Digital marketing is a powerful tool to help grow your restaurant. We explain how each part of the marketing mix works and can help you.
A market segment is a group of customers who share one or more common characteristics, are distinct from the rest of the market, and will react to the market in similar ways.
This is the most important part of the marketing strategy and is unique to each industry.
Based on your cuisine, your restaurant has already started segmenting your market. A casual Mexican restaurant is not as likely to draw from the same clientele as a high-end French bistro. However, unlike other industries, there is a fair amount of overlap in cuisine choice.
While your cuisine choice was an important segmentation, your target audience probably is segments more strongly due to distance and proximity to other areas of interest. There are likely others like income, having children, etc, which are also strong segmenting variables.
This is where market segmentation comes into play. It is important to identify the type of diner that is best suited for you, that has clear identifiable characteristics, and finally, the claims needed to cover them.
These are the questions that a good marketing strategy will answer
Marketing Strategy for Restaurants goes into this topic in more detail
As we said, there are numerous visual cues to support the message that we wish to send. For restaurant owners, the color, font, images, etc., all need to support your cuisine, ambiance, and flavor.
As a restaurant, you will want to ensure that your website design clearly projects an image that is consistent with the experience a diner will have. You have a golden opportunity to let someone know that they will enjoy themselves and fit in.
For example, family friendly casual dining websites are going to want to look more and feel welcoming, warm, and accessible. Therefore, he or she will want colors, images, fonts that support that image.
A fine dining establishment is likely to be quite different. They will want to project a more luxury and high-end service experience, one that is more reflective of the client he or she serves.
Web Design for Restaurants goes into this topic in more detail
Local SEO was made for restaurants. They are the perfect match for local SEO. Local SEO done well is also a very inexpensive way to top the list, especially when user search “restaurants near me”
A lot of important information such as prices, hours of operation, menus, pricing, can be include in the technical SEO of your site. Schema was built to help listings like yours. You should really find a way to make the most of it.
SEO for Restaurants goes into this topic in more detail
When it comes to PPC for restaurants, PPC is an option. The average CPC for hospitality paid search is roughly $1.53 a click, and the conversion rate (CTR) is high.
I would recommend layering on PPC after some of the less expensive tactics like Local SEO and Social Media Marketing, are in place. Those tactics have some limitations that PPC can help overcome, but I would start with the free and build to the paid.
For awareness building, you could choose a lower cost method like Google Display or Facebook. Instagram, Twitter, and the others may be your best choice as people tend to browse when thinking about places to eat.
PPC Strategy for Restaurants goes into this topic in more detail
Social Media Marketing for Restaurants goes into this topic in more detail
As you can see, digital marketing offers several ways to help you boost you practice today and over time. As you also likely notices is that this is a very complex and multifaceted discipline. While it may seem overwhelming at first, with the right guidance and help, it can be a very powerful tool in helping build awareness of your practice or firm and yield dividends in lead generation.
Social media for restaurant owners is perfect. You can ask for reviews, post pictures of your location, videos, menus, etc. The options are limitless. This is one of best options for restaurant owners because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to do.