Digital Marketing for restaurants (and for all businesses) is an absolute necessity in this internet-controlled age. We agree that a restaurant’s reputation hugely depends on the quality of food and ambience, but a well-thought-out Digital Marketing strategy is equally important.

You need to opt for the right digital marketing services for your restaurant to survive in stiff competition. As your customers are mostly online spending time searching for products and services, you have no other go to have a solid online presence. They search for restaurants online, order food online, and get it delivered to their doorstep almost instantaneously. If your restaurant can’t satisfy these digital users’ quick and changing needs, it becomes really difficult to survive in the industry.

In this blog, we will together explore all the essentials for digital marketing for restaurants. All the restaurant branding tips and restaurant marketing services discussed here apply to new restaurants as well as established ones looking to expand their reach.

A Few Convincing Reasons to Opt for Digital Marketing for Restaurants

·         Online marketing gives massive reach while costing less. If you are not doing paid advertising/campaigns or boosting posts online, you can do digital marketing for restaurants for nearly free.

·         Digital marketing services like social media promotions on Facebook Twitter, Instagram, etc. help you have direct connection and communication with your present and potential customers. This gives a seamless way for your customers to have a clear channel to raise their complaints or express their appreciation directly to you.

·         Digital marketing for restaurants gives colossal reach to eateries opening up your doors to many prospective clients.

·         Digital marketing platforms help restaurants, big and small, to know closely what their customers actually want. Because they express their opinions online and it’s a great way to know their needs better and customize your services in that light.

Now is the time to learn some top digital marketing strategies for restaurants and hotels. Have a look at them here.

1.   Build an appealing website

Having a website is a basic thing for any restaurant to enjoy a solid digital presence. Define your SEO and content strategies before jumping into any specific online branding tactics. See to it that your website is mobile-friendly as about 80% of the customers visit a restaurant’s website from their handheld devices. They use mobile phones to get your phone number, and directions, assess your menu, reserve a seat, etc. Hire website development experts who can give you an impactful online presence through a potent mobile-responsive restaurant website. Also, see to it that you integrate a hassle-free reservation system and a comprehensive POS system and payment system into your website to make it easy for your potential customers.

Moreover, get the help of a seasoned UI/UX design company to get a straightforward and enjoyable user experience that keeps your clients allured to your website.

2.   Make your website SEO-optimised

You need to optimise your website content for high-level restaurant terms. For example, “restaurants” and “Ontario City restaurants” are some of the broadest variations a searcher might use. You can also focus on niche-specific terms like ‘fine Italian food’, ‘Indian restaurants’, ‘pizza’, etc. based on the type of cuisine you offer.

You need to sit with an SEO and content strategy company like Cleffex to decide on the tools, platforms, and engagement channels to outline your search engine optimization strategy. Only a specialist can help you contract your competition and boost quality traffic to your website.

3.   Register your website with Google My Business (GMB)

Dominating in local search is a key factor while doing digital marketing for restaurants. Feeding your information on directories that matter such as Google My Business (GMB) is a crucial exercise. Enter your website information, menu details, etc. in GMB. Update your business profile as accurately as possible so that Google can automatically use the information and photos from your Business Profile to build a site. You can customize it with themes, photos, and text of your choice.

By adding your restaurant business to GMB, you are enhancing the visibility and discoverability of your business. It also helps you create local listings in Google Maps. It is a great way to help your local customers to locate your business effortlessly.

4.   Be active on review sites

Make the most of Yelp, TripAdvisor, and other restaurant review sites. User-generated content in the form of digital word-of-mouth (WoM) services helps you build confidence in your brand. These review sites are used by customers to prevent the likelihood of any disappointment by buying a particular product from a particular vendor.

As long as you are offering the services ensuring the highest quality there is no need to worry about these review sites. Each positive review you receives sends a robust trust signal to both visitors and Google. Make sure to reply to both positive and negative reviews. Participating in these conversations will help your customers to rebuild a lasting trust and affinity with you. It’s a great opportunity to appease your unsatisfactory customers and bring them back.

5.   Engage with customers on social media

It is a naked truth that social media engagement can drive users to your site. These platforms bring to light what diners can expect to experience at your restaurant. Ensure to develop a strong social media presence on all popular channels and frequently share appealing and informative content with your target audience. Engage with your followers on a regular basis by replying to their queries in a timely manner. This attitude and approach h will instill confidence in your prospective customers. This will lead them to visit your website helping you have good visibility in Google SERP.  

Make use of the available tools offered by each social media platform. You can do video marketing, geo-targeted paid ads, and creative customer engagements through these tools.

6.   Use of targeted ads

When done right, targeted ads on diverse social media platforms can help you acquire new customers, lift sales, and place your restaurant on the map. If you don’t have time to spend learning the nuances of Facebook and other social media ads, it’s better to hire seasoned paid campaign experts from a leading digital marketing company to do it for you.

Gone are the days of mass marketing. Digital marketing for restaurants can reap success only through targeted ads with content that is relevant to your specific audience. Have a clear understanding of your marketing objectives and target audience to create evocative messages that hit the right people. You can target narrowing down your choice to cities, people who work at local businesses, students in a specific locality, or audiences with specific interests.

7.   Email marketing

Email marketing is a great restaurant branding tool that keeps potential customers informed about your brand. It can convey to them the special offers and discounts that you currently run at your restaurant. Many popular restaurants with a solid CRM database successfully implement this.

Besides regular greetings, messages, coupons, and discounts to customers, you can email marketing to send powerful and engaging monthly newsletters. You can create a rapport with your existing and potential customers by sending personalized messages. Keep them updated about major happenings in your business, teams, new menu additions, etc. Digital marketing for restaurants through email marketing should focus on fostering customer trust rather than aggressively capturing them.

Wrapping Up

Digital marketing for restaurants has a prime place in restaurant marketing services. You need to create an excellent brand presence across all digital channels and make online marketing your best

friend.

If are you looking for a comprehensive understanding of different digital marketing services and practices that you can employ to make your restaurant business a rock-solid success reach out to Cleffex.