MODULE II -

MARKETING
FUNDAMENTA
LS FOR
RESTAURANTS
 
 RESTAURANT MARKETING: IDEAS AND STRATEGIES
What is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is a document

that lays out the marketing efforts
of a business in an upcoming
period, which is usually a year. It
outlines the marketing strategy,
promotional, and advertising
activities planned for the period.

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 Elements of a Marketing Plan
a.) Marketing objectives of the business: The objectives should be attainable and
 
measurable – two goals associated with SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

b.) Current business marketing positioning: An analysis of the current state of the
organization concerning its marketing positioning.

c.) Market research: Detailed research about current market trends, customer needs, industry
sales volumes, and expected direction.

d.) Outline of the business target market: Business target market demographics.

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e.) Marketing activities: A list of any actions concerning marketing goals that
are scheduled for the period and the indicated timelines.

f.) Key performance indicators (KPIs) to be tracked

g.) Marketing mix: A combination of factors that may influence customers to

purchase products. It should be appropriate for the organization and will largely
be centered on the 4Ps of marketing – i.e., product, price, promotion, and place.

h.) Competition: Identify the organization’s competitors and their strategies,

along with ways to counter competition and gain market share.

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i.) Marketing strategies: The development of marketing strategies to be
employed in the coming period. These strategies will include promotional
strategies, advertising, and other marketing tools at the disposal of the
organization.

j.) Marketing budget: A detailed outline of the organization’s allocation of

financial resources to marketing activities. The activities will need to be carried
out within the marketing budget.

k.) Monitoring and performance mechanism: A plan should be in place to

identify if the marketing tools in place are bearing fruit or need to be revised
based on the past, current, and expected future state of the organization,
industry, and the overall business environment.

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 “
A marketing plan should
observe the 80:20 rule – i.e.,
for maximum impact, it should
focus on the 20% of products
and services that account for
80% of volumes and the 20%
of customers that bring in
80% of revenue.

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 Purpose of a Marketing Plan

 To clearly define the marketing objectives of the business that align with the
corporate mission and vision of the organization. The marketing objectives
indicate where the organization wishes to be at any specific period in the
future.
 The marketing plan usually assists in the growth of the business by stating
appropriate marketing strategies, such as plans for increasing the customer
base.
 State and review the marketing mix in terms of the 8Ps of marketing –
Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence, and
Performance.

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 Strategies to increase market share, enter new niche markets, and
increase brand awareness are also encompassed within the marketing
plan.
 The marketing plan will contain a detailed budget for the funds and
resources required to carry out activities indicated in the marketing
plan.
 The assignment of tasks and responsibilities of marketing activities is
well enunciated in the marketing plan.
 The identification of business opportunities and any strategies crafted
to exploit them is important.

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 A marketing plan fosters the review and analysis of the marketing
environment, which entails market research, customer needs
assessment, competitor analysis, PEST analysis, studying new
business trends, and continuous environmental scanning.

 A marketing plan integrates business functions to operate with

consistency – notably sales, production, finance, human resources,
and marketing.

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 Structure of a Marketing Plan

a. Marketing Plan Objectives

 This section outlines the expected outcome of the marketing plan with
clear, concise, realistic, and attainable objectives. It contains specific
targets and time frames.

 Metrics, such as target market share, the target number of customers to be

attained, penetration rate, usage rate, sales volumes targeted, etc. should be
used.

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b. Market Research – Market Analysis/Consumer Analysis

 Market analysis includes topics such as market definition, market size,

industry structure, market share and trends, and competitor analysis.
Consumer analysis includes the target market demographics and what
influences their buying decisions – e.g., loyalty, motivation, and
expectations.

c. Target Market

 This defines the target customers by their demographic profile, such as

gender, race, age, and psychographic profile, such as their interests. This
will assist in the correct marketing mix for the target market segments.

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d. SWOT Analysis
 A SWOT analysis will look at the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external
opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis includes the following:

 Strengths are the organization’s competitive advantages that are not easily duplicated. They
represent the skills, expertise, and efficiencies that an organization possesses over its
competitors.

 Weaknesses are impediments found in the operations of an organization, and they stifle growth.
These can include outdated machinery, inadequate working capital, and inefficient production
methods.

 Opportunities are prospects for growth in the business through the adoption of ways to take
advantage of the chances. They could include entry into new markets, adopting digital
marketing strategies, or following new trends.

 Threats are external factors that can affect the business negatively, such as a new powerful
competitor, legislative changes, natural disasters, or political situations.

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e. Marketing Strategy

 The marketing strategy section covers actual strategies to be included according to the marketing mix.
The strategy centers on the 8Ps of marketing. However, firms are also at liberty to use the traditional 4
P’s of marketing – product, price, place, and promotion. The 8 P’s are illustrated below.

 The correct marketing mix is determined by the target market. The most expensive options are
advertising, sales promotions, and PR campaigns. Networking and referrals are less costly.

 Marketers also need to pay attention to digital marketing strategies that make use of technology to reach
a wider market and have also proven to be cost-effective.

 Digital marketing channels, which became popular in the early 21st century, may eventually overtake
traditional marketing methods. Digital marketing encompasses trending methods, such as the use of
social media for business.

 Other strategies within the marketing strategy include pricing and positioning strategy, distribution
strategy, conversion strategy, and retention strategy.

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f. Marketing Budget

 The marketing budget or projection outlines the budgeted expenditure for the
marketing activities documented in the marketing plan. The marketing budget
consists of revenues and costs stated in the marketing plan in one document.

 It balances expenditures on marketing activities and what the organization can

afford. It’s a financial plan of marketing activities to be carried out – e.g.,
promotional activities, cost of marketing materials and advertising, and so on.
Other considerations include expected product volume and price, production and
delivery costs, and operating and financing costs.

 The effectiveness of the marketing plan depends on the budget allocated for
marketing expenditure. The cost of marketing should be able to make the company
break even and make profits.

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 Performance Analysis
Performance analysis aims to look at the variances of
metrics or components documented in the marketing plan. 
These include:
 Revenue variance analysis: An analysis of positive or negative variance of revenue.
A negative variance is worrisome, and reasons should be available to explain the
cause of deviations.

 Market share analysis: An analysis of whether the organization attained its target
market share. Sales may be increasing whilst the organization’s share of the market
is decreasing; hence, it is paramount to track this metric.

 Expense analysis: An analysis of marketing expense to sales ratio. This ratio needs
to be compared to industry standards to make informed comparisons.

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 The ratio enables the organization to track actual expenditures versus the budget. It is also compared to other
metrics, such as revenue analysis and market share analysis. It can be dissected into individual expenditures to sales
to get a clearer picture.

Administration of a Marketing Plan

 The marketing plan should be revised and adapted to changes in the environment periodically. The use of metrics,
budgets, and schedules to measure progress towards the goals set in the marketing plan is a continuous process by
marketing personnel.

 There should be a continuous assessment to verify that the goals of the marketing plan are being achieved. The
marketing manager should be able to review if the strategies documented are being effective, given the operating
environment.

 It is irrational for the marketing manager to notice anomalies and wait to review at year-end when the situation
might have already deteriorated.

 Changes in the environment may necessitate a review of plans, projections, strategies, and targets. Therefore, a
formal periodical review – such as monthly or quarterly – may need to be in place. This may mean preparing an
annual marketing plan but reviewing the plan quarterly to keep targets and plans aligned closely to environmental
changes. It goes without saying that plans are as good as their feasibility to succeed in the given environment.

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 Restaurant Marketing Plan: How to Market a Restaurant
 Here are the steps to come up with your marketing plan:

a. Determine intentions. This is the “why” of your marketing plan. Do you want to attract new customers? Encourage
customers to return? Increase customer average check size? 

b. Define marketing goals. Set definitive, quantifiable goals. For example, you may want to increase sales by 20% in
six months. Setting specific targets gives you a way to measure your restaurant or bar profitability and adjust your
marketing efforts accordingly.

c. Create personas. This means you need to define your target customers. They may be in a certain income bracket or
like to go out to eat and watch sports. Defining these customers lets you make more targeted plans.

d. Set a budget. To avoid over- or under-spending, budget appropriately. This helps you avoid investing in efforts that
eat up a large portion of your capital. Instead, invest in smaller, more effective ones.

e. Identify your unique qualities. Your marketing should revolve around the things you offer that set you apart. It
could be the food, the service, the location, or something else. Use this aspect in your marketing to make your restaurant
stand out from the crowd and maximize the impact.
 

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 Restaurant Marketing Plan Examples

JJ's Diner - Sample Restaurant Marketing Plan

 Target Market - Local 20-40 year old business people seeking breakfast on weekdays
 Goals - Increase breakfast sales by 25% within six months.
 Budget - $15,000Strategies - Use business event catering to get in front of more prospective
customers. Advertise in a local paper and on local morning radio.
 Competitors - Scott's Breakfast Nook, The Eatery, Route 66 Diner

The Tipsy Dog Pub - Sample Restaurant Marketing Plan

 Target Market - Local college students
 Goals - Sell 15% more beer per week. Increase Friday night sales by 30%.
 Budget - $30,000
 Strategies - Start happy hour on Fridays from 7-8 PM. Advertise this program via Instagram and
Facebook ads.
 Competitors - Slackers Pub, The Monkey Bar, Murphy's Tavern

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 Restaurant marketing strategies

a. Use social media. More people 35-and-under get their information from
these platforms than any other. They also provide great word-of-mouth traffic.
Post some photos of your best dishes and engage with current and prospective
customers online.

b. Optimize for local search. In the modern era, the single most effective
marketing tool for small businesses is Google's local search results. Tourists and
locals use this feature to discover nearby restaurants. Ensuring your restaurant is
one of the first seen dramatically increases business.

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c. Create an email plan. It costs less to market to current customers than it
does to attract new ones. Create an email program to help drive repeat orders
and stay on the minds of your customers.

d. Build a loyalty program. Entice your customers to order more food and
more often. Loyalty programs are proven to build relationships with
customers and drive repeat orders.

e. Use online reservations and delivery. Phone calls are on the way out.
Give customers the ability to make reservations and order food online. If
you don't have the infrastructure to run this yourself, partner with a company
like Grub Hub, Door Dash, or others.

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 Restaurant marketing ideas

a. Respond to online reviews. Whether the reviews are positive or negative,

engage with them. Positive reviewers will feel a connection with you and return.
Negative reviewers will feel heard and may give you a second chance. They may
tell you that your beer pricing is too high and give you something actionable.

b. Take food pics. Instagram and Facebook are full of food pictures for good reason.
These images drive engagement and bring in new customers. Make it a habit to
document your most beautiful dishes.

c. Go to networking events. Local chambers of commerce and business

organizations hold networking events regularly. Attend these events to promote your
business and make valuable connections.

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d. Use Google Ads. Pay to get your business to the top of local search results and outrank your
competitors. Focus only on a few terms that your restaurant best fits and build your presence.

e. Steal your competitors' customers. If your competitors use loyalty cards, offer bar promotions
, or have LTO food on certain days, match them. You will draw in new customers and lower your
competitions' bottom line.

f. Buy and sell local. Purchasing locally-grown or raised products does more than lower your 
cost of goods sold. You can use this as a marketing tool to show you're invested in the community.
This method is particularly effective with younger generations.

g. Start menu engineering. Cutting your unpopular offerings is a great way to cut your

restaurant's food cost and pour cost (see liquor cost calculator). It also makes it easier to market
your menu because it seems more focused and refined.

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h. Add a food truck. Investing in a food truck is a great way to make extra revenue and
get your business in front of more people. Send the food truck to local events and festivals
and get more local exposure.

i. Revamp your website. Modern consumers judge businesses by their websites. If yours

seems old or clunky, you will lose prospective customers. A small investment every couple
of years will keep it fresh.

j. Try catering/business events. The more people that eat your food, the more people tell
their friends how great it is. Catering brings in extra revenue and builds relationships with
businesses that will be your advocates.

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k. Make your digital menu ADA compliant. ADA remediation for menus
is expensive. But if you partner with a technology company to make your
digital menu ADA compliant for you, it can save a lot of money. The
structure needed for ADA compliance is also beneficial for restaurant SEO.

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 2. MARKETING TIPS AND TRENDS
 
Top 10 Marketing Tips for 2021
 
a. Look for Opportunities to Diversify

 Most marketing budgets today don’t allow businesses to pursue every distribution
channel at once. You need to carefully select channels that are most likely to bring
strong returns from your investment. So look for opportunities to diversify your
strategy by first researching your audience. Identify niche sub-channels where
you’re able to cut through the marketing noise, such as on YouTube, social media
groups, etc. Then you can diversify your strategy knowing the payoff will be worth
the investment.

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b. Embrace Paid Social

• 86% of social marketers already use Facebook ads, and the platform’s

advertising revenue continues to grow. Meanwhile paid advertising options
have come up on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and elsewhere. Social media
platforms are tweaking their algorithms, making it clear to brands that paid
promotion is a must if you want to get visibility. If you want your social
strategy to maintain or gain momentum, then embracing paid social is a
must.

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c. Focus On Your Existing Content

• Most marketers today understand they need to produce large volumes of content to build a
traffic base. They often focus on creating new content, overlooking the value in their existing
assets. Pro marketing tip: if you want to keep up with today’s competitive markets, it’s
important to use your current content to its fullest potential.

For example, you can:

• Identify your most popular content and use these insights to inform future content you
create.
• Update old content with new data, visuals, or perspective then republish for more reach.
• Repurpose old content as an infographic, video, slide deck, etc. You can also turn a series of
blog posts into a eBook guide or report.

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d. Nurture Brand Advocates
• People look for recommendations from their peers to make purchase decisions. Your own
customers are a powerful resource to help you reach new audiences and drive conversions.
To make the most of your brand advocates, create campaigns to incentivize them to spread
your message. Create an online community or offer rewards for referrals, for example. You
can also create a branded hashtag and encourage audiences to use it.

e. Constantly Optimize User Experience

• Creating a message that speaks to your target audience is only the first step to success in
online marketing. It doesn’t matter how great your content is, it won’t drive conversions
without excellent website user experience.

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f. Connect Online and Offline Strategies

• Creating a consistent customer experience online and off is an important aspect

of memorable marketing. More and more businesses are using in-person events
to influence audiences and drive sales, but they often think of them as isolated
from online marketing initiatives. To get the most out of in-person marketing,
first identify what steps you want your audience to take after the event (e.g.
engage with your emails, sign up for a free product demo, etc.). Then create an
in-person experience that nurtures them on this journey.

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g. Prioritize Authenticity

• This one is one of our most important marketing tips. Consumers today are well aware that
the content businesses create is agenda-driven. They’re not likely to respond positively to
sales' content, so brands need to develop better strategies to build authentic relationships
with their audiences. One of the best ways to prioritize authenticity with your marketing is
by creating live content. Host a live podcast, stream Facebook Live videos, etc.

h. Create a Memorable Message

• There are only so many ways to directly promote your products and services through
marketing. Sometimes it’s worthwhile to stray away from your main marketing agenda to
tell stories that make your brand more memorable and likeable. The more creative you get
with storytelling, the more likely you’ll stand out and improve your brand image.

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I. Build Partnerships

• Advertising is a great way to broaden your reach on social media and the web. But it
doesn’t compare to the power of a strong recommendation from knowledgeable
influencers. Collaborate with other major players in your industry to reach a new audience
and gain some social proof for your business. You can also enlist the help of micro-
influencers to serve as your brand advocates on social media and the blogosphere.

j. Make Performance Analysis an Ongoing Strategy

• Any seasoned marketer knows the importance of performance analytics to

optimize their strategy. But waiting until the end of a marketing campaign to
analyze and adjust seriously limits the potential benefits of performance
analysis.

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3. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR RESTAURANTS

• The four core principles you need to be following as you refine your marketing tactics for
restaurants on social media. 

a. Focus on visual-first content

• High-quality visuals tell a memorable story. With food, in particular, appetizing pictures are
often the driving force in hooking your audience’s attention and helping them decide in your
favor.

This leads you to two actionable tasks:

• Pick a visual-first platform (think Instagram) if you already don’t have a social profile there. 
• Hire a professional photographer to start taking enticing pictures of the food available at your
diner. 

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b. Refine your brand voice

•  If you already don’t have a brand voice or have one that needs polishing, now’s the time you
take the job seriously. Why? Because eateries with an ace social media game stand out with
their voice.

So start with asking yourself the following questions:

•  If our restaurant were a person – how would it talk? 

• Who is our target audience and what language do they speak? 
• How do we currently talk to our customers? Does it resonate with our audience? 

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• Finding or refining your brand voice isn’t the job of a lone wolf. So it’s best you
get your team together and brainstorm 2-3 brand voice traits that show your
restaurant’s personality and will also resonate with the diners that you target. 

• Make sure you create a brand voice chart that lists these voice traits and
example sentences of how to write something. Put in examples of how
to not write/say something as well for additional clarity. 

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c. Gather all content that shows social proof 
• This includes user-generated content on social, online reviews, and any testimonials that
diners might have for you.
• This social proof-showing content is fodder for your online marketing – mainly doing the job
of convincing people. 
• Social proof is anything that tells people others are loving your diner. It makes people think
‘if someone like me is liking their food. By instilling this thought process, social proof helps
businesses get more people to buy from them. 

d. Engage, Engage, Engage

• The best marketing for restaurants on social media? Interacting with their audience. This
means instead of keeping it zipped, respond to the comments on your posts. And, get back to
your messages as soon as possible. Quickly responding to queries can help you win more
business while meeting consumer expectations. 

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Show your unique brand personality on social 

• How so? By using your brand voice. Take Wendy’s Twitter account, for
instance.
•  Each of their tweets uses a sassy voice, which is their brand voice. This helps
them stand out from the eatery crowd as well as leave a unique and memorable
impression on new profile visitors. 
• Their brand voice also helps create a fun experience for their customers, which
breeds loyalty. 
• To top that, Wendy’s also uses the same voice to interact with its followers –
something you should take notes on.

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b. Take the time to preplan your social feed 

• Planning your social media content helps you save time, leaving room for
engaging with your followers. 
• More importantly though, preplanned content helps you visualize how your
social feed will look like and what it’d cover. This is especially helpful for a
visual-first platform like Instagram where your grid (the way your posts are
arranged) plays an essential role in attracting and retaining followers. 

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Look at Arby’s Instagram grid, for instance. 

• One looks at it and you can tell the layout is planned to a tee
as evident from the color theme and how each individual post
complements one another as a whole.

•  One of the top marketing ideas for restaurants is to plan their

social feeds and content in advance. For Instagram,
specifically, plan your layout grid and content for an
engaging feed that offers a branded experience. 

• It’s also worth noting that Arby’s doesn’t rely on one type of
visual. They feature a healthy balance of designed graphics,
food pictures, videos, funny comics, and an Instagram
carousel. 

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Their content planning also takes into account
international holidays as in this post: 

• In your planning, decide which visual formats

you’ll use and which holidays are relevant to
your audience, therefore, worth celebrating on
social media.

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c. Post-engagement-driving content 

• In your content planning, it’s important you bear in mind engagement is a result
of what you post (among other factors like the time you post, of course). 

The million-dollar question, however, is, what sort of social content garners
engagement? A few ideas: 
1. Giveaways 
2. Captions and tweets that ask questions 
3. Content that encourages people to tag their friends
4. Posts that encourage people to share user-generated content (for an incentive)

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Example: Chow Mile high paired up with
the View House eatery to host an
engagement-driving giveaway, for
example. 

• Note this post is a good example of

not just any giveaway, but an
incentive-centered collaboration-
based giveaway. The two restaurants
give away a $100 gift card and share
participation rules: like the post,
follow both eating houses, and tag a
friend too. 
• This is a great approach to growing followers and increasing your restaurant’s exposure.
The latter happens as followers tag their friends in the post. 

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Other forms of content that drive engagement
are memes and interactive posts. Memes are
helpful, particularly, when they’re super
relevant to your audience – they relate to it,
therefore, engage with it. 

• Similarly, interactive content is content that

gets people to comment. McDonald’s does
this well here: 
• In response to the comments, the fast-food
restaurant made posters with what people
suggested.

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d. Jump on relevant trends
 Creating memes and content for holidays is an effective way to stay fresh.
Another way to do so? Creating content-based on the trending hashtags. 

The key here, however, is to only create content for trends that are: 
• Relevant to your audience and 
• Relevant to your restaurant (and what you stand for) 
• Without relevancy, there’s no point to jump on trends – doing so won’t get you
any engagement. 

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 e. Take a firm stance 

• Most of your audience expects you to be clear

about your values – even take stands on social
media. 
• Millennials, in particular, harbor
these expectations with 46% expecting brands
to be brave. 42% of Gen Z also have the same
expectations. Overall, 68% of consumers
expect brands to have clear values. 

• Translation: if you serve these demographics, you’ll need to be clear on your values and
what you stand for. Papa John’s is a great example of a fast-food outlet that’s clear on what
they stand for. It’s why they frequently volunteer or plan campaigns for various causes. 

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f. Diversify your content pool 

• Essentially, the point to all the content that you

create should be to drive conversations. You can
do this with the help of memes, interactive, and
trending content. 
• Take Starbucks, for instance, they take a fun
educational approach to their social media
content:

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• The point is simple, you either educate
your audience or entertain them, which
makes entertainment and education the
two broad pillars of content creation. 
• There’s also a third broad pillar and it is:
informing your audience. It’s here that
promotional content comes into the
picture.
• Another content type that’s essential
for marketing for restaurants? User-
generated content

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g. Announce deals and promotions 

Alongside your marketing content, it’s essential you

use social as a broadcast channel for all the mouth-
watering deals your eatery offers. 

It’s important to mention here that you shouldn’t treat

social as a broadcast, promotions-sharing channel
only. 

Maintaining a healthy mix of social proof content,

promotional content, and entertainment content is the
secret to winning at social media marketing for
restaurants.

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Pro tip: Create hype around new dish
launches or offers to come during the season,
for example. This gets your audience excited,
which can help grow your engagement and
sales. 

Here’s Dunkin doing the same. A day before

launching their Pumpkin Lattes, they shared
the post below to keep their audience on their
toes.

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h. Leveragee holidays for marketing
 
This is another one of the top-ranking marketing
ideas for restaurants on social media.

 When it comes to holidays and special events,

people keep tabs on the hashtags. By offering
holiday-centered discounts, giveaways, or running
any campaign, you can get more eyeballs to your
content. In fact, the right deals can get you more
diners too. 

Here’s Nando’s making the most of Mother’s Day

celebrations for their US-based audience. 

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 i. Write descriptive captions to entice consumers 

Descriptive caption writing is one of the best marketing

strategies for restaurants to employ. 

The idea? To trigger your audience’s imagination.

Starbucks chose to stoke their readers’ senses with a
caption packed with concrete details of their Iced Apple
Crisp Macchiato. 

Their words: “The taste of caramelized apples, brown sugar, and spiced apple drizzle all
baked into a cup. Introducing Iced Apple Crisp Macchiato.”

Now pair this with an enticing picture of the macchiato and it’s hard for a follower to not try
the drink. 

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Jeni’s Ice Cream takes the same
approach in this post by
explaining how the flavor tastes –
an effective way to make people
order it on the spot. 

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j. Capture pictures that reflect ambiance too
 This is great for reeling in diners who want to enjoy a great experience with good food. You
can go all in about the experience you offer. Jeni’s Ice Cream did so in this post, for instance.

Or, you can take a subtle approach in your

restaurant social media marketing plan as
this restaurant did: 

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k. Feature reviews and behind the scenes content

Share some social proof and your human side by posting customer reviews and
behind the scene content, respectively.

Buffalo Wild Wings shares their review without coming across as obvious: 

Take a similar approach. Share your excitement while presenting what others
think of your food – giving followers another reason to visit your café or order
from you. 

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As for behind-the-scenes content, this is content
that shows the people behind your café, helping
you gain your audience’s trust. You can capture
your chef in the process of cooking or share an
employee spotlight feature. You can also show a
team meeting in progress or the team
celebrating milestones together.

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Social media marketing for restaurants: The summary

A quick summary of all the key tactics you need to be employing:

• Always be interactive. Reply to comments and get back to messages at your earliest. 
• Hook your audience in with storytelling. Use high-quality visuals and write descriptive
captions in your brand voice for this. 
• Create content that does one of these: educates, informs, or entertains. Make sure your posts
are a healthy mix of self-promotional content and interactive content. 
• Plan engagement-driving campaigns for your social media. Host giveaways, ask questions,
create relevant memes, share UGC and behind-the-scenes content, and jump on trends, events,
and holidays. 
• Diversify your content formats. Experiment with bite-size videos, high-quality food
photography, branded GIFs, carousels, and funny comics among others. 

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4. MOBILE MARKETING FOR RESTAURANTS

What Is Mobile Marketing?

• Mobile marketing is a strategy that targets customers using smartphones, tablets, and
other mobile devices through the channels of email, text, social media, and other apps.
Many people think that mobile marketing is synonymous with social media marketing.

• Social media is a major part of mobile marketing, there is much more to mobile
marketing than just creating a Facebook page for your restaurant. We'll explore five
restaurant mobile marketing strategies that you can use alongside your social media
campaigns.

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Top 5 Restaurant Mobile Marketing Strategies

There are many different tactics that your restaurant can implement to reach mobile
customers, from optimizing your social media accounts to advertising on Google and other
search engines.

1. Create Responsive Restaurant Websites

When a customer is considering visiting your restaurant, one of the first ways they may
research your business is to Google you and look at your website. As a result, it's important
for your restaurant's website and menu to stand out on mobile and make a good first
impression. One of the best ways to optimize your restaurant's website for mobile is to use responsible
web design (RWD).

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What Is Responsive Web Design?

Sites that use responsive web design are formatted to work on all devices and
browser types, which eliminates the need for scrolling and re-sizing the page.
Responsive web design improves your customers' user experience by speeding
up page load times and allowing them to access the information easily without
having to re-size your page themselves. Additionally, Google sees responsive
web design as a good practice, and gives preference in search results to websites
that have it for their mobile configuration.

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Example of Responsive Web Design:
Below, you can see an example of how responsive web design works. On the right, you can see how our
page would be displayed on a large tablet, such as an iPad. In the middle is how that page would be
displayed on a smaller tablet or large phone. And, on the left you can see how the same page would be
displayed on a normal smartphone.

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Implementing Responsive Web Design

There are multiple ways that you can make your restaurant's website mobile-
friendly. If your business has a webmaster or design team that handles your
website, you can ask them about implementing RWD on your site. If you
manage your website yourself, you can look into tools like Web
flow and Macaw that help you create and maintain responsive websites.
Although, using these options will require knowledge of HTML and CSS.

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2. Sign Up for Local Restaurant Listing Apps

Local restaurant listing apps, such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Four Square, are
essential for bringing in new business. It's especially important to sign up for these
apps if you live in a tourist area or major city, as they can bring visitors to your
business.

You should sign up for these apps as soon as possible so you can start
accumulating reviews and customer photos. A large pool of customer reviews on
apps like Yelp can help give your business credibility, and a favorable overall
rating can help potential customers decide to visit your business.

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Sign Up for Google My
Business

Google My Business is a free service that

Google provides that allows business owners
to create a business page that will show up in
Google search results. This page displays
information like your hours of operation,
location, website, menu, and Google reviews.

Because this page shows up in the search results, it may be the first interaction a potential customer has with your
business, so you want to be sure that all of the information displayed is accurate. Additionally, having a Google
My Business account will help your restaurant show up in local searches, like if someone is searching for
"restaurants near me," which is a great way to reach potential customers in your area and maximize your location-
based mobile marketing.

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4. Use Third-Party Delivery Apps or Mobile Reservation Apps
Delivery is becoming increasingly common as many customers would rather eat in the comfort of their
own home than go out to eat. Due to the increased demand, your restaurant should offer the option for
takeout or delivery, but you don't necessarily need to hire your own delivery driver. Instead, you can use
one of the many popular third-party delivery services, like Uber Eats or Door Dash.

Using third-party delivery apps helps you reach out to potential customers who want to try your
restaurant's food without having to visit your establishment. Plus, many of these apps have their own
fleet of drivers, so you can utilize them even if you don't have your own driver on staff.

Here are some of the major apps that your restaurant should use:
Uber Eats
Grub Hub
Door Dash
Post mates
Seamless

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5. Utilize SMS Marketing for Restaurants

• While using apps and optimizing your Google

Business page can help customers find your
restaurant, using SMS marketing can help you
engage with your customers and encourage
them to come back. SMS stands for "short
message service," which is another phrase for
texting. Text marketing is a service where
customers opt in to receive marketing materials
and texts from your business.

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Here are a few ways that restaurants can use SMS marketing:

• Remind customers about upcoming events.

• Send notifications about reservations your customers have made or alert
them when their table is ready.
• Notify them about limited time specials or new menu items.
• Reward your customers with coupons and exclusive specials to thank
them for visiting your restaurant and signing up for SMS marketing.
• Update customers on the status of their delivery, such as when it's leaving
the kitchen or when your driver is five minutes away.

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• To make your SMS marketing successful, you first need to get your customers to sign up. You
can advertise your SMS marketing and list its benefits on your restaurant's website and also
include a 5-digit-code that customers can text to opt in to your marketing service.

• Additionally, you can inform customers of the service when they checkout. If you decide to use
a text marketing in your restaurant, make sure to inform all of your front-of-house staff, so they
can answer any questions that your customers might have.

• There are many mobile marketing strategies your restaurant can implement to help increase
your customer base and brand recognition. But, the most important strategy is to make sure that
your restaurant is well-represented on all of the major platforms, like Google, social media
apps, review apps, and food ordering services.

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 “
GROUP 1
ADA, Charelle Ann C.
BALADAD, Christian A.
BAYLE, Bryan B.
BORJA, Nelsie Ann G.
BUNCAG, Aira Mae N.

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