3 Essential Restaurant Marketing Tips

By Karin

The restaurant business is highly competitive. Because of this fact, it is important for restaurants who want to get ahead to have great marketing. Without great marketing, it is difficult to effectively appeal to your client base. Here are three essential restaurant marketing tips that can help your restaurant stand out and get noticed.
1. Content MarketingIf your restaurant does not already have a website, then you definitely need one. However, if you have a website, but you are not posting content to it regularly, you should be. A great way to do this is through a blog. Research shows that 92% of companies who actively blog gain new customers through their blogs.
Blog posts can also be shared on social media, and they are a great way to get your restaurant buzzing on the web. Also, many people research local restaurants online before going to them. So, the more relevant content you have on your website, the more likely your restaurant site will be to appear in local restaurant searches online.
2. Use Yelp to Your AdvantageYelp is extremely important in the restaurant industry. The reason is because it is a very powerful reviewing website that many people trust and frequently use. Your restaurant is almost certain to be reviewed on Yelp, so it makes sense to make a Yelp account for your restaurant and to optimize it.
You can do this by including great pictures of your restaurant and your food on your account, including store hours, and adding as many other details as possible. In short, you can use Yelp to advertise, and not just receive reviews from. However, you can also address any negative reviews you may get on the site, and you can learn from them.
3. Loyalty ProgramsMost people like to save money and to get the maximum amount possible for the money they spend. So, if you reward your customers for their continued spending at your restaurant, this can be a great way to both market your restaurant to them, and to also give them extra value.
So, you can create a loyalty program by offering free items after X amount of purchases, and you can advertise this through your marketing channels. You can even use apps such as LevelUp, Belly, and Perka to help you operate your loyalty program. Simply knowing that if they continue spending at your restaurant, they will get a free item down the line, can help many customers be incentivized to return to your store time and time again.

Source:​http://www.nimbleschedule.com/nimblenews/blog/3-essential-restaurant-marketing-tips/