According to the NPD Group, Inc., a marketing research team out of Port Washington, New York, there is currently a decline in the "lunching out" ritual that is causing independent restaurants to lose their rates of foot traffic and face decreasing profits.
"Mom and Pop" restaurants are in particular trouble and are looking for ways to increase their online presence to obtain new customers and improving their in-store marketing to keep their regular customers returning. These businesses may not have realized it yet, but their best defense against decreased lunch crowds is digital social media marketing.
Here are a few tips on how to improve your web presence significantly:
- The practice of sharing a picture online of the food you are about to eat in a restaurant continues as a well-loved pastime. Shared plates of food are especially popular on Instagram. This trend is an amazing example of free advertising for your establishment.
- Select an easy-to-remember and recognize Instagram username.
- Use relevant keywords in your Instagram profile to increase your search results.
- Tag posts with hashtags that relate, such as your restaurant's name, a signature dish, or a special drink.
- Make your Instagram entries compatible for sharing on Twitter by keeping the content under 140 characters.
- Share the same pictures you post on Instagram on your Facebook and Twitter sites.
For in-house customers, use interactive review posts. Also, consider the following ideas:
- Get your customers involved by asking them to vote on a name for a new dish.
- Encourage customers to take photos while in your establishment.
- Ask them to enter a photography contest of pictures of the city where you do business. Give prizes.
- Take videos of employees uncorking wine, the chef cooking in the back, and patrons giving your recipes reviews.
Don't get nervous about losing some of your lunchtime profits. Get proactive and have some fun while you're at it. When your traffic picks up, you'll need, more than ever, our amazing Waiter Wallet for your staff. Keeping up with the lunch crowds will become much easier.
