Did You Know? There are more than 660,755 restaurants in the USA.
The restaurant industry is competitive while it’s also growing swiftly. The good news? An effective promotional strategy allows your customers to stay loyal for years or even for life. But it’s not easy if you have a weak marketing game.
Whether you need to stand out among your competitors or attract your audiences, you’ll have to devise a promotional plan that entices your customers. If you’re a beginner, see these tips & ideas to get you started.
Let’s plunge into the list straight away!
Make it instagrammable
Since you can’t escape the power of social media these days, you can design a café or restaurant that covers the aesthetics of your restaurant.
If your dishes are insta-worthy, you’ll instantly reach your ticket to fame. As a restaurant owner, you’ll not just focus on the quality of food but also get creative as much as possible to make something unique out of it.
For instance, you can plan a fantastic menu or serve your customers with decorated daily specials. It will tempt your customers to click amazing pictures, and they will know where to visit the next time to create active engagement. However, avoid exaggerating it so it doesn’t look too gaudy or overdone.
Choose a catchy color scheme for your restaurant to make it look more promising. Highlight your restaurant’s positive points by using interesting taglines, frames, cute accessories, & so on.
You can also make your version of things well-loved by the target audience, such as taking a famous quote & innovatively using it in your restaurant’s favor.
Launch events, promos, & discounts
Keep yourself ahead in the competition and analyze what your competitors are doing. When it’s the sale season, you can launch food promo codes & discounts to enhance your customer experience.
For maximum reach, generate your restaurant’s statistics to evaluate your customers’ likes and dislikes and what days or weeks they love or are busy. With these statistics, you can gather information and use it to launch different events or highlight your specials, or even announce discounts.
Your eatery may also have the least popular items on the menu that aren’t selling well. You can consider promoting them by offering discounts during happy hours or specific occasions. Moreover, you can use social media or your website to update your customers about these events & offers.
For your online customers, you can try a reliable email marketing platform to generate daily/weekly/monthly emails or newsletters related to your food business. With the execution of email marketing campaigns, you can inform your customers regarding your daily specials or other offers. It will also help your users stay in touch with your restaurant by learning more about your various food products and services.
Design engaging posters
Why not promote your restaurant if your customers have a good sense of humor? Create funny or witty posters that customers love to follow, such as trending memes, witty drama lines, & humorous content.
These unique posters are a fantastic way to draw more attention on social media and other platforms. You can even use them to show off the latest discounts, menu items, regular specials, newly introduced dishes, rewards, coupon announcements, & more. The best part is they are budget-friendly & you don’t have to be an expert designer to create such posters.
You can use an interactive poster designer that incorporates high-quality images, colors, logo designs, & unique fonts to create visually-appealing posters. Another pro tip, you can print these posters and use them to embellish your restaurant’s walls & corners.
Collaborate with food influencers, bloggers, & marketers
One of the most compelling ways to promote your food business is to hire renowned celebrities & food influencers. Whether it’s your specialty dish or something ordinary, these influencers have a large food community that trusts them as figureheads and believe their word of mouth.
A short and creative endorsement from them can help your restaurant receive the recognition it deserves from hundreds or thousands of people. You can also establish a strong partnership with your preferred influencers and treat them as brand ambassadors for your food business.
Moreover, you can hire food bloggers to create videos and posts related to your restaurant and promote them to garner more followers. These content creators can grow your brand effectively and make your restaurant more discoverable to potential & existing customers.
If you have a lot of pressure on your hands, you can hire a community manager to help you with promotional activities while managing your online page efficiently. They can also cater to your customers’ requests online and solve their queries by promptly responding to them.
A pro tip: Do some research beforehand to find the perfect influencer or blogger that fits your restaurant’s image and budget.
Opt for video marketing
Videos are a great option to inspire your customers with pictures with images and fonts. You can ++shoot your videos using a tablet or phone while sharing them on YouTube or your restaurant’s site. They build effective engagement on social media by showing off your food products, kitchen essentials, or even other cooking videos.
As per Wyzowl’s new report, 93% of marketers say they received better brand engagement due to video marketing on social media platforms.
Further, you can also invite food bloggers & influencers to review the restaurant’s food for your future customers. But if you’re not an expert, hiring a video marketer who promotes your restaurant’s content without compromising the video’s quality is better.
Wrapping up
Another pro tip is to ensure you have provided credible information on Google’s business listing. It will help your audience locate your restaurant quickly on Google Maps.
If you haven’t tried any of these promotional marketing strategies for your restaurant, it’s time to get creative! Finally, ensure the content you’re adding on your website or social media page is authentic and relevant to your food business.
