Advanced Restaurant Marketing for Beginners
Intro
Did you know....78% of restaurant operators say they’re unsure what to do next when marketing isn’t working. Half are only somewhat confident in their marketing efforts, while 1 in 4 are not confident at all.
Consistent marketing is key to driving more guests through the door, but who has time when you're juggling multiple hats and priorities? And, if you don't know what's working in the first place, coming up with the right game plan can feel, well, overwhelming.
So, how do you get smarter with marketing without working overtime? We’re glad you asked!
If you’re new to restaurant marketing, we suggest you download our Beginner’s Guide to Digital Marketing for all the basics of getting started!
Thinking like an advanced marketer
Spicing up your marketing doesn’t mean spending more of your time or more of your budget. In fact, making your marketing sizzle really only requires nailing three key ingredients (think of them as your secret sauce!):
Be intentional with data
Automate whenever and wherever possible
Create a technology ecosystem
From guest engagement to operational adjustments, data drives everything…or at least it should.
Minimize the guesswork…and start using data to cook up success and guide what’s next.
Capture more than just an order
While earning revenue from guests is priority number one—you do run a business after all—it’s not the only thing you should be aiming to capture from them. The value of information is powerful, especially when it comes to marketing.
Having guest data not only enables you to stay in contact with emails, announcements and promotions, it also allows you to get more personalized with what you’re sending.
By knowing a guest’s favorite dishes (like the roast beef sandwich), dietary preferences, and even the special occasions they celebrate, you can tailor your messaging and offers to them.
We know “data collection” can sound like a scary concept, but there are a number of ways you can easily capture critical info:
Encourage guests to submit a review for a chance to win $500. When they leave a review, they leave their email too!
Similar to reviews, capture guest info when they like an individual dish or place an online order.
Exclusivity goes a long way…entice guests into becoming a VIP follower to receive special offers, secret menus, and more.
Pssst…all this data capture can be done automatically, but more on that later…
The best part? Guests don’t mind sharing…no, really!
79% of guests are willing to provide their email to receive info on special offers, events, and updates from their favorite restaurants.
The proof is in the…pizza
The potential value of a single guest
In 18 months, GIOIA sent 49 emails (39 sent automatically) to one guest, resulting in 101 orders and $5,700+ in revenue.
GIOIA keeps guests hungry for more with automated and customized messages—earning $897,000 in commission-free online ordering in 2022.
When we look at data holistically, we can better track how every touchpoint and guest interaction translates to orders placed and revenue earned.
Does a 5% offer on a slow day drive more orders? What about an email inviting guests to make a reservation for happy hour?
When we can better answer questions like these, we can replicate what’s working and iterate on what isn’t.
Data that drives decisions
Did you know…52% of operators aren’t using data to guide marketing?
While the term "data" may seem as dry as an overcooked Thanksgiving turkey, it's actually the secret ingredient that adds flavor to your marketing efforts. It holds the answer to the burning question: "Is what I'm doing actually working?"
In the Beginner’s Guide to Marketing, we talked about the different ways to measure channels like website, email, social, ordering and POS. It's time to bring all that delicious data together to create a mouthwatering map to marketing success.
Getting started with the numbers
Questions to ask your data:
First, ask: Which dishes are fan favorites?
Then: How can we highlight those dishes to entice people to order?
First, ask: What days/hours are the slowest ordering times?
Then: How can we drive more revenue during those times or adjust other operating costs when we’re slower (like reducing number of staff scheduled)?
Online Ordering Overview
Shameless plug…Popmenu provides this data AND makes it easy to read!
Marketing Overview
First, ask: Do I know how much of my revenue can be attributed to marketing?
Then: If not, what tools do you need to start connecting marketing activities to revenue?
First, ask: How does marketing influence online ordering?
Then: Identify what made those messages stand out and experiment with future efforts.
Put it into practice
Start looking for patterns in the data. Do you have a day of the week with an ordering slump? Try creating an offer or setting a campaign to entice guests to order during that off day and turn your least profitable day into your most profitable!
3 ways Libby’s Neighborhood Brasserie used data to drive business
Ramp up the slow days
Libby’s identified Monday and Tuesday as slow ordering days, so they instituted a 35% off discount deal for Monday and Tuesday for the summer.
They used data to earn nearly $20,000 in revenue from an offer in just one month. Bonus: Mon & Tues. are now their busiest ordering days.
Consolidated tools to save
The restaurant replaced their dollar-based loyalty program with an automated offer for a free appetizer that was already performing well.
They used data to consolidate costs while continuing to engage and reward guests.
Focused on quality over quantity
Libby’s evaluated the number of emails regularly being sent to guests and found they could send fewer emails without impacting open rates or marketing revenue.
They used data to be more mindful about the frequency of guest outreach without compromising revenue.
Lean on automation whenever possible.
61% of restaurant owners said they spend 3 hours or less on marketing per week.
Automate data capture
So we know the importance of guest data; and earlier we showed examples of how it can be collected. We also hinted that data capture can be made easy with automation…here’s how:
VIP popup
Create a VIP popup on your homepage that promotes the benefits of signing up. You can even sweeten the deal with a one-time offer like 5% off their first order!
Interactive menu
With a dynamic menu, every interaction a guest makes with a dish—a like, a review, or a reminder to try—automatically prompts a VIP follower sign up.
Online ordering flow
The online ordering process is a great place to grab an email and phone number for marketing down the line. Guests automatically become followers when placing their first order.
Automate emails
How do you know what to send? Or when to send it? How do we catch a guest’s attention at the right time? Well…automation helps.
Think about what happens after you make a purchase online—a “thank you” email lands in your inbox right? Then two days later, you get another one gently encouraging you toward another purchase. These emails are automatically triggered to send based on your browsing and purchase behavior. Guess what, the same can work for restaurants!
Automate emails
Remember that guest data? Your marketing tools use that info (like new VIP signups, dish likes, and past online orders) to send personalized emails automatically—so every new VIP follower gets a proper greeting, every order they place is followed by a reminder to leave a review, loyal guests earn rewards, and a previous guest receives a special offer inviting them back to dine at your restaurant again.
Ocean State Sandwich company uses automated emails to welcome new VIP followers, celebrate birthdays, encourage new reviews, and inform guests of restaurant happenings.
The restaurant has netted nearly $42,000 in online ordering from their marketing efforts, with $17,000 of that being driven by automated emails.
That’s $17,000 in revenue without lifting a finger.
Automate content creation
1 in 4 restaurant operators never send marketing emails and texts to guests. Why? 35% said they don’t know what message or visuals to use and 32% said they don’t have time. Sound a little familiar?
As the usage of artificial-intelligence (AI) continues to grow, so do automation capabilities. In fact, AI can actually help build content for you—so you can reserve your creativity for the kitchen.
Automate content creation
How it works:
AI-powered marketing tools pull from newly posted reviews, upcoming events, popular dishes and recently added menu items to recommend content.
AI generates (and re-generates) caption recommendations in seconds.
All that’s left to do is edit (if you want), approve and schedule.
Create a technology ecosystem.
Make the most of your marketing efforts, automate more personalized outreach, and be more efficient with connected tools.
The key ingredient: connectivity
We know data is the number one driver of personalization, automation and efficiency, but how do you ensure your data is detailed enough? The answer is in the connectivity of your technology.
Having a single tool to manage your website, marketing, ordering (and more...) is the secret ingredient to elevating your marketing game. It unlocks valuable insights about your guests and helps provide a clearer picture of what marketing activities are leading to orders, which need a trip back to the kitchen, and which should be sent to the chopping block.
Plus, automation and AI can only take things off your plate if the systems have enough insights to learn from. By leveraging connected tools, you provide the vital data and context that these systems need to whip up informed recommendations.
The bottom line:
The more connected your tools are, the more you can learn about your guests…and the more you learn about your guests, the more successful you’ll be at connecting with them and their appetites.
Other tools to advance your marketing.
Use the phone line to highlight events and specials, keep waiting guests engaged, and put your website to work—the modern day of marketing extends beyond just email, text and social media.
Ring in more revenue and reservations
What’s one thing most restaurants all have in common? A phone ringing off. the. hook.
Tech-savvy restaurants are leaning more on automated answering services to handle the influx of calling guests. Marketing-savvy restaurants are using the automated phone answering as an additional marketing channel.
“Hello, thank you for calling The Black Cat Bar & Grill. Join us this weekend for a tequila tailgate and sip on one of our famous Peach Margaritas. How may I help you today?”
Turn phone calls into marketing opportunities
Is your patio open?
Do you have live music tonight?
Can I place an order?
How late are you open?
I want to make a reservation.
Speaking of waitlisting
With custom greetings and responses, you can highlight upcoming events, special offers, new dishes, and send links to revenue-driving actions like reservations, online ordering and waitlisting.
Stop wasting your wait time
Your waitlist should do more than just help organize a list of names. A good digital waitlisting tool helps capture guest data, encourages guest engagement and upsells, increases table turnover, and drives more reviews to the menu (more data, hello!).
The best part? Almost all of it is automated, triggered by a few keystrokes from your host stand.
With an optimized website, GIOIA shows up as #1 on the results page for the search “best pizzeria in Hayes Valley”
Your website is the SEOcret sauce
The website is often overlooked as a marketing tool; but when it comes to its ability to capture new guests straight from the search bar, your website is key. Yep, we’re talking Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO is what influences your website’s position on results pages when guests search for things like “best pizza in Hayes Valley.” Put simply, optimizing for search helps your restaurant attract more people who are more likely to order from your restaurant.
Put it into practice
An important thing to remember about SEO, you will not be at the top of search results overnight. It takes time, engagement, and persistence to rank well in search engines; but there are some key factors to ensure your website is made to Google’s order:
Provide a mobile-friendly experience
Highlight key information like hours and location
Host different types of content (i.e., images, text, links)
Stay up-to-date with fresh information (e.g., new reviews, menu updates, etc.)
Websites that check all these boxes usually get placed higher in search results, attracting more guests to the website—all without cutting into time or spending a dime.
