Marketing a restaurant doesn’t just mean having a social media presence and website and hoping that your customers will come to you. In our modern age where people can connect with each other and businesses whenever they want, you need to be actively promoting your brand and your venue to gain their attention. Whether your guests are dining in or ordering to go, the success of your digital restaurant marketing depends on targeting the right audience, in the right places, at the right time.

1. Marketing a restaurant doesn’t just mean having a
social media presence and website and hoping that
your customers will come to you.
Whether your guests are dining in or ordering to go,
the success of your digital restaurant marketing
depends on targeting the right audience, in the right
places, at the right time.
Here are 5 Valuable Tips to get Your Digital Restaurant
Marketing right.
How to Create The
Best Digital Marketing Plan
for Your Restaurant

2. It is essential that you keep your online
platforms up to date with the latest information
about your restaurant – this should include
areas such as: opening and closing times,
accessibility, parking, the type/s of cuisine you
serve and any dietary restrictions (for example –
if you prepare dishes with nuts in them, you
need to let people know in case they have an
allergy).
You want to have all your relevant details easily
available so potential guests can find out exactly
what they want to know and make their
decisions without being put off by lack of
information or having to contact customer
services.
One of the most disappointing things that can
happen from a customer perspective when
ordering from a restaurant is finding something
incredible on the menu online, only to go to the
restaurant and discover that it’s no longer
available.
You Need to Keep Your Restaurant
Guests Up to Date.

3. The platforms that you update should
include:
Your Website
Review Sites
Your Social Media Channels
Third-Party Ordering Sites
You need to regularly review your online
information, whether you’ve made any recent
changes or not – especially on third-party
websites where glitches or problems may
affect your listing without you being aware of
it.
Updating your information regularly will help
reduce disappointment (especially with
seasonal dishes), increase the content you
can share with your social network, and help
you promote special events, as well as help
your brand maintain a good reputation.

4. When you create or update your restaurant website, you need to make sure that your graphics and
design match your brand voice, and accurately reflect who you are. For example – if you own a sleek
restaurant with expensive wines and high-class fine dining foods – then cutesy gifs of cartoon animals
would be inappropriate. However, if you run a restaurant that regularly sees families and young
children, and you have a children’s menu that you strongly want to promote – this approach could
work for you.
You need to keep in mind that your overall look, tone and design should apply to every image and
piece of content that you are creating. Your customers will find it easier to recognise and connect
with you if you’re projecting consistent branding.
Your Website Design and Visuals
Need to Be Fresh and Relevant.

5. When it comes to your content, ‘good enough’ is
NOT good enough – your content is what
advertises and appeals to customers, if you don’t
think it’s stunning, then why should they? As a
restaurant, you have plenty of access to potential
content – from the food, and the chef that makes it
to the front of house team and décor, there is a
wealth of imaginative content you can use to
market your establishment.
You should always double-check the grammar and
spelling in your social media posts and ensure that
you always use a clear and consistent tone of voice
– there’s nothing wrong with being a little casual (if
it fits the aesthetics of your venue) but you need to
make sure that you’re not going to use language
and phrases that could offend or be
misunderstood.
Professionalism is a vital part of customer service,
and customer service is key.

6. How you appear to your customers depends
not only on your own content – but how you
appear on review sites. The reputation of your
venue has a huge impact on whether or not a
person will decide to become a customer. You
need to reply to reviews as part of your
marketing efforts.
When you encounter good reviews, sending a
nice reply has three positive results for your
brand:
It shows the customer that you care about their
experience, making them feel welcomed and
valued, and more likely to return
People who are researching your brand will see
that you’re active and engaged, and that you’re
committed to giving a good experience –
increasing their likelihood of visiting
Good or Bad - You Need to Reply to
Your Restaurant Reviews

7. Search Engines will not only pick up the
positive sentiment from the original
review, but they will also index your
response – essentially giving you twice the
amount of positive search terms on each
review.
Negative reviews can feel difficult to deal
with, and there may be the temptation to
ignore it.
But, if left unchecked, a bad review will
discourage future visitors
(you may have answered the reviewer
privately, but other visitors won’t know
that – they’ll just assume that you didn’t
answer and you don’t care),
appear in the search results for your brand
with no balancing factors to change
people’s minds, and damage your overall
reputation.

8. Social media is one of the best ways to advertise your business to guests, no matter their
demographic – creating an optimised and relevant Marketing Plan will let you discover who your
audience are, what they expect from you and where they are posting, so you can focus your efforts in
the right place at the right time.
You need to have a presence on the main platforms – such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Depending on who your audience are, you should also consider using other platforms such as
Pinterest, YouTube and Tumblr. Even if you don’t plan on using all these channels at present, you
should still register an account with them – this will prevent someone else taking the name you want
to use, or masquerading as your venue and damaging your reputation.
Make Full Use of Your Restaurant
Pages on Social Media

9. You can use these platforms to share
special offers, photos of your food,
limited menu items, behind the scenes
looks, and relevant information to get
customers interested in visiting.
These platforms also help to turn
customers and guests into Brand
Ambassadors. If you offer visitors
incentives to share your content and
create their own about your restaurant,
you will reach a larger audience.

10. Google is one of the biggest and most
popular search engines, and it’s important
that your venue is getting seen in the
results. Google Business points people to
venues in the areas they are looking for. It
positively effects your outreach, because it
provides information in just a couple of
clicks, allowing people to find out what they
need to know about your restaurant.
You need to invest time into your Google
Business presence, and make sure
everything is up to date to put your
restaurant on the map.
You Should Promote Your
Restaurant on
Google Business

11. Technology and access to the internet has
changed the way your customers are choosing
where to dine.
Your customers make their decisions based not
only on their personal preferences, but quality,
brand values, and the experience of others.
Your marketing strategy will help promote you
to the right people, in the right places, at the
right time.
When you’ve got a flexible and optimised
strategy, you can maintain long-term
relationships with current customers,
encourage new guests, and be the venue that
people remember.
Why Your Restaurant Marketing
is an Investment

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