7 Tips for Restaurant Marketing to Guarantee Success in 2022
Imagine this: Your restaurant is packed with hungry customers on a weeknight. They are chatting, sharing plates, and ordering lots. Your reservation list is already booked solid for the month.
This is the ideal scenario for a restaurant owner, but it’s not something that many people get to achieve. Please don’t believe the urban myth that all restaurants fail within their first year. Data from a BLS survey shows that 17% of independent restaurants fail within their first year.
Restaurant management can be difficult. A restaurant can’t survive beyond its first five years. But it takes hard work. In this article, we will focus on marketing.
This list doesn’t include common sense items such as claiming your Google Page or buying ads. These are provided. These seven creative, hard-hitting ideas will bring life to your company. Let’s get started:
Promote Your Most Popular Items
Let’s begin with a simple one. Take a report from your Point-of-sale (POS) to determine your top-selling products. Next, you can start promoting these items like mad.
Do not promote things you like or the lowest food costs. Promote what people love. People love you, so don’t waste your advertising dollars on anything other than what they love.
High-quality photos will make it easier to sell your most popular items. A professional photographer is a skilled photographer who can capture angles, lighting, editing, and other details. You’ll get premium results from your marketing efforts if you pay a premium.
These photos can be used on your website, Instagram page or TripAdvisor page. These photos can last for years and will give you the highest ROI.
Make a Talk Trigger
It’s a great way to spread the word. This is the most cost-effective marketing strategy, and it’s also completely free. Great things can happen when your customers are just as passionate about getting people in the door as you are.
Talk triggers are a great way to get the word out about your restaurant. This is essentially a unique thing that people will tell friends about. Skip’s Kitchen is a shining example of a talk-trigger in action.
The cashier hands customers a 54-card deck, including jokers, and places it faces down at the counter. The majority of cards are used to mark where food is being brought. You can win a free meal by pulling out a joker. Skip’s Kitchen is always packed because people love the excitement of scoring free food.
Use SEO & Content Marketing to Your Advantage
It would be best to reconsider spending so much money on your website. Limit it to between $1,500 and $2,000. Why? Google is the best search engine for finding places to eat.
Google now has all the information you need, from your hours of operation to your phone number, to your menu. Google even offers neatly organized customer reviews.
You can save your money and invest it in Content marketing. SEO optimized content is the only way to rank high in search engines when someone searches for “best steakhouse in Dallas”. It’s worthwhile to seek professional assistance if you are new to SEO marketing.
Invite Food Critics & Bloggers at Your Door
It’s not just about the food anymore. People want to have a great dining experience to share with their friends and use on social media. Follow food critics and foodie influencers to discover great food and experiences.
Your restaurant could become the next Snow’s Barbecue. Find out where your community is looking for food suggestions, and then offer a free meal to these influencers.
For special occasions, give away free meals.
There is a good chance that you already know your favourite spot for celebrating anniversaries, birthdays or graduations. People form special bonds with restaurants to celebrate important life events. You’d like to be a part of the action.
Every restaurant should offer birthday meals for free. You can even get a free dessert. You’ll be able to recoup your lost revenue and possibly gain new customers. You can target specific birthdays with Facebook ads.
When you reserve large tables, make it a point of asking people if they are celebrating any occasion. If they are, make sure you do everything to make the event memorable. Decorate the table with appetizers and desserts. Invite the chef to speak with them about the menu. You can be creative, and they will keep coming back for more.
Make a YouTube cooking show.
The loyal millennial foodies are a strong group that has fueled a remarkable 280% increase in food channel subscriptions over the past year. What’s the best part? It is extremely easy to create your show.
You can make videos that show how you prepare your favourite dishes and source your ingredients. Also, you can showcase the different events your restaurant hosts. Your customers will return for more if you give them behind-the-scenes access.
Create a Food Challenge
People love challenges with food. Over nine million people subscribe to Hot One’s YouTube Channel. Here, celebrities eat a variety of the most delicious chicken wings while doing interviews. This is more than New York City’s population.
Start a group of your employees to create crazy or fun food challenges. Make a stack of pumpkin spice pancakes and mix it with half a cup of Pumpkin Spice Latte. Call it “The Pumpkin Spice Challenge”, and everyone who finishes the entire stack gets a free meal on your next visit.
Make extra spicy tacos, and invite local politicians to debate after they have finished eating ghost pepper sauce. This is where creativity reigns.
It’s important to keep your online reputation top-of-mind as we closeout. Your online reputation is the lifeblood of your company and can often make or break your business. Encourage customers to leave positive reviews and ensure that you respond to all reviews across all platforms.
Negative reviews are not a problem. Be calm and polite. Offer a discount on your next visit. Restaurants with high ratings will receive more business and spend less on marketing. It’s a win-win situation.