Here are a few restaurant marketing tips
Do you have a restaurant marketing plan? If so, do you evaluate it regularly for effectiveness? If not, you should. Restauranteurs often get caught up in the daily operations of running a restaurant they often neglect their marketing. Traditional advertising and word of mouth can be effective but it’s important to change with the times and embrace new strategies such as the internet.
How the internet has changed restaurant marketing
To create an effective marketing plan you should understand how the internet has impacted the restaurant industry. First, restaurants don’t use the yellow pages as much as they used to and for good reason. The internet has become the go to resource to find information on where to dine. With search engines like Google, it is very easy to find what you are looking for with a click of a few buttons.
Steps to follow for marketing your restaurant on the internet
1. Create a website. The very first step is to create a well optimized website for your restaurant. Be sure to include interesting content and pictures. You can create a food blog to help drive traffic to your website as well as link out to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
2. Stay current. Be sure your website is updated with all the current information. If you are posting your menu on the website, you should pay special attention to keeping it updated. Highlighting daily specials, stellar staff, and notes from the kitchen by the chef are all good ways of keeping your website fresh and current.
3. Engage in SEO practices. Do a google search for your restaurant based on the type of cuisine it offers. Do you come up on the first page of search results? The tenth? Make a list of search words or phrases you would like your restaurant to come up for and include them in your blog posts.
4. Grow your social media presence. Give people a reason to follow you on social media channels or to come into your restaurant, and make it simple for them to do so. Be sure to mix up the content that you are sharing. Keep it fresh, interesting. You can use contests or simply ask your loyal followers to help you engage others.
5. Monitor review sites. Review sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon can help or hurt you. Unfortunately, we hear more from the complainers than than the praisers. Thank visitors for positive reviews and respond to and respectfully resolve negative reviews.
