The success of your business in this day and age is highly dependent on your online presence. In the restaurant world, an online presence is especially important, as people are often performing mobile searches for a place to eat close by while they’re on the go. For this reason, a strong digital marketing strategy is essential to the success of your restaurant. We’ve compiled a list of tips to help restaurant managers and owners perfect their digital marketing strategy to ensure their restaurant’s success.
1. Optimize Your Site for Mobile
Most people are searching for restaurants on mobile devices, as they are often looking for a place to eat nearby while they are on the go. For this reason, a good restaurant website will be properly optimized for mobile devices. The menu should load easily and quickly on a mobile device. In fact, 62% of consumers say they’re less likely to choose a restaurant if they can’t see a menu on their smartphone, making mobile-friendliness essential to your restaurant’s success. The most important information to mobile searchers such as your menu, contact information, address, and hours, should also load quickly and be easily accessible.
2. Respond to Online Reviews
Online reviews can really make or break a restaurant. Most people look at online reviews before deciding to go to a restaurant for the first time. For this reason, it’s essential to respond to your online reviews across all reviewing channels. When you respond to a good review by thanking the customer, it will demonstrate that you’re interested in your customers’ opinions and you care. When you respond to a bad review, it gives you a chance to demonstrate that you care about your customers’ experiences and that you’re invested in fixing any problems. To make sure you respond to these reviews, you should set up notifications so that you will never miss a new review.
3. Optimize Your Site for Local Search
One of the most powerful tools that small businesses have at their disposal is Google’s local search box. When searchers look up a place to eat, Google will recommend restaurants nearby. For this reason, it’s important to own your Google business listing to ensure that Google recommends your restaurant. You should also take steps to ensure that you’re highly rated in local search, clearly mentioning your location in multiple places on your website. When your site is optimized properly for local search, you have a better chance of gaining business from mobile search.
4. Utilize Social Media
Social media is a great way to promote your restaurant online, especially in your local community. Through Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you can get customers talking about your business online. You can post photos of your food, any events at your restaurant, your employees, and your restaurant culture in general. When you use social media, people will be more excited about your restaurant. You should also make sure that your Facebook business page is fully activated, allowing people to “check in” at your restaurant, which will increase referrals to your restaurant. When people mention your restaurant on Twitter, you should always retweet it.
In addition to the success of organic social media, you might also consider paid social media ads. When you create sponsored content, especially on Facebook, you can target very specific demographics such as age, location, gender, and more. You can make sure that everyone likely to eat at your restaurant sees your ad. The great thing about social media ads is that they can be successful even on small budgets and guarantee that your ads are seen by the right people.
5. Consider Email Marketing
Email marketing is a long-standing tactic in digital marketing. It can be very successful to get previous visitors to come back to your restaurant. At the end of a meal, you can ask customers for their emails via survey or by simply submitting a form. You can then send them emails with news about your restaurant such as new menu additions or special events. Although you should avoid emailing them too often, you can use email to remind past customers of your restaurant. You can even create specific emails for subscribers to opt into, such as a daily email listing what’s on tap at the bar or a list of specials. To add value for your subscribers, you can also send deals and coupons via email.
ImageWorks, LLC | CT Digital Marketing for Restaurants
Developing a digital marketing strategy can be a daunting task. Many business owners walk into our office without knowing where to begin. Do not be discouraged. With technology and the digital marketing age moving as quickly as it does, we understand that you may have limited knowledge. We will always take the time to explain to you the process behind our projects. If something confuses you, you will never be judged for asking.
Combining blogging, SEO, social media, paid advertising, paid search, and other inbound marketing services, our experts will work with you to develop the ideal strategy for your business. We can help you generate leads and take your online presence to the next level!
