Take a stroll through the area around your restaurant. How many other food options do potential clients have? The trick to getting people to choose you over your competitors is efficient marketing.
You must use the right marketing channels to reach your target market and convince them that your food and service are top-notch so they will give you a chance.
In this article, we will share the best marketing channels for restaurants and throw in some practical tips on how to use them.
The 7 Best Marketing Channels for Restaurants
When you choose the marketing channels for your restaurant, you must consider:
- Your target audience: you will have a higher conversion rate if you choose the channels your target market usually uses;
- Consistency: to reach your goals, you need to be consistent with your efforts;
- Monitoring analytics: check the data analytics for each channel so you can identify opportunities for improvement.
The following list includes channels that can help any restaurant owner grow their business:
1. A sales and SEO-optimized website
When you want to know more about a product, you will look for the producer’s website because it will have trustworthy information. The same goes for your restaurant, you need a website to tell the story of your business and showcase your food.
The reason a website is one of the best marketing channels for restaurants is because it will be the first thing clients will look for when they want to research your business.
How to make the most out of your restaurant website
It is not enough to just create a website, you need to make it as visible as possible, so potential clients will stumble upon it when they look for food in your area. What’s more, you should have more than a presentation website. Turn it into a money-making machine by enabling users to also order your food online.
Therefore, you need a website that:
- Is SEO-optimized: with keywords relevant to your area and type of cuisine naturally inserted throughout the content. This will help you rank high in Google searches;
- Leads people to the menu button: potential clients don’t have time to waste, they want to be able to find important information fast. As most people want to see the menu, the website’s design should lead people to it;
- Has an online ordering system installed: so clients can easily order your products after browsing your delicious menu items, in just a few clicks on the website.
If you want to enjoy all the benefits without the effort, use the restaurant website builder from GloriaFood to create a website in less than 10 minutes. Check out this video for a step-by-step tutorial:
2. Google Business Profile
Did you know that 62% of customers discover restaurants using Google? It has become the number one search engine people use to find any type of information, including new places to eat.
The good news is that Google provides you with a tool that can help you enhance your presence on the search engine: Google Business Profile.
How to use Google Business Profile to promote your restaurant
To benefit from one of the best marketing channels for restaurants, you need to fill in your Google Business Profile with as much information as possible. The next ones are a must:
- Link to your menu: you want people who find you on Google to be persuaded by your mouth-watering dishes and even be able to order in just a few clicks;
- Accurate working hours: clients want to know when they can visit you. There is nothing more unpleasant than making plans to eat at a restaurant that advertises it is open and finding it closed when you arrive. Update it for weekends and holidays if the schedule changes;
- Exact address: so clients can be guided through Maps to easily reach you;
- A variety of photos: tempt people to visit you by including many photos of your food, atmosphere, interior décor, and exterior.
Read more: Top Benefits of Google Business Profile for Restaurants
3. Social media
It is no secret that social media is one of the best marketing channels for restaurants, especially because it is free. It can help you keep your marketing budget low while still achieving results.
The first step is to choose the social media platforms you want to invest time in:
- Facebook: catered to the older generation, good for menu updates and event promotion;
- Instagram: probably the preferred platform for most restaurant owners, focuses on images and videos;
- TikTok: you can target the younger generation here with entertaining videos.
How to increase conversion on social media
The end goal of your social media efforts should be to get people to visit your restaurant or order online. To achieve it, you must:
- Allow people to order directly from social media: if you use the online ordering system from GloriaFood, you can generate a smart link that can be added to the bio and post captions to get people to order with just one click;
- Use powerful calls to action: tell people what you want them to do. For example, “Order now”, “Take advantage of the limited time promotion”, “Place an order now to get a free dessert”;
- Share your knowledge: while you want to get people to become clients, you also want to build a connection with them. An easy way to do so is to share some of your valuable knowledge such as: how to cook a certain recipe, how to sharpen knives, how to cut an onion, etc;
- Create video content: video is the king of content right now. People like spending time watching entertaining videos. If you want to become viral, showcase your restaurant’s food and atmosphere in easily digestible clips.
Read more: How to Attract More Customers to Your Restaurant Using Social Media
4. Review platforms
Did you know that 94% of restaurant customers base their dining decisions on online reviews? Food recommendations are no longer limited to friends and family. People have a large database of reviews at their fingertips.
The number and the star rating of your reviews can make or break your business. Start your journey on one of the most useful marketing channels for restaurants by creating a profile on the review sites active in your area such as TripAdvisor and Yelp.
How to make your online restaurant reviews work for you
After you create your account, it is time to fill in your profile with important information like a link to the menu, working hours, address, and mouth-watering photographs. All that is left to do is:
- Encourage people to leave reviews: by asking for them at the end of the meal and on social media. You can also offer a small incentive for a positive review, such as a free dessert;
- Respond to every review: show potential customers you care about clients’ opinions by replying to all reviews, both positive and negative. If you do it right, you can make upset clients change their minds and gain loyal customers.
Read more: How to Respond to Negative Restaurant Reviews to Increase Brand Loyalty
5. Email marketing
Some marketing channels for restaurants have been around for years because they have proven their efficiency. For example, 41% of restaurant clients between the ages of 18-29 say email is their preferred communication channel, making email marketing a good choice for restaurant owners.
This is especially true for email marketing for franchises, as it allows for consistent messaging across multiple locations while still catering to local preference.
You can create email marketing campaigns to send people irresistible promotions, news about your menu items, and much more. The problem is that it can be time-consuming to send out so many customized emails and monitor their efficiency.
Read more: Restaurant Email Marketing Done Right: 12 Ideas to Woo Customers
How to automate restaurant email marketing
The good news is that you can automate your email marketing with the Autopilot module from GloriaFood. Designed to help you increase customer retention, the module automatically sends out targeted promotions to motivate customers to order. With just a few free minutes, you can set up campaigns to:
- Re-engage clients;
- Encourage second orders;
- Prevent cart abandonment.
Learn more in the simple tutorial below:
6. Paid online advertising
Some marketing channels for restaurants take time until they bring in the desired results. If you just opened your restaurant and want to immediately increase your visibility, consider investing in paid online advertising.
The main platforms you should focus on are:
- Google: your advertisement will appear on the first page, before the organic results, with a “Sponsored tag”;
- Facebook and Instagram: you can target potential clients with professional photos of your food and attractive promotions.
Read more: 10 Facebook Ad Targeting Tips to Boost Restaurant Conversions
How to ensure you get your money’s worth from paid restaurant advertising
Restaurant advertising will take up a big part of your marketing budget, so you should take all the necessary steps to ensure you will get a large number of new clients at the end of the campaigns. Here are a few tips:
- Target your ads: there is no need to show your ad to every person as some won’t be interested in your type of cuisine and service. To get the best conversion rate, target the ads according to your audience’s demographics, behaviors, location, and interests;
- Use convincing calls to action: highlight the benefits clients will enjoy if they visit or order from your restaurant;
- Measure the ad campaign effectiveness: look at click-through rate, conversion rate, and overall engagement to come up with ways to improve your next campaign.
7. Experiential marketing
If you want to stand out from your competitors, you have to think outside of the box when it comes to marketing channels for restaurants.
If you want to build a deeper connection with your clients, consider organizing interactive events and activities that allow customers to get better acquainted with your brand. The benefits are well worth the effort:
- Increased brand loyalty: if people have a great time at your events, they will surely make a reservation for next time;
- Word of mouth promotion: event participants will tell their family and friends all about how fun your activities were and encourage them to join;
- User-generated content on social media: clients are bound to take lots of pictures at the event and post them while tagging you. They have fun and you get free publicity, win-win.
How to do experiential marketing for restaurants
Experiential marketing is all about choosing a unique and engaging theme for an event/activity that also aligns with your brand. The trick is to promote it on social media both before the event to get reservations and after, to show what a great experience it was.
Here are a few restaurant event ideas:
- Themed dining events where you focus on certain ingredients or cuisines;
- Cooking classes for your famous recipes;
- Pop-up restaurants in unexpected locations.
Final Words
If you want to increase your business’s visibility and attract more new and loyal customers, try the marketing channels for restaurants listed above. Don’t forget to remain consistent in your efforts to promote your restaurant for the best results.
