Restaurant Marketing – 7 Proven Tactics To Beat Your Competitors

Probably, you landed on this blog because you are searching for restaurant marketing tactics that will help you gain more footfalls.

The truth is your competitors are doing better than you because you are doing one of the following:

1. You don’t have a guest-winning restaurant marketing plan

2. You have one but not implementing it the way you should

3. You are working with the wrong restaurant marketing company

You and I know that competition in the hospitality industry is fierce. And even worse because now more than ever before, people are wary of the way they eat and where they eat.

So, if you are not happy with where you are and want to move to the next level, the following restaurant marketing tactics can help you.

Have a Strategic Social Media Plan
If you own a restaurant and have tried marketing through social media, you will agree with me that restaurant social media marketing isn’t all about posting food porn and saliva-inducing photos and videos. It must be strategically planned and consistently implemented to achieve the desired results. And in most cases, views and likes don’t always translate to sales.

By strategic I mean a plan created by a good hospitality marketing consultant or by you if you are an experienced social media marketer. It can be a combination of videos, photos, and user-generated content such as sharing customer posts, photo sharing content and taking part in activities that your customers may be interested. And it should be “long-term” and “consistent”.

You can be active on all social platforms but Facebook and Instagram shouldn’t be toyed with. Make sure your content – photos, videos, and captions are top-notch. If you don’t have the skills or the time, hire a social marketing agency to help you out.

Send Out Periodic Email Newsletter
Email marketing isn’t dead; especially for restaurants that come up innovative ideas and menu every now and then. You can collect the email addresses of your customers and send them a blast once in a while to inform them of a new menu, promotions, and events or celebrations.

Offer Loyalty Programs and Coupons
People love offers, promotions, and discounts. You can use punch cards to show your customers that you appreciate their loyalty. A more convenient channel could be partnering with online food websites and mobile applications to offer visitors discounts on orders exceeding a certain amount or after their first purchase or after ordering for a certain number of times.

Set Up Your Restaurant Google Account
People depend on Google for a whole lot of things including discovering where to eat. If you want to be found, then, get an SEO expert to help you set up your restaurant’s Google account. This is even more important than having an Instagram account.

Run Geo-targeted Ads
People love eating in restaurants located close to their homes and/or offices. Geo-targeted ad is a very important part of restaurant marketing and should be employed to compliment other SEO efforts. People may find your restaurant through the Google account if properly setup but running a geo-specific ad helps bring your restaurant to the fore for people to notice. The beauty of geo-targeted ads is that it saves you money by ensuring that only people within a specific geographical area get to see your ads.

Start a Blog for Your Restaurant
People can tell a lot about your restaurant by reading your blog. A blog is an important medium to build a voice and engage with your community. It is can also be employed to share information about your restaurant’s achievements, struggles, recipes, and stories. But more importantly, blogs are investments that allow the search engines to show your restaurant in search results and your updates will last as long as your website is alive.

Offer Delivery Services and Online Reservation
These days, people appreciate anything that can save them time and energy which is why delivery services and online reservations are so popular. If you don’t have such arrangements in place, making plans for them will help you gain more customers.

The list is not exhaustive but the restaurant marketing tactics I have outlined can help you gain more loyal customers and build a reputation for your restaurant. If you are tied up doing other important tasks, our expert hospitality consultants and savvy digital marketers can help you with flawless planning and execution of your strategies.