Five Aspects of a Robust Digital Strategy for a Restaurant, Essay Example

Five Aspects of a Robust Digital Strategy for a Restaurant

The restaurant business is one of the most difficult industries to enter, let alone becoming successful, but an effective digital strategy gives you the edge you need to succeed.

For most people, the restaurant business is one of the hardest sectors to enter and even more difficult to become successful. This is more true for small and medium sized restaurants since 50% of all small businesses fail in the first five years. Cognizant of the fact that the restaurant sector is more challenging, how then can one increase their competitiveness and chances of success? The answer, like in any other business, is effective marketing to the target audience.

 In the past decade, marketing has undergone major shifts with businesses adopting online strategies as their core business strategy. With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the adoption of digital marketing has become a key ingredient for business success. Although some traditional marketing methods like mailing and flyers still record some success, the world has transitioned into the digital arena. As such, it is fair to say that a business that does not have an online presence might be better off closing now before going under eventually.

I am not here to cast out doom but to reveal reality and show you how you can be able to not just crack into the restaurant but also thrive in it. The following steps explain how to get there.

Invest in High Quality Website

Unlike ten years ago, the storefront of a restaurant is no longer considered the face of the business. This was revealed in a report by Ecommerce Foundation which showed that 88 percent of shoppers always use the internet to research about the products and services they want. Since there is no physical interaction in the online world, the shoppers then judge the credibility of a business based on its website. This means that a restaurant with a low quality website will have potential customers bouncing off to another one they like.

A restaurant’s website should be professional, easy to navigate, and highly functional. Customers should be able to easily find such things as menus, special offers, hours of operation, location, online ordering, and delivery services. With many people using smartphones to access the internet, the website should be optimized for many types of devices. Also, it is important to focus on graphics and pictures that show the layout, design, foods, chefs, kitchen, and other important details of the restaurant. These details are critical in giving an online customer a connection and a feeling of intimacy or interaction with the restaurant. When done effectively, customers describe having a feeling of intimacy almost similar as if they had visited the place physically.

Constantly Improve Local SEO

Perfecting search engine optimization is one of the most important aspects of digital marketing. SEO is what determines whether customers will find your website and in turn become customers. For instance, if an individual searches “Mexican restaurants near me,” the SEO rating of your restaurant’s website will determine whether it is discovered or not. To improve your SEO, have a blog that provides highly engaging and significant content. Also, use keywords and SEO coding styles like embedding metadata in photos, headings, and videos. Importantly, provide contact information and make sure the address is easy to find.

Use Social Media

While a good website is critical, it is a waiting strategy which necessitates a proactive way of driving traffic to the website. Social media helps you achieve that. A research published by Pew Research Center showed that as of 2021, 70% of American adults have a Facebook account. This indicates that 70% of potential customers could be easily found in one place, Facebook. Social media enables a restaurant owner to build a following of people who are attracted to your business and increase the likelihood of repeat customers.

Importantly, social media enables one to take advantage of both free and paid advertising. Free advertising could be implemented by rolling out competitions with meals or cash as prizes. The objective is to use the competition to expand your reach by increasing engagement through asking users to like, share, or comment on the posts. Also, paid advertising helps to increase your reach and is scaled based on the amount you want to spend.

Use Influencer Marketing

New restaurants and even many seasoned restaurants tend to have a weak social media presence due to low number of followers. If you fall under this category, it is important that you employ the services of influencers. Typically, most successful influencers are people who have credibility by virtue of being successful or established in key sectors like music or sports and have amassed tens of thousands of followers. It is important to find out whether there are food influencers in the locality and sign a contract with them. The contract could be dependent on number of users reached or without performance targets.

Leverage on Online Reviews

While the steps listed here are effective, they are just a few tricks that one can use to increase their competitiveness, but they are not the holy grail. It is important to first ensure that the quality of foods and services offered are of high quality and supersede or rival those of the competitors. Quality foods and services will ensure that customers give positive reviews which will then boost your online presence.