Get people talking about your restaurant with these 10 tips. These are some innovative ways to get people to chat in person and online about your eatery.
This is a challenge that many restaurant owners face when trying to generate sales and grow their businesses. So, we’ve come up with 10 solutions to help your restaurant stand out and dominate your local market.
10 Tips to Get Consumers Bragging & Talking About Your Restaurant
Today, Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is still the hottest trend in driving restaurant sales. When people share their personal experiences, others listen. According to a Pew Research report, 72% of consumers make buying decisions after getting recommendations from family and friends. And in today’s market, many consumers turn to WOMM via online posts, comments and reviews.
Here are 10 ways to improve your restaurant’s marketing reach by tapping into the WOMM arena:
1. Offer Something Unique
There’s no better way to get people talking about your restaurant than to stand out from the crowd. Offering something unique helps you rise above your local competition while improving your online reach.
So, how can you offer distinctive products and services to your current and potential customers? Here are some ideas:
- Offer a unique or themed menu
- Provide a variety of entertainment choices
- Give the eatery some pizzazz with interesting décor
When you infuse things into your brand offerings that your customers can’t experience anywhere else in your area, it helps your restaurant leave lasting impressions. This leads those customers to talk about their memorable experiences with others, driving more sales to your business.
2. Offer Restaurant Promotions
Most consumers love a good promotion. Who doesn’t enjoy saving money or getting something for free? Your promos will not only get more people sitting down for delicious meals, but they will also get people talking about the promo with family, friends, co-workers and other locals and tourists.
Here are some cool promo ideas to help you get started:
- Offer discounted prices on a specific day each week
- Promote a “happy hour” discount to reel in the lunch or after-work crowds
- Sponsor monthly raffles that award free meals or appetizers to winning participants
- Provide customers with punch cards that come with discounts after 10 official punches
3. Host Special Restaurant Events
Special events get locals talking, which drives more vacationers to your establishment. They will also be more motivated to share their experiences with others looking for things to do in your area.
Here are some special events for restaurants that you should consider sponsoring:
- Holiday celebrations with decorations all the bells and whistles
- Offer a night of live music entertainment provided by a locally famous artist
- Create unique nights such as “90s theme,” or “singles night” for niche-specific marketing
- Offer extraordinary events such as Karaoke, open mic or comedy hour nights
4. Launch a Referral Program
Keep your referral programs simple, while offering your customers instant rewards for bringing others to your restaurant. Instead of creating a loyalty program that’s complicated or requires customers to keep up with cards to track rewards, keep it simple and fun.
Here are a couple of ideas for creating referral programs that actually help attract new customers while keeping your loyal customers coming back for more:
- Offer a freebie every time someone brings a friend, such as a free bowl of ice cream
- Allow customers to track their “points” online using an app, which allows you to track which deals perform the best
- Give customers the option to redeem their points online for delivery orders or in-store for even more brick-and-mortar traction
5. Provide Digital Access
Thanks to the pandemic, many consumers have become accustomed to ordering food online. Take advantage of this growing trend by offering your customers a mobile experience. This definitely improves sales with customers who need to save time ordering and picking up food on their lunch breaks.
Here are some tips for getting people to talk about your restaurant and its digital ordering process:
- Get a mobile application developed specifically for your brand
- Provide digital menus so customers can quickly and easily place orders online
- Upload your restaurant’s details and menu to Yelp and Google and provide links back to your online ordering platform
6. Keep Yelp and Google Profiles Updated
Google My Business and Yelp help drive traffic to local restaurants. Consumers use these platforms to leave and read reviews about restaurants in areas where they want to dine. So, you must provide 4-star and 5-star service and food to gain those types of reviews.
It’s also equally important that you keep your listings up to date on these platforms. This ensures that potential customers have access to updated menus, events, specials, photos and announcements that get people talking about your restaurant. Yelp also allows you to offer special discounts specifically for its users.
7. Give Back to the Local Community
Giving back to your community is an excellent way to get people talking about your restaurant. Consumers love associating themselves with local establishments that volunteer or provide community services in some way.
However, you must advertise these community efforts to get the word out about them. Place a banner on your brick-and-mortar window or give away free tee-shirts to others to help you advertise these types of events:
- Donate to and help serve free food at a homeless shelter
- Organize a fundraiser to support a local cause
- Participate in a food drive for local children
8. Utilize the Power of Social Media
If your restaurant doesn’t have a social media presence, you are doing your business a great disservice. Social media marketing is one of the greatest tools for driving new business these days. The more your posts get like, comments and shares, the more online buzz is created for your brand.
So, make sure your restaurant can be found on social networks. And be sure to post new updates regularly. These posts must immediately capture the attention of your intended target audience. Here are some tips to get people chatting online about your restaurant:
- Upcoming events
- New menu items
- Weekly specials
- Pictures of your most popular dishes
9. Make Sure Your Food Is Worth Sharing
Enticing pictures are the key to getting others to share your restaurant’s social media posts. Most chefs are experts at creating gorgeous presentations that make dishes look delectable. These types of images compel diners to want to try your cuisine.
You should also encourage guests to take compelling pictures of your mouth-watering dishes and share them on their own social media platforms. Do this by creating some type of incentive, such as weekly drawings for customers who post images of your food while tagging your restaurant and using a specified hashtag of your choice.
10. Join Local Restaurant Directories
Listing your restaurant on local online directories helps you build your brand as well as your online presence. The cool thing about these directories is that once you list your business, you never have to bother with the listing again unless you need to make major changes, such as a location move.
Yelp and Google My Business are top choices for most small businesses. But many others help get people talking about your restaurant. Melanin Foodie is an online eatery directory dedicated to Black-owned restaurants in the U.S.
You can promote your African American-owned restaurant on Melanin Foodie in just three simple steps:
- Claim Your Listing – Once claimed, you have full access to make changes and updates to your listing as needed
- Promote Your Listing – Place your listing for free or upgrade it to increase your online reach with such add-ons as lead capture forms and online bookings
- Convert Your Leads – Turn potential visitors into paying customers with special services, deals and offers featured on your listing page
Ready to Get People Talking About Your Restaurant?
Join the Melanin Foodie restaurant directory dedicated specifically to Black-owned restaurants. Add your restaurant to our database to increase your online reach and customer sales. Click the link below to start your listing now.
