How to Use the Internet to Market a Local Restaurant

Do you run a restaurant? Are you struggling to get people through the door? If you’re confident with the quality of your food, there’s one distinct possibility why you are receiving restricted footfall: a lack of effective marketing.

When taking into account the amount of work needed on a day-to-day basis to run a restaurant, it can be hard to find the time for any form of promotion. You might have sent out leaflets to local addresses or taken out a newspaper ad in the past, but these traditional marketing methods only have a limited lifespan and reach.

This is where the importance of online marketing comes into play. You may have dismissed going online in the past as you’re only targeting a local audience. Yet when you consider nearly 50% of Google searches are attempting to find local information, it’s an untapped market ripe for picking.

Start a website

All too often, you search for a restaurant and all you find is a simple Facebook page. While the page might contain a few pictures, reviews, and general details, it’s far from the hub of information and personalization that a website can offer. Not to mention that having a dedicated site helps to boost the perception of professionalism from your restaurant.

At least, that is the case if you have a high-quality website. It’s advised to choose a specialist web design company who can craft a modern, sleek website with all the right keywords. They can also enhance the website with your restaurant menu, an online reservation platform, and so on.

Plan out a marketing strategy

It’s important to map out a strategy when doing online marketing. This is because there are many points to consider, including:

• Setting up social media accounts.
• Listing the restaurant on Google My Business and other platforms
• Running competitions
• Writing blog posts with relevant local keywords in mind

As mentioned previously, the nature of running a restaurant likely means you have a restricted amount of time to plan an effective marketing strategy. With that in mind, it would pay off to bring on-board a marketing consultant. They can take the time to organize the perfect plan, and you can be reassured they have the know-how to maximize results.

Attain reviews

You don’t need a consultant’s help to know that reviews are integral for any restaurant to be successful. If your business manages to rank among the top local eateries on the likes of TripAdvisor and Yelp, it will receive a significant amount of new trade from customers on the lookout for their next hotspot in the area. Additionally, positive reviews serve as evidence that your food is well worth sampling.

There’s just one problem: How do you get these reviews? You don’t want to be overly pushy to customers and ask for their support in an outward manner, as this could act as a deterrent if anything. Arguably the best course of action is to, first, ensure the quality of the restaurant’s food and service is top notch. Then you could have small signs around the restaurant – and your website/social media – indicating how helpful a five-star review would be for the future of your business.