Digital Marketing Strategy for Restaurants in 2024
The restaurant industry has become much more competitive and difficult for owners to market themselves, especially in the digital age. The days of mailing brochures and paper menus is over. The only way for restaurants to market themselves today is digitally. The good news is that it is extremely cost-effective. If you take the budget that you were using for those mailouts and paper manus and reallocate them to digital strategies, you will have plenty of money to cover what you need.
90% of people started that they research restaurants online before deciding to eat.
1. Your Website
Your website is like the restaurant’s digital storefront and you want it to look inviting so that customers are more likely to come in. If you have an old outdated website, potential customers will be turned off and go to another restaurant. Your website needs to look good, be easy to navigate and have all of the information that people are looking for. It’s also very important to have a mobile friendly website and menu as most of your clients will be searching from their mobile devices.
2. Online ordering systems
In today’s digital world, your customers are expecting you to have an online ordering system. It’s convenient for them and shows them that you are keeping up with current trends. People want immediate service and having an online ordering system offers them the user experience that they are looking for. Having a system of your own also streamlines your operations by eliminating staff having to take orders over the phone and this also help your restaurant prepare the orders with more accuracy. An added benefit is that once you have the customer’s data, you can add them to your social media and email list.
3. Third Party Applications
Your restaurant should be sold by all of the third-party applications out there like Uber Eats, etc… If you don’t have your own delivery driver, this is an excellent way to begin offing a delivery service. You just want to make sure that you are covering their fees that can sometimes be upwards of 35%. Even if you do offer your own delivery service, you want to be sold by all of the third-party platforms. These platforms give you access to customers that may not have ordered from you otherwise. Think of it as promotion. Your goal is to get the customer to order from you directly next time and all that takes is a smart marketing strategy.
4. SEO Search Engine Optimization
Since 95% of search traffic goes to the first page, this is where you want your restaurant to be found. To simplify SEO, start with 3 basic things; make it easy to use, keep it up to date, and add keywords. This will ensure that search engine’s like Google will consider your restaurant for the first page.
5. Social Media
Outside of your website, this may be one of the most important marketing tools for your restaurant. Social media is a main source for information about businesses, products and services for consumers. All businesses need to be active on social media profiles and restaurants are no exception. This is a place where you can not only bring awareness to your restaurant, but you can keep your customers interested and coming back.
6. Online presence
Your restaurant’s online presence is the second most important thing to the restaurant itself. What does that mean? We’ve covered your website, social media and third-party applications, which is a great start, but there are so many other places that you can list your restaurant to increase your online presence. You want to get your restaurant listed on all of them. Make sure that you have all of your information listed, your menu and plenty of photos if they allow. If there is a place to leave a review, make sure you are keeping up with the responses on these platforms as well. There are plenty of places to list your restaurant for free, but there may also be some websites that cost to advertise. Give them a try for a few months to see if they help bring you new customers.
7. Reviews
Social media allows your clients to leave reviews about your restaurant. You want to keep your rating high or this will be a reason for someone not to visit your restaurant. If you do happen to get a bad one, it’s important to respond. Thank them for their feedback, let them know that you will fix the problem and encourage them to come back again for a better experience. More importantly, fix the problem in your restaurant so that it never happens again. You can lose up to 40% of potential customers with bad reviews.
8. Analytics
A good website will also have analytics that let you know how your website is doing. They give you information on where your customers are coming from, how they landed on your website. You want to track how many customers come from your social media, as well as platforms like Yelp and especially your paid Ads. This lets you know if your marketing efforts are paying off.
Now that you know what you need to do, how do you get it all done while running a restaurant? The answer is a great marketing company that specializes in your industry. For just a few hundred dollars a month, you can have a dedicated marketing company working on your entire digital marketing strategy. With in-house strategists, graphic designers, social media specialists, coders and more, you will gain the competitive edge that you need to run a restaurant in 2023.
Click here to read about How a Contractor went from no leads to booked through the year.
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