Creating social media accounts for your food business and posting updates once a week isn’t exactly what you call great marketing. Sure, it gives people results when they look you up online. The question is this: Does it make them care?
If your restaurant hasn’t been getting the attention it deserves, you need to shake-up your marketing strategy. You don’t need thousands of dollars to do this. What matters is you know exactly where you put your money and effort to make the most difference.
Letting Others Spread the Word
When businesses broach the topic of influencers, they back off due to the cost. The cream of the crop is pricey, but you don’t need to aim for them to get exposure. Marketers are now tapping influencers with a smaller following because they feel more authentic.
If your restaurant is in Arizona, look up any food blog focused on that area that is willing to feature you. Most people have a habit of checking reviews and blogs online before choosing a restaurant. Any positive mention of you, especially by a respectable group or influencer, increases your chances of getting customers.
Show Off the Experience
An online search full of flat-lay photos does okay, but not as well as one that shows people. Customers like to see others having a fantastic experience at your place. You can make your restaurant IG-worthy or offer discounts for photos that use your hashtag.
Organize simple contests that require them to tag you. You won’t believe how participative people can be when it comes to food, especially when they get it for free with two or three friends.
Customers also appreciate seeing your staff, from the chef to the waiters, loving their jobs. It’s a testament to the quality of your restaurant when they know that people love working there. Highlight them in your Instagram stories and showcase how they prepare the food.
It’s a great way to make people’s dining experience more personal when they visit.
Make It Accessible
Convenience sells. No matter how much they love your food, there will be days that they’ll choose a restaurant with delivery services to save time and effort.
This is where your website plays an important role. People nowadays prefer to place their orders online. It’s a worthy investment to have a professional streamline this service on your website. Not only is this more convenient for customers, but it also reduces the risks of mistakes.
Creating an app is the way forward once you’ve started. People might not boot up their laptops to place orders if they can do it with their phones.
Let a third-party food delivery service takes care of the logistics. Partnering with one frees you from the stress of training riders, acquiring vehicles, and dealing with insurance. Your job is to ensure the quality of your food, so they’ll come back for more.
When it comes to marketing, consistency, and resourcefulness are key. Social media is free, and the devices to optimize them are in the palm of your hands. All you need to do is to be clever in how you use them and build up from there. Soon, everyone in your area will know your restaurant.
