Right from conceiving an idea for restaurant to put them into reality, can sometime hide the real obligation while tackling the problems faced in the initial period of owning a restaurant. Poor restaurant promotion, unfamiliarity with the competition, location and being a little inexperience are the most common restaurant failure reasons where they ultimately contributes to the restaurant industry failure rate.
As per CNBC (Consumer News and Business Channel), reports around 60 percent of new restaurants failures within the first year and nearly 80 percent shutter before their fifth anniversary. Keeping in mind these grand failure rates, your marketing strategy to promote your business should be your top-most priority.
BUT FEAR NOT!
Adopting efficient and effective restaurant marketing strategies will not only promote your restaurant but also creates a memorable impression on customer, and will definitely save you!
What is Restaurant Marketing?
If Restaurant marketing to you, is simply putting up hoardings and posters of brand name of restaurant you own in as many places as possible, you are genuinely mistaken. It is much more than that. Keeping a circumspection, a genuine populace have taken its flight from offline to online and it is very important to maintain a engaging online platform advertising.
Keep in mind that your restaurant as a brand is your identity and your restaurant marketing plan should be such that the name of your restaurant gets imprinted on your customers’ hearts. Because you know that without customers your restaurant would have no business, breeding no sales revenue.
Why should people choose your restaurant over others? If you are successful in delivering the answer to the above question to your customers’ doorstep, you are halfway done. Once you are able to convince your customers to take action. Well in advance, you should have in mind the target customers.
Other than opting for traditional advertising or we can say offline restaurant marketing strategy like distributing pamphlets, flyers, locating displays and signage boards, involving in broadcast advertising, is expensive and an obsolete initiative yet an effective marketing strategy to invite and fancy old customers.
Hotel or Restaurant Video Marketing:
This is indeed a great way to attract your customers. Remember a Chinese phrase says a picture is worth a thousand words. Considering the fact that people tend to spend more time watching videos than reading, video marketing has great potential to make your restaurant famous! The video should be in a story-telling format that captivates people by telling them about the journey of your restaurant as a brand. Include featuristic information about your Restaurant, its decor, delicacies and ambiance.
Social Media:
These ultra-popular social media platforms like facebook, Instagram, twitter and sundry other platforms with millions and billions of users can increase your outreach in a very short time span. Post food pictures and customer reviews. Instagram and Facebook are just giants in these. Share your location, use hashtags, emphasize your restaurant services and you are good to go. You can also share a glimpse of your restaurant staffs’ life, how hard working they are, doing every possible thing to keep customers satiated.
Quick Tip: Make a strong presence on these platforms by acquiring sundry multimedia options- Videos, Images, Written Materials, and Downloadable etc. Make sure the pictures here are more creative and aesthetic and make your own hashtags.
Get listed on Food Apps:
Nowadays, customers have become over-dependent on these food apps for the reason of relishing their celebrity cuisine and dish while laying back at home. So, make sure your restaurant gets listed here. You can also try out the home-delivery option to increase your outreach. Customers who cannot even imagine going to your restaurant considering several factors, might one day, out of blue, try out one of your delicacies! It will help you to cut down your overall expenses as well.
Create a Website:
In today’s modern world where the internet is just an integral part of our lives, creating a website for your restaurant is a must. This adds credibility to your information and unique online identity. Your website act as a virtual shop where you can fascinate customers to drive immediately to the reality space to give it a check. Layout the information about the facilities like WiFi, pet-friendly, parking, tariff for two, serving pattern like buffet or a-la-carte,opening time and days etc.
Quick Tip: Create a gallery of pictures of dishes, ambiance, decor that gives them a guilt trip of missing out such a fancy place. Insist customers to add reviews about their experience and their meals, especially about a particular dish that they really liked and would like to visit again. It is said that most of them reading the dish name online has a mouthwatering experience.
Every Customer is God:
The best way to promote your restaurant is by targeting the people who already visit your restaurant. Imagine someone with 1k followers is posting a picture of your restaurant and sharing his or her wonderful experiences and memories in their Instagram account. One or two people are likely to follow. To bestow your regular customers with multiple coupons and discounts and keep them satisfied. After all, we all know, a friend’s recommendation holds more emphasis for “a must visit” than any other thing!
Search Engine Optimization:
Do you know that the first page of the search engine receives more than 90% of all traffic? So, keep Google happy all the time! Engage customers with some blogging or vlogging concept. Make videos for sharing one of your recipe, or come up with kitchen and restaurant hacks that can be helpful in their day to day life but should be SEO skilled.
There is always a need to create a restaurant marketing strategy for businesses who want to form a predominant part of the restaurant industry or who really believe in being tech-savvy. Opting for a restaurant market plan for their restaurant businesses not only educate customers about the brand’s as a restaurant and their services but also help in generating lead that contribute to satisfy the business requirement.
So, if you are completely clueless about how you are supposed to promote your restaurant business, considering all the risk factors associated with it, don’t forget to go through the above points. All the best for your future!