4 Key Ingredients For A Successful Restaurant Marketing Strategy

Here’s The Secret Recipe Of An Appetizing Restaurant Marketing Strategy

Did you know that 90% of guests research a restaurant before dining?

57% of those guests viewed restaurant websites before deciding where to dine, and 33% view other guests’ reviews before dining? Kind of shocking, isn’t it?

As you can see, creating a successful digital marketing strategy is essential for the success of your restaurant.

Much like making a pizza, marketing for restaurants doesn’t have to be difficult when you have the right ingredients.

So today, we’ll be going over 4 key ingredients for a successful restaurant marketing strategy.

Let’s get started!

4 Key Ingredients For A Restaurant Marketing Strategy

1. A Pinch Of SEO
2. A Couple Scoops Of A Great Website
3. A Dollop of Social Media
4. A Dash Of Email Marketing

Restaurant Marketing Strategy #1: A Pinch Of SEO

The first ingredient is search engine optimization or SEO for short.

Let’s first go over what SEO is.

SEO is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic organically from search engines. 

This can be done through many efforts such as web design, keyword optimization, backlinks, and much more.

For restaurants, we’d like to focus on local SEO.

Local SEO is a method in which you improve your search engine rank for local search queries such as “food near me”.

Here are some tips to help your local SEO efforts.

Tip #1: Use Google My Business

One of the best methods to improve your restaurant’s local SEO rank is by creating a Google My Business page.

If you already have a Google My Business page, don’t skip ahead in the post.

There are some valuable tips here that can help you out as well.

Google My Business is a free tool in which you create a business profile that houses valuable information about your business.

And, it will help your business appear on Google Maps as well as in the general organic search results.

If your restaurant is not appearing on Google Maps…

…you are missing out on reaching a large portion of your audience and are falling behind your competition.

When filling out your Google My Business account, be sure to include all of the extremely relevant pieces of information such as:

• name,
• address, and
• phone number.

You’ll want to make sure that what you provide on your Google My Business page is consistent across all platforms…

…such as social media and your website to make your restaurant marketing strategy more effective.

Any discrepancy in those three features will hurt your SEO rank.

Also, make sure that you provide updated restaurant hours and a link to your website.

Arguably the most important feature for restaurants on Google My Business is the ability to add your menu.

By adding your menu to your Google My Business page, you are providing a better user experience for potential customers.

This is because customers won’t need to look elsewhere for your menu when trying to find somewhere they want to eat.

You are also able to upload photos for your menu so it is a good idea to add those if you have high-quality images of any of the items on your menu.

Don’t forget to add photos of the restaurant itself too!

If you’re located on a busy road, it will be helpful for potential customers to see what the outside of your restaurant looks like from the road.

A good tip for these photos is to take them with a phone.

This is because mobile phones store location data when you take a picture.

By uploading pictures with location data to your Google My Business page, it will further help google identify where your business is located.

Plus, it will also make your business appear more credible to Google.

Be sure that you are filling in as much information about your restaurant as you can on Google My Business.

Although that may sound like a no-brainer, it is critical that you fill in any information you have.

That’s because Google My Business will allow people outside of your business, including your competition, to fill in that information for you.

Tip #2: Utilize Google Keyword Planner

Our next SEO tip for your restaurant marketing strategy is to utilize Google Keyword Planner.

As we briefly mentioned earlier, one of the ways to improve your SEO rank is through keyword optimization.

Keyword optimization means that you’re working on improving your rank for certain keywords your audience is already using to perform a search.

Ranking for the most popular search queries that relate to your restaurant is what’s going to bring in the newest customers.

A pizza shop in Atlanta wouldn’t want to rank for best burgers in Atlanta if that isn’t what you serve.

A great tool to help identify what keywords your restaurant should be using is the Google Keyword Planner.

The keyword planner will show you the relevance of different keywords as well as their average number of monthly searches. 

If you’re a restaurant trying to improve your local SEO…

…you’ll want to look at any niche keywords that are specific to your restaurant and the food that you serve such as:

• Italian food,
• Chinese food,
• pizza, and
• subs.

Tip #3: Get Reviews

The last piece we’re going to touch on for your restaurant marketing strategy is getting reviews.

In the restaurant industry, reviews are critical to the success of your business.

Studies show that 92% of consumers read reviews and that 33% of people would never eat at a restaurant with less than 4 stars. 

Reviews of your restaurant will live in many places online.

They can be found on your website, your social media pages, your Google My Business page, and on third-party review sites such as Yelp.

In fact, when performing a local search for restaurants, a Yelp page tends to be the top-ranking organic result. 

Yelp has tremendous power when it comes to influencing a consumer where they should eat.

A Harvard Business School study shows that a one-star increase in your restaurant’s Yelp rating can increase revenue by 5-9%.

So you may be wondering, “how do I get reviews?”

Well, the best way to get reviews is to ask for them!

You should encourage all paying customers to leave a review on any platform of your choosing.

A great way for restaurants to encourage leaving a review is by offering an incentive like a free drink or $5 off that customer’s next meal. 

It is also important that you are responding to reviews, both good and bad, about your restaurant.

For positive reviews, be sure to thank the customer for taking the time to review your restaurant.

When you respond to negative reviews, be sure to apologize for any issues they had, and tell them what you’re doing to fix them.

Also, offer a method for them to contact you privately to further discuss the issue they had.

If you need help with your SEO, check out our SEO for restaurants services page today.

Restaurant Marketing Strategy #2: A Couple Scoops Of A Great Website

The next ingredient for your restaurant marketing strategy is a couple scoops of a great website.

Even though you own a local restaurant, your restaurant itself is no longer the face of your business in this growing digital age.

Your website is what most consumers will look at first especially since 88% of consumers go online when searching for products or services.

This means that consumers are going to judge your restaurant’s credibility based on your website and its features.

Your website has to be visually appealing, fully functional, and provide users with a great user experience.

So how do restaurants do this?

We’ve got 5 tips to help. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Tip #1: Make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. 

A study conducted by Hitwise shows that 72% of all food and beverage searches were conducted on a mobile device.

Just ask yourself, when was the last time you looked up where you wanted to eat on a desktop or laptop?

We can’t remember the last time we did.

If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, we can guarantee you are falling behind your competition.

Tip #2: Make sure you have a menu on your website!

There’s a pretty good chance that the sole reason a potential customer is browsing your site is to view a menu.

Be sure that your menu is easy to read and fully functional.

Also, be sure to put your menu in an easy-to-find location so that users don’t have to dig if that’s all they are visiting your website for.

Tip #3: Use photos to your advantage.

Do you want to take your menus to the next level?

If so, add photos of the food you serve!

Adding high-quality images of your food is a great way of drawing in and keeping the attention of potential customers.

As the saying goes “you eat with your eyes too”, so give them an idea of what they’ll see on their plate when they come to your restaurant.

Your website plays a huge role in determining your SEO rank.

To further help your SEO efforts with more advanced optimization, add name and alt tags to all of your images.

This is so that search engines like Google will know exactly what food you are showing!

That’s not all you can do with photos to help bring in new customers though.

Something that many restaurants often miss out on is taking photos of the interior of your restaurant.

Be sure to take photos that show off the dining room, bar, and any other features your restaurant offers.

By doing this, you will give the consumer an idea of what the ambiance is at your establishment.

It can also help consumers see the size of your restaurant in case they plan on hosting a party.

By not offering interior images, the consumer may take their business somewhere they can visualize their experience before going out to dine.

Be sure to check out our list of some of the best websites for restaurants next.

Tip #4: Create a blog for your restaurant. 

Having a blog for your restaurant is a great way to build a sense of community and engage with your customers. 

With blogging, you can show off your restaurant’s voice and help customers connect with your brand.

Some ideas of valuable content you can share on your blog include recipes, your restaurant’s story, and anything you are doing to help out your community. 

You may be thinking, “that’s great and all but is that the only benefit of having a blog?”

The answer is no. Another great benefit of having a blog is what it can do for your SEO.

You might remember earlier in the post when we talked about Google Keyword Planner…

…and the importance of optimizing your content in order to rank highly for the right keywords.

That’s where blogs can help.

Since blogs are text-based content, you can ensure that you are incorporating the right keywords in your blogs to optimize your SEO rank.

Tip #5: Partner with an online food delivery service.

This includes services such as Grubhub, Doordash, or Uber eats.

Due to the events that occurred over the course of 2020, online food delivery services have spiked.

According to the National Restaurant Association, 3 in every 5 consumers order delivery or takeout at least once a week.

On top of that, 31% of consumers say that they use third-party delivery services at least twice a week.

By partnering with third-party delivery services, especially if your restaurant doesn’t offer its own delivery services…

…you will be able to fulfill orders from customers that would otherwise take their business elsewhere.

That is since 63% of consumers agree that it is more convenient to get delivery than dining out with family.

Also, customers that place an online order with a restaurant will visit that restaurant 67% more frequently than customers that don’t order online.

Thus, making online food delivery a win-win for your business.

Restaurant Marketing Strategy #3: A Dollop of Social Media

You need to be present on social media.

But since we already have several posts on using social media marketing for restaurants such as:

• restaurant social media ideas, and
• Facebook marketing for restaurants

…we will no longer cover them here, but be sure to read the ones listed above after this.

Or, you can also opt to work with our social media for restaurants services.

Restaurant Marketing Strategy #4: A Dash Of Email Marketing

While we’re on the topic of retargeting, there is another valuable method you can retarget bounced website traffic.

This is actually our last ingredient of a successful restaurant marketing strategy- email marketing!

Contrary to what some might believe, email marketing is not dying and is a great compliment to your social media marketing efforts.

In fact, email marketing has some of the best ROI available today with an average ROI of $42 per dollar spent.

So what are some methods restaurants can use email marketing to bring in new customers?

Method #1: How to attain email addresses for retargeting purposes

As we had just mentioned, email marketing is a great way to retarget website visitors. 

You might be asking though, “how can I retarget website visitors with email marketing if I never got their email?”

Well, you can’t. But here’s how to get their email before they leave your site. You need to use something known as a lead magnet.

A lead magnet is a free item or service for the purpose of gaining contact information, like an email address, in exchange.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to give something up right away.

Start by offering the promise of something in the future by saying something along the lines of:

“SIgn up for our email newsletter to receive exclusive promotions and discounts.”

If this doesn’t get them to provide their email address, you’ll want to set up a delayed pop-up form. 

This is where you need to provide a guaranteed offer such as:

“Sign up for our email newsletter now to receive our chicken parm recipe or a $5 off coupon”.

Method #2: Use email segmentation

Now that you have a list of emails and you are staying in touch with your subscribers…

…you need to make sure that they are seeing content that will keep them engaged and subscribed to your newsletter.

But not all customers are the same. Each group of customers has different needs and expectations.

In order to make sure that everyone on your email list is seeing the right content for them…

…you need to implement email segmentation into your email marketing strategy which is what this tip is all about.

Email segmentation is the practice of dividing your email list into smaller segments based on set criteria.

This is to further help with email personalization.

For your restaurant, you may want to create segments based on:

• customers who order online,
• people that have responded to different offers, and
• those that signed up for a free taco on their birthday.

Whatever the segment may be, sending personalized emails is known to be more effective than general email blasts that go out to your entire audience.

Method #3: Offer incentives for referrals

Our last tip for email is to offer incentives for referrals.

Let’s face it. People that love the food at your restaurant are going to tell everyone they know about it.

A great method to bring in new customers is by providing an incentive for those people that are bringing new customers to your business.

The best way to do this is to set up a referral program. 

In each email newsletter, your restaurant sends out, be sure to include a referral link so that customers can share your restaurant with friends and family.

Offer an incentive for sharing such as a coupon or free dessert for every referral that makes a purchase!

For more restaurant promotion ideas, you can check out this post next.

Contact us today if you need help with your restaurant marketing!

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