The Latest Restaurant Marketing Methods 2023
Restaurant marketing strategies are complex and ever-changing in the digital world we live in. But we can all agree on the importance of marketing to retain existing customers and maintain healthy long-term growth. It is essential that you understand your target audience before you start your marketing campaign. Are you marketing to attract youth, families or children? You have to keep in mind how different groups respond to different advertisements. With that in mind, here is a list of 12 of the latest restaurant marketing methods.
1- Enabling ordering from the phone and delivery services
As customers demand more customization and flexibility in their orders, restaurants are experimenting with anything from self-ordering kiosks to ordering from the table using a mobile device.
The newest way to market restaurants is to develop relationships with delivery services to increase revenue. It has been shown that customers who have ordered online visit the restaurant more frequently than customers who have not, plus you benefit from their comments and recommendations on the apps and in social media. Be sure to study and calculate delivery expenses before operating this service.
2- Local search engine optimization
Local search engine optimization optimizes your local restaurant website to rank high on Google pages for keywords that users in your area will search for. For local search engine optimization, you have to use the keywords that your audience is searching for. You can do this for free using tools like Google Keyword Planner or Keywordtool.io, then focus on developing and optimizing your website to attract customers when they click.
Local SEO is not easy, but it can have great rewards. With 75% of users never making it to the first page of search results, being listed first on local search results pages will have a significant impact on your traffic and revenue.
3- Maintain an accurate Google My Business profile
Having a complete Google My Business profile, Yelp profile, and local listings can increase your chances of catching a customer’s attention, especially if they’re in a hurry. Since it is so easy for potential customers to do another search if information is missing, it is essential to make your restaurant listing complete and accurate.
This will also enable you to control a portion of what your audience sees when they search for your business, and will help you get a high ranking in search engines.
4- Promoting user-generated content
User-generated content is when customers take beautiful pictures of your food and then share them on social media. This is a valuable type of free advertising as it helps keep existing customers and attract more potential customers looking for trustworthy reviews.
Think of running a contest on social media as a competition for customers to share their photos of their favorite meal at your restaurant on social media, to win symbolic prizes such as a free appetizer or free drinks.
5- Take advantage of retargeting ads
Your online advertising strategy can be enhanced by adding remarketing ads, which are part of Google Ads. Remarketing ads are not placed in Google search results, but rather on the website where ad space was purchased from Google.
If someone visits a restaurant’s Make a Reservation page but doesn’t submit the form, then sees an ad showing beautiful photos of your food on Facebook, that’s a retargeted ad. Remarketing is a long-term strategy, investing in multiple touch points to convert a potential online customer into a loyal customer.
6. Encourage Yelp reviews
Even if you don’t create a Yelp account, people will still be able to review you. So be proactive, fill out your profile with a business account, then add accurate photos, store hours, location, and listings.
Getting good Yelp reviews is no small feat, so you must put in some extra effort to get consistently positive reviews. Even when you get negative reviews, you have to respond to them in a polite and professional manner to keep your reputation among existing customers and perhaps even to attract potential customers.
7- Create a mobile-friendly website
With more than half of website traffic now occurring on mobile devices, ensuring a mobile-friendly website is essential. You should include easy-to-read and accurate listings about opening hours, contact information, etc. to remove all potential barriers to attracting mobile customers.
8- Focus on social media marketing
Social media is numerous, but you are not required to use all of them. The secret is to know where your audience is, and then focus on the social media platforms they use. And by focusing your marketing energy on sharing content where your customers are already, you can get the greatest return on investment on social media.
Creating interesting and relevant content while monitoring interactions and activity can be challenging. But you can outsource to help you handle this task.
9- Take advantage of the visuals
Beautiful photos of your food are one of the best marketing tools. More and more restaurant owners, especially those targeting youth, are shooting short videos and then broadcasting them on Instagram and TikTok.
With YouTube being the second largest search engine in the world, creating a channel about what’s going on in your restaurant can have a wide reach. Double your efforts by posting a portion of the video to Instagram and sending your audience to watch the full video on your website or YouTube channel. You can also include some interesting content such as a behind-the-scenes video, interviews with employees, a chef previewing an upcoming menu, etc.
10- Attract people around you by using site-specific ads
Most people want to eat near their location, so showing ads to people in the same geographic area as you can result in a huge return on investment. You can use digital advertising services such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. Location-specific ads can help you narrow your advertising focus to people who are likely to visit your restaurant and avoid people outside of your delivery range or those who will not visit your restaurant.
11- Involvement in society
While there is a focus on digital marketing nowadays, don’t forget to consider the real world as well. Restaurants rely on local customers more than most other ventures. Consider creating some promotions tailored to your community such as a Wednesday discount for neighborhood residents, or a free appetizer hour for kids every week. You can even associate your restaurant with a major local event that will bring you customers without having to invest in marketing.
The latest restaurant marketing methods are constantly changing as the world changes and moves towards the internet and social media. So you also have to keep pace with this change by using the latest restaurant marketing methods listed above to take your restaurant to success.