The world of marketing has become more open and connected than ever before. Businesses and their customers can engage with each other on a mass scale. The rise of the internet and, in particular, social media, means we all live connected lives.
The social media age is particularly relevant for restaurants and foodservice businesses as consumers can play a massive part in whether a restaurant is successful or not. The power is firmly with consumers and if they have a bad experience, they can easily let all of their friends, family and neighbours know about it, on the flip side, should they have a wonderful experience they can sing your praises and promote your restaurant to their online network.
Only last night we were alerted to our phone buzzing, someone was wanting to chat on Facebook, luckily for us, or should we say good work to the production team rather than luck, it was a consumer wanting to congratulate us for having great products.
In reality not all messages sent to businesses are positive, so huge effort needs to be taken to ensure that every customer experience is exceptional to encourage your restaurant customers to become your very own brand ambassadors singing about the merits of your food and service.
You may think that the risk of negative comments is too high, so shy away from utilising social media and digital marketing as a tool to promote your restaurant. Don't let the negatives put you off, partly because people can still review your business even if you don't have any digital presence, but mainly because if done right, the internet age can help to drive business, increase sales and help provide your restaurant with long-term success.
Here are a few tips to get you thinking:
1. Pretty Plates
Instagram is awash with food and people take great pleasure in posting, viewing and sharing food that looks too good to eat. It's a powerful way to portray your menu and get it seen by lots of potential customers.
By taking effort to present your food in an aesthetically pleasing way you can achieve greater exposure and with that, more punters through your restaurant door.
2. Customer Reviews
Tripadvisor, Google, Facebook and many other places on the web are prominent for reviews and reviews themselves have great power.
86% of people read reviews for local businesses (95% of 18-34-year olds). Reviews build trust and act as a decision-making tool for consumers to make a buying decision. Therefore, restaurant reviews are so important to attract new customers to your establishment.
3. Restaurant Experience
Okay, we assume you're doing this already, providing your customers with a great experience, everything from your customer service through to your amazing food. It could seem patronising to tell you how important your customer experience is to your business, but it's a point worth labouring on as in the world of social media where everybody has a voice, providing the best restaurant experience every time to every customer is more important than ever.
For more information about restaurant marketing, technology available to foodservice establishments and a host of other useful information about the latest food trends, downloaded a copy of our 2020 Food Trends Report by visiting www.aviko.co.uk
