As you are aware, inresto by dineout just launched its new webinar: PULSE, a monthly dose of the restaurant innovations & management techniques to help restaurants run their business smoothly and take it up a notch.
Episode 1 was all about Restaurant Innovations post the Pandemic. Ideas and techniques that make your restaurant stand out from the competition. Led by Aafreen, Regional Head (West) Dineout, and Sanjula Miglani, Business Marketing Head, Dineout, the show answered the most important question of the year – How do we get customers to dine out & keep them coming back for more?
If you happen to miss it, well, here’s a recap of our 1st episode, or you can watch the entire video here.
Some fun and interesting stats you didn’t know:
- At dineout, we matched the closing figures of 2019 when thankfully, there was no COVID in just 6 months of 2021: a testament of revenge eating, and people are making up for it by dining out more and more.
- Restaurants where the staff is fully vaccinated, have 75% more transactions which means that customers feel safer at these restaurants.
- The entire restaurant industry is becoming friends with technology. Even luxury dining in five-star properties wasn’t left untouched by technology. For example, amidst the pandemic last year when the industry reopened, Oberoi started taking online orders for doorstep delivery. It helped a lot of businesses keep the momentum going.
- Online reservation to maintain 50% seating capacity has been welcomed by restaurateurs and diners alike.
Marketing Your Restaurant Tips and Tricks:
Skip to: 10:55 – 20:00 on our FB LIVE to catch the entire marketing solutions.
1. Effective Social Media Marketing: The power of social media is expanding rapidly. In fact, with the growing appetite for video content, social channels are shifting their algorithm towards video formats.
2. Content Generation: Having drool-worthy images and videos on social media encourage users to take action. Scrolling past your feed during lunchtime, you will be more prone to ordering in if I see a post about a scrumptious spread at a special price. Restaurants need to go to experts for high-quality, user-intuitive content.
3. Targeting: This new age requires restaurants to intelligently market that is targeting the right audience and is cost-effective at the same time.
4. Website and Online Ordering Platform: When a restaurant has to rely on the food delivery business for a major part of its income, losing most of the profits in aggregator commissions is such a loss. That’s why having your website and online ordering platform is your key to successfully bringing more customers.
5. Retargeting: Personalised Email and SMS communication for your diners are important to convey to them your offerings.
Check out our entire marketing solutions package here. You will be surprised to know there is more to marketing than just photoshoots and social media posts.
Audience Q&A Session:
(Skip to 37.28 on our FB LIVE to catch all the answers to the questions our audience asked.)
1. How can a niche vegan brand gain more followers and generate more interest from new customers?
Customer persona comes into the picture here. For example, customers who order vegetarian dishes or opt for vegan dishes will be the right target audience—the communication for the same needs to be niche.
2. Influencers are quite popular these days, how can a restaurant work with an influencer to get more customers?
Influencer marketing is popular these days, but the key to having an influencer is that it should look like they have experienced your restaurant. Invite them over and to your restaurant, and they can go live from there or post a video of their experience. They can post pictures of food or bartender mixing drinks. The overall vibe of the place should come out in their communication.
3. Some customers leave mean tweets or comments on Instagram even when our service was good; how can one tactfully handle any fun/out-of-the-box suggestions?
Be genuine, or you can reply to them in a witty manner like ‘It was not you, It was me,’ ‘we believe in second chances and so should you’ which will lighten the mood and make them overlook one instance and DM them a special offer to come back again.
4. What are some ways to keep the engagement high of a restaurant’s social media handle?
Post engaging & relatable content. Users on these platforms like memes, so a brand can find its voice amongst the crowd when it speaks the language of its audience.
Stay tuned for more such insights on what goes on in the restaurant industry and how to bring in more customers to your restaurant business. We will be back with another episode soon!!
Until then, save your questions so that we can answer them in our next episode.
