In this competitive marketplace where countless restaurants are competing for customers, it is not just your food or service that will ensure you have a steady flow of patrons, it is your overall restaurant marketing strategy.
The overall, “Look,” of your restaurant from the literal decor to your online presence is important for making sure you keep up with the times and take advantage of modern technology to maintain a strong presence.
These 5 tips will serve to help illustrate some key ways to make sure you are modernized and keep customers coming!
1. Change Your Decor As Needed
It is always important to change your decor as needed. You don’t want to seem like a stodgy and stagnant restaurant that reminds people more of their grandparent’s house than fun and trendy place to eat. Even if you have a “theme”, such as being like a diner or set in the Wild West it makes sense to always be rotating decor in-and-out so that repeat customers find there is always something new to see as well.
Take into account how the social and political changes in your area could impact how the decor is interpreted as well. If you are in a region where hunting is thought of as barbaric it maybe is not smart to have stuffed wildlife on display, for example. Also, if suddenly a new television show is popular and you’ve decorated your place with a bunch of posters of old shows nobody likes, you’ll seem out-of-date as well.
Try to follow what is “Hot” in the decor of restaurants and adjust the setup of your place accordingly.
2. Reevaluate Your Menu
Take a close look at the menu in your restaurant. Does it contain old-fashioned recipes that few people eat now? Perhaps you can update your old usual meals with fun details about new and popular sauces or garnishes that are used.
Also, take into account food trends. The Atkins diet was popular some years ago but now people tend to avoid Gluten. If half your menu advertises how it is, “Atkins-friendly,” but you say nothing about gluten then you look incredibly out-of-touch with food trends.
Also, take into account the names of meals. Having boring simple titles can seem dull but using clever little phrases or puns can take a meal that seems drab and really liven it up.
3. Continuously Work on the Image of Your Restaurant
No, this is not another reference to how you decorate your establishment, this is about its “Image” in people’s minds/opinions. If you are trying to be a fancy and professional kind of place you need to have a website that matches that tone and provides all the information people could need about a dress-code or such.
Should your restaurant be more of a laid-back place you want to make sure that kind of vibe is evident in any kinds of advertisements or upon the website as well. Take into account possibly controversial social movements too. Having a sign or sticker that says something like “Back the Blue” or “Black Lives Matter” means your restaurant is taking a clear political stance that can bring with it both benefits and potentially backfire.
It may be smarter to steer-clear of possible conflicts than to bring attention to them. For example, regardless of your personal feelings on same-sex marriage (being all for it or against it) you would most likely want to allow both opposite-sex AND same-sex couples to use your restaurant for a wedding-party or such if requested as refusing service to a gay couple would almost certainly result in a lot of negative press for you. Essentially, avoid taking a stand on a divisive current-issue unless it will bring more benefit than harm.
4. Register in Eat App
The Eatapp helps make it easier for potential customers to find your restaurant and make a reservation without having to go to your website or make a phone call. It also is one of the most popular apps around for finding a place to eat so by having your restaurant found within the app it essentially serves as an advertisement.
Also, it provides the best restaurant marketing strategies for you and online, menu, prices, restaurant floor plan for your customers.
5. Don’t Neglect the Power of Social Media
When it comes to restaurant marketing you never want to neglect the power that social media can hold. Having a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and other websites make you able to keep reminding people about how great your restaurant is. By having funny Facebook posts or putting-up pictures of delicious meals on Instagram you will ensure you’re on peoples’ minds. This social media engagement will also help you be able to address potential issues–such as if someone leaves a negative review on Yelp and you’re able to contact them and fix whatever upset them.
To conclude, to be a good restaurateur you should always move on and create something new and trendy for your customers. It is important to work on the decor, image, social media presence and the menu of your establishment.
