Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide Contents Introduction: Using Marketing Strategies to Address ..................................................................................... 4 Enhancing Brand Recognition While Reducing Costs .................................................................................................. 4 Establishing Meaningful Connections With Members of the Local Community ............................................. 5 How to Generate Substantial, Long-Term ROI Through Effective Marketing Principles ............................. 5 Chapter 1: Embracing SEO and Building an Effective Web Presence .......................................................... 7 Fostering Valuable Connections ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Getting the Most Out of Your Web Presence: SEO Guidelines for Your Restaurant’s Homepage ........... 8 Leveraging Third-Party Review Sites ................................................................................................................................... 9 Google-Specific Tools and Strategies .................................................................................................................................. 9 Share Vital Information and Promote Your Unique Brand Identity ..................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Engaging Online Communities Through Social Media Marketing .......................................... 11 Building a Digital Community of Like-Minded People ................................................................................................ 11 Getting the Most Out of Social Media Marketing: Social Media Influencers, User-Generated Content, and More .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Offering a Look Behind the Curtain .................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3: A Comprehensive Approach to Digital Marketing ...................................................................... 14 Detail-Oriented Digital Marketing Strategies ................................................................................................................ 14 Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising Strategies .................................................................................................................... 15 Acting Locally: How to Get the Most From Your Digital Marketing Efforts ..................................................... 15 Chapter 4: Engaging the Local Community Through Print Advertising and More .................................. 17 Establishing Local Ties and Building Community Partnerships ............................................................................ 17 Linking Brand Identity to Local Community ................................................................................................................... 18 Foster Mutually Beneficial Local Relationships Through Bartering ..................................................................... 19 Local Brand Recognition: How to Get the Most Out of Your Print Marketing Efforts ................................. 19 Chapter 5: Stimulating Word-of-Mouth Marketing and Rewarding Customer Loyalty ........................ 21 Brand Advocates and the Value of Objectivity ............................................................................................................. 21 Customer Appreciation and Loyalty Rewards .............................................................................................................. 22 Getting the Most Out of Your Rewards Programs and Word-of-Mouth Marketing .................................... 22 Chapter 6: Hosting, Organizing, and Attending Special Community Events .......................................... 24 Branding Opportunities: Generating Goodwill and Enhancing Visibility ......................................................... 26 2 Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide Cultivating Mutually Beneficial Relationships .............................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 7: Brand-Building Opportunities: Crafting a Narrative Through Marketing ........................... 28 Telling Your Story Through Unique Branding Strategies ......................................................................................... 28 Creating Personal Connections Between Patrons and Staff .................................................................................. 29 Effective Storytelling: How to Get the Most Out of Your Brand-Building Strategies ................................. 30 Chapter 8: Embracing the Digital Age ............................................................................................................... 31 Digital Reservations, Deliveries, and Promotions ......................................................................................................... 31 A Service-Oriented Approach: Getting the Most Out of 3rd-Party Digital Services ................................... 32 3 Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide Introduction: Using Marketing Strategies to Address the Challenges Facing Restaurateurs ◉ Do you want to fill empty seats on Tuesday afternoon? ◉ Does text message marketing work? ◉ Can buying local increase revenue? ◉ Do cooking classes and “theme nights” scare you? ◉ When was the last time a customer shared a picture on Instagram? ◉ Have you ever tagged a great customer on Facebook? ◉ Have you worked with your local Chamber of Commerce? ◉ How can free food drive traffic? As a restaurateur, you surely understand the multitude of challenges associated with running a restaurant, not to mention the fact that those challenges are quite likely to evolve from one day to the next. The manner in which you choose to address these everyday challenges has a significant impact on your restaurant’s ability to achieve the longevity and prosperity sought by every business owner, underscoring the importance of utilizing the best tools and strategies available. While the challenges you face are numerous and varied, it is also the case that a number of marketing principles and strategies are useful in addressing these challenges. These marketing principles and strategies exist as highly effective solutions for the all-too-common issues found within the restaurant industry. With a comprehensive marketing approach designed according to your specific goals and objectives, your restaurant will be able to address any challenge you might encounter while also attracting a loyal base of supportive customers from the local community. Enhancing Brand Recognition While Reducing Costs An effective marketing campaign shines a wholly positive light on your restaurant and successfully encourages customers to visit as soon as they are able, which in turn delivers such a substantial ROI that it is easily justifies the initial expense. Unfortunately, many marketing campaigns suffer from a lack of branding and ineffective or confusing messaging. 4 Ultimate Restaurant Marketing Guide With a thoughtfully planned and comprehensive marketing campaign, you can ensure your branding efforts are consistent across every platform, regardless of whether it appears on a billboard, social media post, t-shirt or website. Consistent and efficient branding practices also allow you to craft a meaningful narrative that deeply resonates with local community members, thereby reducing your cost expenditures and increasing your marketing ROI. Establishing Meaningful Connections With Members of the Local Community Every restaurant benefits from attracting a loyal base of customers from the local community, particularly since it is local customers who are most responsible for generating daily revenue. Targeted marketing efforts enable you to connect with members of the community in a meaningful way, helping you avoid those slow days in which far too many seats go unfilled due to a lack of foot traffic. An effective marketing campaign also enables you to express gratitude to your base of loyal customers. You might choose to use a marketing campaign to recognize or promote user-generated content that has helped your business, or you might offer an incentivized discount like a free appetizer or dessert (incentivized discounts are more effective than a percentage discount; customers rarely want to return to pay full price for an item after previously paying half of that price). How to Generate Substantial, Long-Term ROI Through Effective Marketing Principles and Strategies In the sections that follow, we’ll look at many different ways in which you can leverage the most up-to-date marketing principles and strategies. Every restaurateur surely has different goals and objectives they wish to achieve through a strategic marketing campaign, so a multifaceted and individualized approach is necessary for achieving any restaurant-specific goals and objectives. It is for this reason that we’ll devote the upcoming sections to each the following topics: ◉ Best practices in search engine optimization (SEO) ◉ Establishing an effective web presence ◉ Social media marketing principles and strategies ◉ A comprehensive approach to digital marketing ◉ Print advertising principles and strategies ◉ Fostering