Your restaurant might have great food, quick, professional and perfect service with charming furniture and amazing ambience. Days go by, but your customers aren’t increasing exponentially like you expected. Why?
The competition in restaurant business is at an all-time high with brand new restaurants with a mix of cuisines and fusion ideas popping up in on the streets, how can you draw customers to your restaurant, regularly? How do you make your restaurant stand out and reach new customers?
Of course having a good digital presence is the most cost-effective solution, but how do you go about it? At Bunjy, we take food very seriously and marketing them even more seriously, so our experts have 4 steps to start your digital marketing, for your restaurant business.
Google My Business
People in your area are searching for food Right NOW !! Many people tend to Google their food options; “restaurants near me”brings up their options – with reviews, and information of the same. So being ‘Googleable’ is important.
Start off with creating a Google My Business profile for your restaurant. Google My Business is free and helps your restaurant appear in Google search as well as Google Maps when a potential hangry customer searches for restaurants in your area.
Then, optimise your profile by adding correct details for the listing on google, like your restaurant address, phone number, and your open hours. Complement this further with some very good pictures, add some images of your restaurant so it may be easily recognised and give them a preview of the ambience and the food you offer.
One of the pivots of Google My Business are your online reviews. Take your online reviews seriously! People avoid places and things that are reviewed poorly. Respond to your reviews religiously, thank them for a compliment and if it’s a negative review, even more important! Respond courteously, taking in their feedback and implementing them as and where possible and apologise for their bad experience and promise to do better for their next visit.
Restaurant Listing Sites & Online Ordering
Step numero dos, List your business on directory services like Yelp, Zomato and many more are the go to sites or apps for new customers to check and read review before trying out a new place. Get your restaurant listed here. Good reviews and good pictures increase the chances of being chosen.
Zomato also preludes to the online food delivery platforms. Online food delivery platforms like UberEATs, Swiggy, Food Panda, Faasos, Seemless etc. have disrupted the food industry at an unimaginable scale. Indian food delivery platform Swiggy clocks around 1.4 million orders per day!
Getting listed on these platforms can increase business exponentially, If your restaurant can do takeout order, get listed on these platforms NOW!! This adds to your customer base and does not cost you space. You can cater to lot more customers than you can accommodate in the restaurant.
Social Media
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are great tools for connecting with customers in your area and tempting them with delicious food and offers! Humans are visual creatures – you might not even be hungry but looking at a delicious looking picture can make you salivate.
Picture this, you are browsing through your social media feed and see those hot, steam crunchy looking dishes, prepared carefully and clicked artistically? Aren’t you hungry just picturing that? Attract those customers like a Pied Piper with a carefully planned Social Media plan targeting your restaurant locality!
And special offers for those who follow your pages can boost the customer loyalty and business!
Influencer Marketing
Peer review is near insurmountable, People trust the opinions of their family and friends and Influencers are the top of this magical pyramid of human opinion re-enforcement. Connect with bloggers of your locality or food bloggers and get them to give their opinion on their pages or sites attracting people from their fan base generating interest.
Bunjy’s Co-founder Keerthana Chandrasekaran believes “Being digital is not a one off activity where you just create a profile and forget about it. It needs constant attention, being responsive to customers and posting regular updates to stay ahead of competition.”
Following these digital marketing tips helps increase your brand recognition and reach local audience who turn to immediate consumers. Our expert digital marketing team offers specialised social media marketing and search engine optimisation services to help your brand reach the right audience and grow your business !