It’s undeniable that digital marketing is here to stay. With social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram reaching well over 1 billion people, digital marketing is hard to ignore.
Luckily if you own a restaurant there is no better place to reach your customers. Here are 5 things we’ve learn while marketing our restaurant clients.

1.people eat – but it’s more than just good food!

Don’t get me wrong, your food has to be good, but almost as important as your food is your environment and staff. You want your customers to have a good time and share that experience with their friends. You can go almost anywhere and have a good meal, even fast food, but it’s not many places that you have a good time.

2. You have to offer new!

Even your most loyal customers will get tired of the same old thing. Shake up your menu every once in a while and don’t be afraid to try something new. We have a client that has started offering an off menu specialty burger one day a week. Almost immediately they doubled that days sales and it continues to be their best weekday.
Seasonal changes. No one likes a menu that never changes. Customers like getting excited for the next best thing; plus, it gives them another reason to come back to your restaurant. By letting customers know that your menu is changing (and when it will be changing), you are promoting your restaurant without being pushy.

3. Social media is king!

It seems that social media, particularly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, was built for restaurants and bars. Not only has it been the best marketing tool for our clients, it’s free, although we suggest spending $50 – $100 a month on Facebook ads and boosted posts.

4. Get new customers – reward loyal customers!

If you build it they will come, your client base that is. With every bit of marketing you do your goal should always be to get more customers and retain the ones you have. Never focus on the sales, that comes with the customers and reward them. There are several loyalty programs you can offer and most POS systems have a loyalty program built right in.

5. Use your email list, but use it sparingly!

No one wants to be bombarded by a bunch of marketing emails. We try to send one a week with all of our promotions/events for that week. We keep it short and sweet with a lot of images and little copy.

6. Design all of you content well and keep your brand standards consistent!

Your ads, particularly Facebook, should be visually appealing whether it is a stock photo, food photo or graphics. Visual ads have proven to perform better than other types of ads, with the exception of video ads.  The content for your ads, above all, make it’s relevant to your audience. Content and design go hand in hand with your ads.

Our goal is to give you the information to understand how to best use social media as a marketing device. We have worked with clients and their social media campaigns and have seen it work. It’s not easy, although it is easy once you know what to do. It is time consuming so be prepared to put in the work. Most importantly, it is the most cost effective advertising and marketing you can do to reach the highest number of potential clients.
If you have any questions or feedback, please email chad@devlabllc.com.