Do you feel social media posting pressure? The need to post regularly to stay relevant can cause restaurant operators to focus too much on social media networks and neglect their website, which is the one place where you have full control over content (and is therefore where your online focus should be). Does your restaurant’s website tick all of the boxes when it comes to attracting visitors and giving them what they need? The Digital Restaurant suggests all restaurant websites have five features: First, you (likely) need a mobile-friendly design with mobile analytics, since most people are probably finding you with a mobile device. Just check Google Analytics first to confirm that your site is getting a lot of traffic from mobile devices before you invest in new design. Make sure your restaurant’s basic information is updated and complete. It should include your address and directions, operating hours, menu and nutritional information, phone number and email address/contact form. Next, ensure your site is easy to navigate, loads pages quickly and has a design that complements the design of your physical restaurant. Sites like https://www.usertesting.com/ can provide objective feedback about the experience of navigating your website. Four, provide some testimonials and social proof that other guests have had great experiences with you. That means integrating links to your social media networks and showing positive reviews from sites like Yelp. Finally, email continues to be the way to keep your guest connections strong, so provide links to subscribe to your email list – via a pop-up invitation and in relevant places on your site. Of course, once you have those basics down, you can continue to fine-tune your site with engaging photos, location-based personalization, online ordering and reservations, search engine optimization, and content marketing such as recipes, videos, articles or other content about your food, staff, values or other topics designed to help guests connect with your brand.
At a time when Instagram is helping restaurant menu items go viral and having a well-curated social media presence is billed as a must for a growing business, it can be easy to overlook the power of email. But the numbers tell an important story: According to research from the Direct Marketing Association and Demand Metric, the return on investment for email marketing is 122 percent compared to just 28 percent for social media (other marketing channels rank similarly low). Email carries a number of benefits. When you pour your marketing dollars and ideas into your email list, you retain control of what happens next. You’re not at the mercy of changes to a social media network’s algorithm and you stand a better chance of reaching your most loyal guests directly. Your email subject line has the power to prompt the recipient’s action at the time you send it — you’re not competing with content on a person’s social media feed or having to wait until people visit their account. As The Rail suggests, you can use your data to deliver a more customized experience via email, sending messages when you know your list is most apt to open them and with a mix of images, video and text depending on what you’d like to promote. There are also ample email tools to target guests with not just birthday promotions but also deals that consider their personal preferences and ordering habits. OptinMonster suggests using your list for such tasks as nurturing your loyalty program and spelling out its benefits, winning back guests who haven’t visited in a while, or following up with people who made a Groupon deal or otherwise expressed interest in your restaurant but haven’t visited yet.
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