Restaurant Marketing Tips January 2018

You have just seconds to make a connection with your website visitor. There’s nothing like a photo to send a message and keep your potential customer on your site so you can communicate your value proposition.

In this article, you’re going to understand why more pictures in your marketing translates into more revenue in your cash registers. The examples in this article are restaurant-related but any business can easily fit this advice into their online marketing strategy.

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Your marketing has only seconds to deliver a message. In order to get people to read the words on your website, you need to capture their attention with pictures first.

Speed Is Important in Effective Marketing, Especially Online

Fast and clear communication is a top priority when marketing your business. Eyes gravitate to images, the brain will understand the image and then the person may decide to read the text. Too many words and too few images and you run the risk of losing your website visitor before they’ve taken the time to learn more about your restaurant.

Sell More Food-Get More Customers With Your Website

What are you selling? Are you selling a high quality dining experience, speed and convenience, a casual family dining experience, or a romantic experience? Pictures of your food and photos of typical customers in your dining room help people to see themselves in your place, eating food and having an experience. Images help people confirm they’re looking at the kind of place for them or for their occasion. Pictures plant ideas, aromas and flavors into the mind and put people in the mood for food. Think about the national brands and how they advertise on TV using images of rich-looking, steamy pasta dishes, families laughing and smiling as they plunge a forkful of lobster tail into a dish of melted butter. YOU can do this too!

Capture your work, your product, your service, and even your customers with images.

You Have The Tools to Improve Your Website

The smart phone in your pocket right now and a table with a white table cloth is all you really need to take a good photo of the food coming off your line. Take pictures of everything!

Build a Great Online Menu. It Will Serve You AND Your Customers

A picture is worth 1000 words. You have a wonderful selection…but it’s all words! The menu you post on your website can have photos of every dish! Your menu with photos will help people decide to choose your restaurant over your competitors simply by putting them in the mood for your food.

Restaurant Marketing Fundamentals Part 1

There’s an old saying in marketing: THE MORE YOU TELL, THE MORE YOU SELL.

First, say it with a picture. Next, say it with words.

Do you have a signature dish?…one that you like to sell more than any other? Sell more of it by showcasing it with a great photo and deeply detailed description. Give it its very own web page and get people to give you their feedback and testimonials on it. Post a photo of a customer preparing to devour that masterpiece! That’s marketing.

Restaurant Marketing Fundamentals Part II: Repurposing

What is repurposing? It’s reusing your marketing materials (assets) for more marketing actions. Now that you’re building this library of photos of your food, your dining room, and delighted customers, you can use these assets for your social media marketing, your email marketing and on all your online profiles. The more images uploaded onto your Google, Yelp, and Trip Advisor profiles, the more likely it is you will attract new customers from these marketing engines.

Easy to Do– No Special Skills Required

Taking photos, saving them in your computer and uploading them to a website, social media post, or search engine profiles takes no special skills and can be done in a matter of minutes. Every bit of this kind of marketing will serve you and your business indefinitely…these are business assets that work for you driving more new customers, revenue, and making your business more valuable over time. •

If this makes sense but you need some help getting this process started, just ask for some help. That’s what I’m here for.

There’s a special page setup on our website. Go to: www.smallbusinessu.org/AskAndrew

(seriously…just ask!)

Best wishes for a strong 2018.

Your friend in the marketing business,

Andrew Mazer