2021 is more than half gone, and we haven’t come to terms with this year yet. For most of us, it looks like the year has just started. And now since most of the markets are open, we are crawling back to track. Restaurant advertising also needs to keep up with the times, as the times have changed for sure. Same old stuff no longer works for us, and new technology is beyond comprehension for some of us.
In that scenario, how do we keep up?
What’s the recourse for us?
Well, we are not going to be masters of new technologies, especially digital marketing. That’s the job of IT experts, they are the creators of it. But we can’t survive if we don’t learn to ride this bandwagon. So, definitely we need to start using it for our business. In short, we need to start with becoming a user.
Then, we need to become a power user.
And, a smart user.
Next few years, business results will substantially vary between technology users, Power users and Smart users. Let’s understand the difference amongst these categories. Especially in the context of restaurant advertising.
A newbie or a basic technology user is someone who just can glance through basic digital media and perform some basic stuff. For example, he / she can write posts on social media, click some photographs and use graphics to turn them into creative assets, maybe use sms or whatsapp messaging for customer promotion or loyalty offers etc. But nothing much.
At this level, users also face challenges in terms of judging an agency’s work in terms of quality and results. This is the category who is a “DREAM” client for any agency. Not in the true sense, exactly. These are the dream clients because they can spend more money (As they are a little shy of technology but don’t want to accept that) and can ask very few probing questions.
The next category is what I call “Power Users”. They are aware about life beyond Facebook and Google. They are familiar with all social media platforms, maybe have used paid promotions on these platforms as well. They can look through the various charts and analytics these Social Media giants throw at them, and occasionally make sense out of them as well. They have started their journey of leveraging digital marketing for their business, but a lot more is still desired.
The last category is “Smart Users”. They may not be the real IT expert, but they have just adequate knowledge about it so that they can use it for their business advantage. This category clearly understands that there is a difference between “A Cool Feature” and “Business Results” and very often, they are not the same. They are smart enough to decide in favour of business results rather than jazzy look and feel. They use a lot of automation to make their life simple, and often track results end to end.
My idea in this article is to move you slightly towards “Smart User” with these simple to follow hacks and tips. Some tips can give you immediate benefit, whereas some can take 2-3 months to practice and implement that. Some of these may appear very simple, but the key lies in consistency. If you consistently follow it, you will see results in a couple of months.
So, here they are. Not in terms of importance or anything, but in random order.
- Start becoming Insta friendly
- Use Macro lens for next level food images
- Use Google my Business
- First Time Visitor tag
- Delivery Mechanism
- Build a Funnel
- Use Automation
Become Insta Friendly: You are probably very active on Facebook, but what about Instagram. Get on to this platform, if you are not already there. Why? Simple answer – organic each. Instagram provides one of the best organic reach in today’s scenario. Plus, you can start using the hashtags / reels / shout outs in a smart way and get more popular without paying a single rupee. How do you do that? Well, start with spending more than 1 hour on this platform everyday.
Macro Lens: If you are running a restaurant / cloud kitchen / cafe, chances are you are clicking loads of food pictures. You may engage a professional photo artist once in a while, but you can’t do away with your own pics. If you are not great at clicking these drool-worthy shots, it’s time to upgrade to macro lens in your phone or camera. Most of the mobiles have it these days, and if you own a DSLR, you already know what i am saying. Practically, you don’t need a DSLR for a nice pic, just use the right setting, light and colors. If your food pictures are ‘edible’, believe me, you don’t need any other prop in marketing your eatery.
If you are interested in exploring more ways to make your restaurant marketable, why don’t you check out this course (The Clickable Restaurant)?
Google my Business: Are you listed on “Google My Business”? If not, then stop everything and do it today. Just go to this page and list your restaurant. It’s very simple and you get step by step instructions on screen. If you are already on it, are you leveraging its true potential? For example, how many reviews are there on your page and what do they say about you? What kind of photos have you got up there? Is your contact details, menu etc updated? Have you tried running a search ad from there (“Restaurant Near me” has more than 2 lacs search on Google every day in India)? If your page is relevant and updated, Google will show this on the right side of search results (The best possible positioning and its FREE; you can’t buy this space in google ads). Google my Business remains one of the most under-utilized areas in restaurant advertising.
First Time Visitor Tag: Time to time, you are running many campaigns to attract first time customers. You generally have a very aggressive offer to attract first time visitors. But are you giving him the best-in-class service (in case of dine-in)? If not, then he will not come back. And if this customer doesn’t come back, you will never be able to generate positive returns on your advertising rupee. Now, how do you ensure a top rated service for all such customers. Define a secret code within your restaurant. Either a different colored napkin on the table, or a different glass for water, or anything else. But just enough to ensure that your staff identify him, and not loud enough that everybody identifies him. Subtlety is the key. But once you have identified him, your staff will try their best to give him top rated service. That increases his chance of return, and your chance to grow your customer base. Very simple thing, but has worked as a charm at most of the places where we have tried it.
Delivery Mechanism: Most of you are using Food Aggregators (Zomato / Swiggy etc) for your food delivery requirements. Some of you have probably built your entire business model around it (especially cloud kitchens). But if you want a long term sustainable business you have to think beyond. You have to start developing your own channel. You can start with just one delivery staff and receive orders on phone / whatsapp. You don’t need sophisticated software and an army of delivery riders on day one. Build your system slowly as you go. But make a start. If you don’t start this today, you may not get a second chance in future.
Build a Funnel: In my study of working with restaurants of different sizes, I have reached a simple conclusion related to marketing. It is all about building a funnel. One restaurant needs a total funnel size of 5,000 onwards with prospects at different stages. If 5,000 people know your brand, and have a favorable opinion about you, you can generate a self-sustaining system of marketing, funnel conversion and sales and this entire system will work with a clockwork precision. If you are a multi-cuisine restaurant with more than 50 covers, you need a funnel size of 10,000. That’s it. If you hit this number, you will achieve your daily sales target with more accuracy, your targeted advertisements and offer will yield predictable results, and your spot offers will be lapped up by waiting prospects. Now the question is, how do you build a funnel of this size? More on that in some other article, as this is a huge subject. But you can start with noting down your walk-in and delivery customer details. If you serve 30 customers every day, in about 8 months you will have 5,000+ funnel size (And these are customers, not prospects.)
Use Automation: There are various small tasks associated with restaurant operations. Like, If there is a customer’s birthday, you should send him greetings. Or even better, send some customized party offer one week in advance. If someone has given good ratings on Your google page, send him a little thank you note. Or, sending some targeted campaigns on starters for those customers who ordered starters during the last 90 days. There are simple software automation available for all such routine but critical tasks. These tasks may appear routine, but your customers judge you with your speed of response on such routine activities. So, start automating them. That will give you a lot of peace of mind. No, you don’t have to be an IT geek for these automation. Just check out sites like Zapier, Integrately etc.
Advertising your restaurant is an ongoing effort towards establishing your business. My intention is to give you some simple hacks which you could practice yourself. Here is your opportunity to grow towards a smart IT user.
Tell me how it goes. I would love to hear from you.
Randheer