strategies that will drive more customers to your restaurant today.
1. Build a community on Social media
Having a social media presence is arguably one of the most important marketing strategies to implement for any business. It is often said that if you do not have a social media presence, there’s almost no way your restaurant will survive.
Building an online social media following is important for many reasons, since it will help more customers find you.
The social media platforms that are most popular for restaurants today are Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Each social media platform has its own specific purpose that you can learn to leverage in different ways.
Yelp is the popular go to mobile app that customers use to look up restaurants near them as well as get information, such as menu, hours, phone number, address, and most importantly – reviews.
Facebook also allows you to create image based, video, and messenger ads that guide users from the unawareness, to the awareness to the consideration stage. On Facebook, businesses are able to create Facebook Business Pages. This is a beneficial feature on Facebook as it allows businesses to have ownership of their own pages, but to also fill out their own information, ensuring what is showed is accurate and up-to-date. Businesses can use their business page to develop a community for their customers as well as engage with their customers through comments, tags, and private messages.
Instagram is one of the fastest and most popular social media platforms because it embodies the cache phrase – “you eat with your eyes first.” The popularity of Instagram stems from high quality visuals and trendy hashtags, especially with young millennials. With Instagram’s new “Promotions” and “Insights” features, restaurants can also boost their posts on Instagram to increase awareness, then analyze the results of their campaigns.
Twitter is popular, especially for restaurants, because this platform allows you to share small bits of information and use hashtags. Customers use Twitter to get real time updates, such as wait time, news, and customer service quests.
2. Run Online Contests
Gone are the days when customers would visit a restaurant, spin a wheel and enter into a contest promotion. Rather, contests are usually more cost effective when run online and promoted through social media. An effective contest is engaging and creates buzz.
Restaurants can run online contests in various ways. For instance, you could create a post on Instagram or Facebook asking potential customers to Follow, like the image, and tag 3 people to win a prize. The post could highlight popular dishes, your restaurant decor or anything else that uniquely personifies your restaurant.
Another popular online contest is encouraging your audience to post a picture of your food, the restaurant, the menu, or your restaurant’s decor, and tag your restaurant’s name and/or a hashtag you’ve created specifically for the contest. Winners are chosen randomly or by having the most likes/votes.
Not only are your customers engaging with your restaurant, but they are also helping to increase awareness by providing social proof to their friends and followers.
3. Partner with food delivery companies
While still fairly new, food delivery companies, like Ubereats, GrubHub, DoorDash, are quickly increasing in popularity. Busy customers are opting to use these food delivery services because it’s more convenient and often cheaper than eating out.
Food delivery companies aggregate menus from a variety of restaurants for online consumers to browse and order. This eliminates the inconvenience of driving to the restaurant, placing an order, waiting for it to be ready, and then driving back home to eat it.
As a popular new trend, this usually means one thing for restaurant owners: join the bandwagon or risk losing customers. If your restaurant isn’t on a food delivery company’s system for potential customers to easily order from, you automatically lose business to your competitors who are.
Here’s how to set up your restaurant with a delivery company.
Go to the delivery company’s website (such as www.ubereats.com).
Fill out a quick form that asks about your restaurant (such as your location, type of cuisine you serve, and your estimated number of weekly orders).
Submit the form. The delivery company will review it and contact you if they approve your application.
4. Encourage Reviews
Rather than giving feedback on survey cards, or phone surveys, customers are now turning to the Internet to write reviews, whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, or even Google. You can get more reviews by asking your customers directly, creating surveys, handing out discounts/gift cards to customers that do one, or providing high quality service and food that customers would want to rave about.
Customers can review your restaurant on multiple social media platforms such as Yelp, Facebook and Google My Business, that is publicly viewable by anyone on the web. The disadvantage is that you may think that you don’t have control. When you do encounter a negative review, the key is to respond quickly and get into reputation management mood. Ask the customer what would have made their experience better or how your restaurant can improve AND offer to correct it.
5. Test Google Ads To Find Customers Quickly
Google Ads, formerly Google AdWords, is a popular pay per click channel that helps your business find more customers. Basically, there are two types of Ads you can run on Google – search and display.
Search Ad – When a customer types in a search term in the google search engine, your ad will show up at the top or bottom of the page depending on your bid amount and relevancy. You will only be charged if a user clicks on your ad. This charge is based on factors that include the quality score of your ad, how much you are bidding, landing page experience, and more.
A good strategy is to start with these 3 separate campaigns – general keywords, branded terms, and your competitor terms. The Cost-per-click (CPC) is typically higher for competitor terms and lowest for branded keywords.
Display Ads – Display ads are typically image based ads that are great for re-targeting users who’ve visited your site before or potential customers based on specific parameters that you specify. This will keep your business at the top of their minds as they peruse through the millions of sites.
6. Claim your Google My Business page
Google is considered a trusted search engine in which customers use for all of their searches and to provide information to them. Thus, having a Google My Business page is important because it becomes a trusted source for customers who are searching for details like what time your restaurant closes, what’s on your menu, your address, phone number, or even reviews.
It is important that your business page for your restaurant is not only claimed, but is also constantly updated with up to date information.
The best part about Google Business is that as a restaurant owner, you have control over most of the content visitors will see. You can update the information, respond to reviews, and even analyze how searchable you are.
7. Connect with Influencers / Food Bloggers
Influencers such as food bloggers are looked up to as the “it” people to follow in regards to what is new, trendy, or hip to try.
The opinions and recommendations from these people are incredibly influential to their followers and subscribers. Social proof is a powerful marketing tactic and nothing is more influential than the reviews and opinions from someone we trust. Influencers and bloggers tend to post their opinions about products and services on social media (ie. Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Twitter).
To find influencers and food bloggers, turn to social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Simply search hashtags, such as “#foodblogger” or “#blogger.” Another method is to Google influencers and food bloggers that are dominant in the food/restaurant industry.
By partnering with influencers and bloggers, your restaurant will gain more exposure and trust with the audience that follows them. These followers will be more willing to try your restaurant since this is where their favorite influencers and bloggers go to.
8. Build a customer list
Building an email list where customers have voluntarily opted-in to receive your content (usually by filling out a simple) is extremely important in launching and nurturing new and existing customers. Customers submit their email address if exchange for invitations, updates, and deals from your restaurant. Leads can subscribe to receive your content in two ways – email or text message.
After opting it, providing consistent and useful content like new menu item, deals and promotions, and birthday specials allows you to build a relationship with them and keep your restaurant at the top of their mind.
For example, Jack In The Box utilizes text messaging to advertise discounts and special offers exclusive to customers who opted into them.. One popular discount they have $1 medium curly fries and National Iced Tea Day.
Restaurants such as Souplantation do an effective job nurturing their customers via emails broadcasts. When a customer opts into their list, they get coupons, newsletters, and other promotional items, delivered once a week which helps drive diners into their doors.
Impact on Restaurant
Testing the online marketing strategies above is essential to getting customers into your restaurant doors and coming back. Restaurants who are able to create an online strategy that constantly keeps their restaurant at the top of their customer’s mind will be the ones that will continue to experience lasting growth and prosperity.
