How to Make over Your Restaurant Marketing Plan

There are many ways to get the word out about your restaurant. And while there are a variety of channels, platforms and services to use, there is an essential location that all of your marketing efforts should stem from: your website.

All roads lead back to your website. From email newsletters to social media, your website should serve as the central hub for relaying all of the information your guests need to know. Nearly 80% of consumers are visiting restaurant websites before deciding where to dine. This means it’s more important than ever to have a website that reflects your business, aesthetically and operationally. While your website serves as the first place people go to find out more information about you, how you get people to your website is another strategy in and of itself.

Ensuring that your marketing budget is spent strategically is key to being successful. Spending too little or too recklessly can affect the flow of foot traffic – and revenue – coming in and out of your business.

Invest in a Restaurant Website That Works for You

Before deciding where to spend your marketing dollars, it’s important to invest in a beautiful, optimized website that’s designed to put your business first, drive guest traffic and – ultimately – revenue. That’s where BentoBox comes in. Our hospitality platform provides services that connect your restaurant with your guests, with tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through your restaurant’s website. Get a website that is designed using industry best practices such as mobile-first design, SEO and designed on a certified accessible template. This will serve as the central hub for all of your marketing efforts.

Create Email Newsletter Campaigns

Email marketing campaigns are a great way to engage your guests and drive them to dine with you. 72% of diners said that they would like to receive an email from restaurants they subscribe to. Many POS systems hold onto key customer information such as email addresses, should the guests optin to receive emails from you.

But did you know that you can ask guests to opt in to receive updates from you? BentoBox websites include a simple subscription form, so that loyal guests can opt in to hear about new menus, special events and more from your restaurant.

Choose an email marketing service that best fits your goals and budget. BentoBox partners with Campaign Monitor to provide simple yet effective email marketing for restaurants. This includes a custom-designed email template that matches your website aesthetic and can be used for newsletters, promotional announcements and more.

Integrate Your Social Media Channels with Your Website

Websites and social media channels have become increasingly interwoven and mutually serve each other for a variety of reasons. Restaurant owners/operators should link their social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with their website. Guests will be able to navigate to your profile by clicking on the social icons they are linked to. Social media profiles should also link back to the website, so that followers can access more information – such as menus, events, hours and location, and more.

With BentoBox, restaurant owners can easily sync their social media profiles with their website. As a customer, you can embed your Instagram feed so that guests can see up-to-date photos that you’ve posted. Special events that you advertise on your website, such as live music or happy hour specials, can be posted directly to Twitter and Facebook with a single click from the BentoBox backend.

Direct All Traffic to Your Website

Perhaps your marketing strategy contains sending direct mail to people in your community or involves a radio advertisement. Make sure to provide a call to action to convert them into paying customers. By creating a homepage pop-up alert, you can prompt guests to make a reservation, order catering online, buy tickets to special prix fixe dinners, or even just for more general information about yourself. This is an easy way to convert that guest and drive revenue to your business.

The Takeaway

Your website should serve as the main hub for all of your marketing efforts – ensuring that any call to action or link takes online visitors back to learn more. With BentoBox, it’s simple to integrate Google Analytics through the back end dashboard, so that you can easily track what marketing initiatives are effective. This will inform what areas of your marketing strategy to focus on. By investing in a website that is optimized to convert online visitors into paying customers, your business will profit. Interested in a new website? Get in touch with a BentoBox website specialist today.

About BentoBox: BentoBox powers website design as part of CHECK^® Business Tools. BentoBox offers a restaurant website builder and develops websites exclusively for the restaurant industry. Creating a strong website for your restaurant can help convert visitors into paying customers, while saving your business time and money. Learn more about BentoBox by visiting website design in CHECK Business Tools.

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