Top 10 Restaurant Marketing Tactics To Follow To Influence Your Sales Game In 2021

Did you know that your current marketing strategy isn’t going to drive your sales in 2021?

The time when you created an efficient marketing strategy was during pre covid times.

Those times were different, your diners wouldn’t think twice to visit your restaurant and enjoy the ambience.

Fast-forwarding to today, the same diners are hesitant. The covid-19 scare has converted diners to becoming hesitant, scared, and unsure about doing anything as soon as they step out of their homes.

While lockdowns, curfews, and restrictions are easing, your restaurant marketing game needs to be changed. In simple terms, it needs to adapt to the current situation.

After reading tons of advice, articles, and other related information, we have curated this blog that consists of the top 10 marketing tactics that will guarantee the below results:

• Win the trust of hesitant diners to dine in your restaurant
• Capture new diners organically
• Increase a steady sales growth
• Bring your restaurant business back in the game

If the above results are on your checklist to achieve, it’s time to buckle up.

Let’s get started.

Top 10 Restaurant Marketing Tactics to Follow to Influence Your Sales Game in 2021

1. Build A Memorable Brand Image

Did you know that creating an impression about your brand in your diner’s mind can create a memorable memory for them?

How many times have you remembered a brand based on their packaging styles or how they contribute to the environment etc?

Creating a brand image isn’t limited to just being active on social media. There is more that you can do to be memorable in the mind of your diners.

Let’s understand this with an example:

Adam is a loyal diner in your restaurant but due to covid-19, he has become hesitant to dine in. Until one day he decides to order from your restaurant.

Adam realized that you’ve started a text messaging service where he can instantly book and track his orders. To make this even better, with the text messaging option, he can choose between a door-to-door delivery or a contactless delivery. For a hesitant Adam, this process worked like a charm.

A happy Adam then works as a word of mouth advertiser informing all his friends and family how easy and safe ordering is from your restaurant. Thus tomorrow if his friends want to order from a safe and hygienic restaurant, they will consider your brand as this is the brand image they will have of you.

You can build your brand image in multiple ways such as:

• Enhancing your services with diners for instance with the takeout process learned above
• Exhibiting convenience to your diners when using any of your services
• Exhibit your USPs that keeps you apart from your competitors such as using environmentally friendly products while packaging etc

A good brand image can work wonders for your brand and this impact is evident with the increase in sales-driven actions such as table bookings, takeout orders, and more.

2. Keep Your Online Reputation Well

Let’s understand this better with an example:

Say that your restaurant has got a bad review. There are comments about your restaurant from a few dissatisfied customers.

What would you do?

Refrain from responding to those comments or replying to those comments with empathy?

Many times businesses, especially restaurant businesses believe that not responding to a bad comment is a better choice. But sadly this action only worsens it. You have an online reputation to sustain. We also understand that not everyone would like your restaurant but that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a try to change their opinion.

This is what it will look like if you respond to all those negative comments:

• Your new diners will appreciate you replying back
• They will get the image of how highly you prioritize their opinions

This action could even lead a few of them to try out your restaurant to experience your service.

However, if you choose to not reply to those comments, this is what it will look like on your brand image:

• Diners will believe that you don’t care about their opinions
• Shows lack of interest from the restaurant’s end

This could only create a big assumption and deprive new diners of even considering your restaurant. Work on your online reputation with grace and an open mind. Cater to all diners that come to your restaurant. With time, seeing the changes you’ve made, they will come back to try once again.

3. Exhibit the Covid-19 Precautions Undertaken

The pandemic is here to stay and it will take some more time for it to vanish completely from our lives. As stated earlier, your diners are hesitant and scared to consider dining in your restaurant given the situation. Hence it would help if you exhibit all the covid-19 precautions you’re taking while marketing to them such as:

• Create images or visuals portraying how safe and hygienic your restaurant is and set your marketing campaigns based on this
• Use your social media handle to share stories and feed posts based on the safety of your restaurant. Use videos to retain better attention.
• Create short video clips or even better reels to showcase the changes your restaurant has made post covid such as seating arrangements, temperature checks, sanitization of staff, and more. Share these video clips when posting on social media, on your website, when sharing offers and discounts, and more. Seeing these video clippings will calm down a hesitant diner and make them consider dining in your restaurant again.

4. Create Meaningful Content Via Social Media

Social media isn’t limited to stories and post feeds. There is so much more than you can do with the use of social media.

We have covered the top tips you can do with social media which may have been hidden from your sight:

• Reels are trending. Use reels to exhibit your restaurant better. Instagram offered tons of features such as boomerang and more to exhibit your content in a better manner.
• Revamp one corner of your restaurant. Use the minds of versatile artists that can create a space for Instagram publishing. This will help as when your diners come in and see such colourful arts, they will surely Instagram it and your restaurant will go viral online with a single post
• Keep up with social media trends so that your restaurant staff can do the same. For instance, there is a current trend that is doing the rounds on Instagram such as this, the ‘don’t talk to me’ trend. You can use this trend in multiple ways such as restaurants that don’t place sanitizer in front doors and your staff replying to this by doing the trend. You can then display how your restaurant places sanitizer.

5. Create an Impactful SEO Strategy

When it comes to ranking any content piece or website on Google’s first page, we all know that SEO is the tool that makes this happen. ‘’SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media.’’This is exactly why creating an SEO strategy matters. For instance, if a diner searches for ‘restaurants near me’, your restaurant name should be on that list.

Using SEO keywords, you’re making it so much easier for your diners to find you from the tough crowd. This action can help you cater to them much faster than your competitors will. Hence to conduct efficient SEO action, it is always suggested to use an expert’s help on the same.

6. Achieve One Restaurant Goal Each Term

When you announce that your restaurant will achieve the set goals each term, your diners will stay tuned to see how you get it done. For each term, plan a goal for your restaurant. It could be anything such as upgrading the menu, introducing new dishes from various cuisines, going environment friendly, and more. Doing this upscales your restaurant business and works as a great marketing tactic that speaks louder than words.

7. Encourage Takeout Orders

With the pandemic, takeout orders are the right source to drive more revenue at the moment. ‘’60% of restaurant operators say that offering delivery has generated incremental sales.’’However, make use of this opportunity to win over your diners by sending regular offers and discounts to your diners, with every takeout order mention the delivery person’s temperature checks, give away sanitizers and masks for free, etc. This is a great marketing tactic you can use to convince your diners about the safety and cleanliness your restaurant is implementing post covid.

8. Write Food-Related Blog Content

Food content is one of the best reads by multiple foodies around the world. Use this opportunity to tap new diners’ attention and engage your loyal diners towards your restaurant. Hire food bloggers that could write about the following:

• Style of cooking different cuisines
• Freshness of ingredients
• How well the food is cooked
• Story of each food

Ps: Hire an experienced photographer that can click images that will make diners hungry for more.

9. Invest In Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is booming and if you’re not using this as your marketing tactic, you’re missing out on so much. Influencers have a great following base and these followers listen and practice what their influencers preach. So if an influencer says that the deserts at your restaurant are their go-to choices, their fans will start placing orders. ‘’49% of Consumers Depend on Influencer Recommendations.’’

Never underestimate the power of influencer marketing. To get started, follow the below tips:

• Research the top influencers in your industry
• Explore their page/social media handle/website
• Observe how they closely engage with their followers
• Learn their follower’s impressions of them via comments
• Engage with the influencers
• Invite them to either dine-in or send in regular goodies to promote your restaurant
• Treat them well such as considering their feedbacks, sending them food on their special occasions such as birthdays when they cross a certain number of followers, etc

10. Use Text Messaging Service

Text messaging or as we know it as SMS can work wonders with your marketing strategies if you use it the right way. As a business, we are all so overwhelmed in using only the popular tools, but what we fail to see is that tools like SMS can prove to be beneficial for anyone who uses it. ‘’59% of consumers would prefer receiving direct communications from businesses rather than having to download a separate app on their phone.’’

SMS for restaurants can market your business much better. Here’s proof:

• There are multiple SMS marketing solutions available online where they allow you to create bulk marketing campaigns instantly and reach a wider audience in a single click. This saves your time to do the same and drives quicker sales driven results
• With SMS, engaging with diners becomes easy. You can always engage with diners related to offers, discounts, queries, and more. This easy engagement can help in reducing hesitant diners’ fears much faster.
• With SMS, the limit is 160 characters to send a message, hence any marketing message you send to diners using this platform will be crisp and to the point. Thus the content will demand immediate action from their end.
• With SMS, your restaurant can send alerts or reminders about table bookings, orders confirmations, and more, making it easy for diners to know their food status
• Since SMS has higher open rates, the chances of your marketing message being read is high ‘’Text marketing is incredibly effective, with SMS open rates as high as 98%.’’

The Bottom Line…

So these are the top 10 marketing tactics you need to grow your restaurant business post covid keeping all the new issues in mind one such being dealing with hesitant diners.

While you focus on marketing well for your business, as stated above, you also need a great engagement process. When you engage well with your diners, clearing their fears and convincing them to dine in your restaurant becomes one step easy. Hence to conduct smooth engagements, using a text messaging service will help (as learned in the 10th point). ‘’SMS messaging is one of the fastest ways to reach consumers directly. 60% of consumers say they read a text within 5 minutes of receiving it. ‘’