So you have your restaurant set up. You might be seeing a fair share of customers walking in or placing orders online or through phone. Your kitchen staff might be sporadically busy cooking up items of your menu that you so thoughtfully curated. Everything is going alright, right? Not really. This is exactly the kind of trap restaurants fall in. Traditional methods of marketing aren’t going to be enough to sustain favorable results in the long run. We’ve worked with restaurants who’ve been on top of their game but have experienced situations of extremity which nearly drove them to shut down. The restaurant business is all about being relevant. Your formula for success yesterday may not always be the antidote for tomorrow’s failure.
What if I told you there’s one little practice that could be a game changer? Just one set of tricks that could boost your sales so exponentially that you would forever regret not starting it earlier. It’s the difference between dragging your horse across the land on foot and riding it at great speeds towards your destination. Since you have already read the title of this article, you know what we’re talking about. The word of the moment is “Facebook”. Here, we’re going to discuss the many benefits of Facebook marketing for restaurants.
It’s 2019, and there’s a reason why Mark Zuckerberg is worth over 60 Billion dollars. The reason is that he’s good at what he does, but more importantly, it’s because what he built works and works very well. It’s effective. And with over 2.23 billion people logging in to the platform every month, it is an endless goldmine that has enough for everyone, especially digital marketers. In this day and age, it’s not an easy task to find a person who’s not on Facebook, or maybe even one who doesn’t use Facebook actively. Statistics show that 66% of monthly Facebook users use it daily and every single one of those users are exposed to advertising, which can be very highly targeted. We’ll get to that eventually, but first, let’s look at what Facebook can do for your restaurant.
Finding all your customers: old, new and future
Facebook is the virtual world where everyone is at. Your restaurant’s presence on Facebook gives you an identity in this virtual world. Diners and foodies today go to Facebook to explore new cuisines and restaurants almost on an daily basis. They scout for everything regarding your menu, offers, services, and satisfaction before they make a decision to visit or order from your restaurant. Why Facebook? Because all this information and more can be got from the push of a buttons.
This kind of direct exposure to your Facebook audience helps cast a wide net when it comes to fishing for new customers and also keeps your existing ones constantly updated with new and exciting content.
Keeping up with the competition
Facebook has 80 million small- and medium-sized business Pages. There’s a good chance that your competing restaurants are among them. Why let them be the only ones talking to your potential customers and luring them in? If you want to keep up with the competition, you simply have to include Facebook in your marketing efforts. Not only that, you can actually learn from the competition and one up them. With thorough observation, you can see what’s working and what isn’t. You need to keep posting, and posting good content. Restaurants worldwide are beginning to see the numerous benefits of having an effective social media strategy and Facebook marketing for restaurants is a growing demand.
Fans promote your business for free
There are a few ways this happens. When a Facebook user “checks in” to a restaurant, word about the restaurant gets out among those who can see that activity depending on the privacy settings of that user. Checking in to a location informs a user’s friends that they are at that physical location. If a picture taken of the food or, say, of people with the backdrop of the restaurant premises is added, it’s even better. People will get an idea what your services look like. Whenever customers “like” your business page or give a positive review, they are endorsing you. It’s totally free promotion. All it takes is having a Facebook presence, good products and services, and the fans will do the rest. Ensure you issue attractive prizes and offers to all your followers that check in at your restaurant to get the best out of this feature.
Facebook is addictive – Take advantage
Facebook, in its current iteration and original conception, is very similar to an addictive substance. It is a legitimate addiction to be heard, to see into the lives of others and collect likes and comments. Social media triggers a dopamine high in your brain, similar to any other substance that stimulates happiness and contentment, making it an excellent opportunity to plant ads onto the conscious or subconscious lines of sight of people that guide them to your restaurant to further boost sales. This gives your restaurant a great opportunity to strengthen the brand.. Businesses everywhere are harnessing this collective addiction and growing dependence on Facebook in favor of successful marketing efforts. It’s an excellent time to practice Facebook marketing for restaurants.
Keeping your fans constantly updated and engaged
The fact that you have fans or a following suggest that they want to hear from you regularly. It is no surprise that they would either lose interest or probably be disappointed. When you’re connected with customers on Facebook, they see all your posts as long as they happen to be online around that time. This way, they stay updated about your food and other exciting offers. These offers can draw interaction which could create favorably enjoyable environments, thus drawing in brand interest and strengthening brand loyalty. It’s also a very useful platform for sharing important updates, for example a change in timings or the discontinuation of a product, etc. It saves them from the disappointment of coming to the restaurant and being turned down.
Facebook ads – Super efficient targeting
Of all the tools of Facebook marketing for restaurants, nothing is more effective than Facebook ads. The reason is the efficiency of targeting. You can fine tune your filters to a great extent and focus only on those who matter to your business. You’re able to filter audiences based on location, age, interests, education levels, online activity, etc. If you set up your campaigns right, your campaigns will drive high-quality clicks, traffic and possibly footfall that produce value for your business. As a result, Facebook ads are often a much more profitable way to market your business than other advertising channels.
Facebook marketing for restaurants is on the rise and for good reason. It’s so useful that today, a business simply can’t afford not being on Facebook. It is both expanding and ever-present like a universe of its own. Also, 7 years back, Facebook made the brilliant decision of purchasing Instagram, which is another amazingly useful tool for restaurant marketing. We’ll talk about that in our next post.
So, for now, if you aren’t already on Facebook, go ahead and arm your business with the super tool and see your business flourishing like never before. We’d love to see your business flourish by implementing these ideas. However, we understand that things may get busy and you may get sidetracked. Because we know good food and happy customers are what you are all about, Facebook marketing may not be on top of your priority list. You can always reach out to us for help.
At CrayonPanda, we have worked with multiple restaurants to help them keep their Facebook pages alive and buzzing and bring you the results you have always desired for your restaurant.
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE CONSULTATION WITH CRAYON PANDA > > > > >