Cuisine options vary by region, and marketing should, too. Restaurant owners depend on consistent, targeted marketing to raise awareness about their business in a crowded space. Whether you’re constrained by geographical considerations or offer a niche restaurant concept, spread the word with local restaurant marketing.
How can a restaurant owner possibly have time to invest in an effective marketing strategy? Email marketing, loyalty programs, and social media updates typically fall behind your daily operational activities, like managing cash flow and kitchen efficiency. Dedicating the necessary resources to this critical business function can be what makes or breaks a local restaurant.
Other than menus and silverware, you bring real customer data that you can extract from your POS, as well as the rich history of hearing from your customers to understand what benefits really make you stand out. That data is valuable to every marketing regiment. You bring a database of emails and phone numbers both personally and professionally. These items are a gold mine when leveraged the right way for local restaurant marketing.
If you are going to win in your local market, then these areas of marketing are pivotal into making this a reality:
With over 2 billion people active on social media, the odds are extremely high that your local customers are active there, too. Identify which of the social media channels make the most sense for your crowd (hint: millennials are not on Facebook anymore).
Email still has the strongest return on investment in the digital arena at a whopping 30 to 1. Do you have a loyalty club? How often are you reaching out to them and giving them a reason to come back? Platforms like Constant Contact make it easy to put together some straight forward email marketing campaigns.
Using opt-in, text-based, coupons is hot right now. We have several chains using this strategy well by partnering it with the paid social media marketing. Every guest should be asked to get on an SMS list, so you can market one to one with them in the future.
Make sure you show up in the local Google 3-pack for geo-based searches within a few miles of your location. These are the top three listing that appear with a correlating map. Optimize your profile in every director listing possible.
Does that sound like a lot of work? Investing in a local marketing agency like Blueprint can make all the difference in not just bridging the gap between you and the local competition; great agency work can a be a springboard into an otherwise unforeseen future of higher profits and raving fans. Here are three reasons why using an agency for local restaurant marketing is a good idea:
Blueprint Digital is the solution for local restaurant marketing. We have worked with big chains like The Habit Burger Grille, Jimboy’s Tacos, and Flippin’ Pizza. We have also worked with local restaurants like Seasons Bistro. We have the experience and expertise to make sure your local restaurant marketing turns heads and fills bellies.
