For marketing and branding efforts to make an impact on the success of a restaurant, it is important to allocate a realistic budget towards effective strategies that help to build not only recognition, but spark an emotional connection with your guests as well!
When your marketing and branding work hand-in- hand, it makes your restaurant presence feel cohesive and comfortable from the moment a customer searches and clicks, to when they dine and snap a photo of their dining experience to share with their friends/personal network. When implemented effectively, your brand identity will help to build an emotional connection with guests and will work for you as a tool to build trust, loyalty, engagement, and attract new guests.
Branding matters and it’s way more than creating a logo and a tagline, and this is why your restaurant or business MUST pay attention to it.
Focusing too heavily only on organic marketing, word-of-mouth, and ineffective branding practices can only put you at risk of exhausting yourself and your budget in the wrong direction- ultimately degrading the brand’s image. This is where agencies like Influx can help to curate a brand image that works for your business based on your goals.
Having an understanding of the lifestyle and psychology of the diners you want to attract, and effectively targeting them every step of the way in your branding strategy is key. This is why it is so important that everything about your brand including your restaurant’s logo, website, food photography, ambiance, merchandise, signage, printed menus, social media posts, blog articles, and even SEO are given proper attention as though they are living, breathing things. Remember, marketing and technology are constantly evolving and growing, and your restaurant is no different.
Communication when engaging with customers should adhere to your brand style guide and always represent your values and business goals to create an experience that not only feels cohesive to your brand’s identity, but also works to protect your reputation.
When customers interact with you, they form a certain idea about your brand. If they return to do business with you a second time or search for your business online and find a different experience than the first, this can lead to uncertainty of what values and standards you represent and sends mixed messaging to your customers that leads to distrust and degradation of your brand.
As a restaurant owner, you need to be doing what you do best, managing your restaurant.
…not wasting your precious and limited time, focusing on marketing. To own and maintain a successful restaurant- there are 3 important factors to focus on.
- You must develop and execute on a solid operational plan
- There must be a distinct culinary direction
- You must employ and execute on an ever-evolving marketing plan
So if you are like most restaurant owners that don’t have enough time to dedicate to their marketing, you should consider hiring a full-service, digital marketing agency that are experts, like Influx Marketing, so you can do what you do best…run your restaurant!
