There are few brick and mortar industries more competitive than the restaurant business. Every year, new hopefuls open their doors only to be met with the stark reality that turning a profit is a challenge.
Within five years, most restaurants have to close.
Why? Because while they’re focusing on the food, the service and the decor, they’re forgetting about one important thing.
Relevance.
Relevance is everything in the restaurant world. It’s why customers visit in the first place; why they come back; why they leave a review; why they tell their friends.
And it’s here that restaurant marketing is absolutely crucial. Not only will it help you win new customers, it’ll keep people coming back for more.
In the article to follow, we’re going to unpack everything you need to know, right from the very basics (a website) to the fundamentals of a content calendar and behind-the-scenes video.
What is the best marketing for restaurants?
Build a website
If you haven’t already, you need to build a website.
A website tells your story and makes you look credible.
But perhaps more crucially, it gives you a chance to occupy a space on Google.
Google is like the Yellow Pages of old – but better. It’s a directory, an advertising platform, and a customer relations portal all rolled into one.
- With a website, people will instantly find you when searching for your restaurant name.
BUT:
- People might also find you when searching more generally.
- If you’re a restaurant with a stunning view of the Burj Khalifa, you might appear when someone searches for “restaurant with a Burj Khalifa view,” for instance.
Google uses an algorithm to “read” all live websites on the entire web. And once done, it makes deductions about what it’s seeing.
The deductions go as follows:
1) What is the website called?
2) What is the purpose of the website/what is being sold?
3) What other, granular information describes the site?
Let’s use a sushi restaurant in Dubai as an example.
You’re 1) your brand name and 2) a restaurant. But 3), you’re a restaurant serving sushi and 4) a restaurant serving sushi and sashimi and 5) a restaurant serving sushi with a view of the Burj Khalifa.
That’s why, when we build websites for our restaurant clients, we try to make Google’s life as easy as possible. We tell the search engine what you’re selling in great detail. This gives you the best chance to appear for the widest number of search terms possible.
Claim your Google My Business Page
What is GMB? It’s the panel at the side of Google that displays crucial information about your restaurant:
- Opening hours
- Closing hours
- Map
- Physical address
- Type of cuisine
- Phone number
Customers will also be able to make reservations online via the link at the bottom of the panel.
The Google My Business panel is a crucial driver of traffic to your restaurant, and we help set up and maintain this for you.
Top tip: One thing customers hate is when your opening hours change, and your GMB panel doesn’t reflect this. That’s why maintenance is crucial.
Create a social media calendar
As a restaurant marketing agency, we recommend that our clients have at least an Instagram and Facebook page, but perhaps TikTok too.
And for these platforms, you’ll want a social media calendar. Here you plan Stories, photos, videos (alongside attention-grabbing captions) that go up daily.
No detail is too small. Your feed/page should look perfect. Colors, images, shapes in perfect balance.
And the better your profile, the more followers you’ll get. The more followers you get, the more the buzz will spread.
Monitor social media messages
With your calendar in full swing, keep an eye on any messages coming through. If the content is good, you’ll get a lot.
“What are your opening hours?”
“Do you serve vegan food?”
“Where are you located?”
A lot of these you’ll have answered in your bio, but people miss things, so politely reply.
It’s a lot to take care of, of course, which is why so many restaurant brands trust us with their social media. We not only write, shoot and edit the calendar, but we take care of ad hoc questions throughout the day.
In a similar vein, we also keep our eye on TripAdvisor, TrustPilot, Zomato and more. These online review directories are full of customer feedback. We motivate satisfied customers to leave a review and reply to those that already have.
Shoot authentic footage
If you really want people to connect with your brand, shoot authentic footage, like behind-the-scenes clips of your chefs hard at work, or off-the-cuff videos of diners having fun totally unprompted.
You’ll be surprised by the number of people who engage with this content.
And the reason why? It’s real.
You’re not making adverts for the TV generation. No, you’re shooting rapid, engaging videos for the viral generation.
Just look at Salt Bae as one example. The Turkish chef has built a restaurant empire off the back of marketing alone. His videos are hugely popular on Instagram and TikTok and, in the main, they’re authentic, humorous and highly shareable.
He’s relevant. And that’s the goal.
Work with influencers
To stay relevant, use Influencer Marketing. It’s a no-brainer. After all, why wouldn’t you want to align yourself with someone famous and connect with their audience?
We work with a number of verified Instagram accounts to promote our restaurants. We also work hard to find new celebrities who might be a perfect fit for our clients.
If Influencer Marketing isn’t a part of your digital marketing strategy, start looking into it now.
Run a blog
A blog might seem like a waste of time, but it’s actually a very good way of advertising your business on Google.
Just don’t write advertorials.
No, try to answer user intent. If people are searching for “what is sushi”, and you have a restaurant brand that specializes in sushi, write about it. A sushi restaurant is, by rights, an expert on the subject, and there are enough people asking this question to justify the story.
If the article is well written and informational, it has a good chance of ranking on the first page of Google, which will drive new customers to your website.
The result? More brand awareness, and more customers.
A top tip: You can also go after topics that satisfy location-specific user intent, such as “the best sushi in Dubai”.
Set up a recurring newsletter
A newsletter is an old-school restaurant marketing tool, but there’s absolutely no reason to dispense with it! Customers can sign up through your website, and then receive promotions, offers or news right to their inbox.
For you, it’s a hassle-free way to keep in contact with your clientele, and to reward your newsletter subscribers with exclusive offers/discounts/promotions.
Or just to tell them about how great you are.
Use Paid Media
Last, but certainly not least, Paid Media should be a big part of your marketing strategy.
Paid Media ads run across Google and socials. As the name suggests, they’re sponsored, which means you need to allocate a budget to them. However, they’re worth the investment, and especially useful if you’re running a big promotion.
Google Ads: Google Ads operate on a pay-per-click (PPC) or cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) pricing model, where advertisers pay when users click on their ads or when their ads are shown a thousand times.
Facebook/Instagram Ads: Facebook Ads also operate on a PPC or CPM pricing model, where advertisers pay based on clicks, impressions, or other specified actions (e.g., conversions, video views).
Google is a bit more limited in scope as Facebook has a wider number of targeting options (age, gender, location, interest, behaviors, connections, etc), but they should both be used in your restaurant marketing strategy.
Digital marketing services for restaurants
At Kingsmen, we act as a marketing agency for restaurants in Dubai, as well as restaurants abroad. With that in mind, we know all about restaurant marketing, and the steps needed to achieve the best results.
We offer SEO, PPC, GMB profile creation, social media monitoring and posting, photography and videography, video editing and newsletter management.
If you’d like to get in contact, chat to us today. Or if you want more great content, check out our blog.
