Do you share this top tech concern? Asking these questions may help.

For the second consecutive year, digital marketing is the top tech priority for restaurants, according to a new survey of 550 restaurant operators from Restaurant Business and Nation’s Restaurant News. This is especially true for fast-casual brands, with 60 percent of them noting digital marketing as their top tech priority. That said, 36 percent of operators overall said they were dissatisfied with the current digital marketing tools available and 37 percent were dissatisfied with their digital loyalty program. That’s quite a bit higher than the dissatisfaction they report experiencing with their POS system or kitchen display system, for example.
Why the frustration? Some themes have emerged about where digital tools can improve. Synchronizing content across channels can be inconsistent — and the layout of the content within those channels may not be optimal for the user. Operators are also not as confident as they could be that they are optimizing the consumer data they collect.
Does any of this sound familiar? If you’re among the operators looking to invest in digital marketing tools this year, asking questions in several areas may help you get clarity as you discuss your needs with marketing vendors. For example, how well are you managing your online reputation? (I.e., when a negative review comes in, how quickly do you respond — and what are you doing to address the root cause?) When you change menu prices (or booking information or other aspects of your guests experience), is the information consistent across your physical and digital sales channels? Are you highly visible in online searches of local restaurants? Do you have a consistent presence on social media, with content that suits the strengths of each platform — like behind-the-scenes videos on TikTok, beautiful images of your food on Instagram and community building on Facebook? Are you segmenting and personalizing your marketing messages to guests? Are your most successful competitors approaching marketing any differently? How are you using your data to assess “known and unknown unknowns” about your business? Could you be doing anything more with your data to extract value from it? What support do you currently lack that could help you improve in these areas? Identifying your problem areas can help you zero in on where a vendor may be of best use to you — or where they may not be an ideal fit.