Restaurants Marketing In 2022 – Restaurants have been hit harder than almost any other business since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. The fact is that most of them have struggled to keep their doors open and have had to adapt in order to stay in business. The ones that were unable to adapt; smaller guest sizes, delivery services, takeout services and so forth, have not seen an easy time in a while.
2022 seems to bring with it a lot of confusion with the economy, status of the pandemic and more. Things are open for business but with some caution. Restaurants are now getting hit less by Covid issues but now they are impacted by the higher costs of goods, labor and material shortages and delivery apps that take too much of the profits. So, where should you start over with your restaurants marketing?
Value Customer Loyalty
The thing that always seems interesting with restaurants is that half of them beg for loyalty and the other have seem to forget about it. Start rewarding your loyal customers and make sure that they know that they’re loyalty is greatly appreciated, especially during these times. Do you think if someone has a $20 gift certificate to your restaurant and they need to go pick a place for them and their friends to eat that they aren’t going to suggest to everyone that they go to your place?
Areas Restaurants Need To Market In
Years ago, these businesses had their marketing all but dialed in. It was easy to drive in interest with high-quality photos, a good budget for social media and a nice and simple promotion. However, things have changed and unfortunately, you need to do more to get an engagement from a consumer. You have to remember that they are hurting from inflation as well so their refusal to visit you as often may be based on budget. That’s why discounts are a great way to try to get customers in the door. Here’s where to hit them with it:
- Social media marketing: The fact is that social media is still the best platform for you to advertise on. However, the content needs to focus on strictly getting people in the door. While branding is still important, the fact is that people are going to go out and spend their money more selectively. That means you need to give them as much motivation to come to your establishment other than good food and good times.
- Email: A great and cost-effective way to hit thousands of people in your area with a promotion is through email marketing. Building your own database is huge and it can allow you to hit the target audience with specials each week, encouraging them to take action and give your business another visit.
- Google my business: Do you know much about Google marketing? Every time you Google a business or a type of business-like restaurants near me, the options that come up in the map are the local spots. This is a free service that Google offers called My Business. You can setup an account and get your business on the map, literally.
- SEO: Another valuable way to market on Google is with SEO. This is where you target a wide range of keywords and you can also build your companies online presence. Familiarity in your brand is important and is a key reason why people are willing to give you a try.
When you market your business online you have to remember that it’s not just about making a customer happy with the service you provide. You also have to provide them with motivation to come back like a discount on their next visit or something. It’s an effective strategy that has literally kept restaurants in business the past two years.
Ways To Build Interest In Your Restaurants Marketing
You have to make the content something memorable. That doesn’t mean that it has to be amazing and funny. It simply means that it has to give the viewer some kind of value like information, a way to save and so forth. Think about what you would like to get from your favorite places to eat, what would make you try something new and so forth. Here’s where you can start:
- Promotions: The reason it keeps coming up in this topic is because it’s the most effective tool when it comes to getting people to order food from you. Think of how many places you do not like to eat at because of the food. Yet those places remain in business? That’s an indicator that their promotions sometimes are better than the food they serve.
- Contests: A monthly contest is not only a great way to gain interest in your content and brand, but it makes it easy to grab email addresses. Since email is the most affordable way to Restaurants marketing to familiar consumers, why not give a free dinner for two away each month at random, selecting from emails you have in your database? That will get people to sign up and give you, their information.
- Rewards for direct use: While the delivery apps have made it easier for restaurants to expand their business and increase sales, it also has some downsides as most of the profits are taken by the apps or too much of a percentage for the business owners to be happy. If you want people to do more in-house dinning or at least takeout, consider running promotions for that where they can save 10%.
- Events: A weekly event on a slow night is always a smart idea. You have space and great food so figure out something to get people in groups to visit. Maybe a group discount on Tuesday nights is an option because it will let people who are working together late grab a quick dinner and save.
You have to be creative with your promotions so that they are different from the competition. However, you still need to add promotions to your Restaurants marketing, unless you are lucky enough to have a reliable customer base that will cover everything for you. Motivate people to tag you on social media, review your food and more. You can affordably and quickly build interest in your brand by connecting with your existing audience.