To say we’re in unprecedented times is an understatement.
However, the world doesn’t stop turning, and you need to figure out how to navigate a marketing plan for your restaurant that is agile enough to succeed in case the unexpected happens… again.
The first step in drafting a successful plan is acknowledging this industry has changed.
There has been a shift in the demand for off-premise dining, setting a new expectation of delivery and curbside services. Also, the ‘new normal’ has left us with labor shortages coupled with a high cost of inflation.
So, what can you do to drive sales when your previous marketing strategies may no longer be viable?
According to a recent study, the restaurants that were able to succeed during the pandemic digitized their customer engagement. In other words, they had a very strong digital marketing presence.
Digital Marketing for Restaurants
In the grand scheme of things, digital marketing is relatively new to restaurants.
Paper tickets and cash registers aren’t completely obsolete, and to gather the data needed for successful digital marketing, you need powerful integrations that not all restaurants are set up to access.
This means you need to modify your business to include digitized systems that have the power to integrate analytical applications. Make the switch to modern POS systems like Toast or Square, and connect them with reservation systems like Opentable or Resy. This ensures that once you implement digital marketing strategies, you can see a buyer’s journey from start to finish.
At Breadth, we help you identify and select the best technology solutions that fit your specific needs and help facilitate these integrations to enable the most accurate tracking of your ROI.
Focus On Establishing Your Foundation
Instead of sitting back and hoping that your restaurant marketing initiatives will succeed, take fate into your own hands. By remaining focused on establishing and communicating your brand’s vision and core values you’ll stay true to who you are and what you stand for as a concept. This is arguably the most important component in determining whether or not you’re successful in your marketing efforts.
Find Your Brand & Take That Position Strongly
Digital marketing has many moving parts and it can be difficult to remember to integrate your brand into all you do on the marketing front.
If you feel uncertain about whether or not you’ve been doing a good job, there’s a chance you could do more to strongly position your brand.
Maybe you haven’t stuck to your original ideas and have gone off brand, or you never really had a strong brand to begin with. Either way, you need to find out what your brand is really about and take that position strongly. This is very important, as in the future you won’t be dependent or desperate in creating promotional tactics to build sales but your brand’s value perception will be strong enough that you.
Strategize Your Vision and Yourself For Success
The strategies that execute your vision for your concept will fall into place once you’ve established a strong brand.
What tactics to include in your marketing plan will become clear after this establishment and consideration of the way the industry has changed.
For example, say you’re a hip but authentic pizza joint targeted towards night owls with a craving for quality.
What kind of content you produce, who you direct that content to, and what channels you put the content on are entirely based off of the brand statement mentioned above.
Making sure you can articulate what your brand is will help you drastically when it comes time to get down to the nuts and bolts of your marketing plan.
Stay Agile
Now is more important than ever to keep your marketing plan agile.
Having the ability and insight to pivot when you need to has never been more valuable, and digital marketing and an agile team give you the ability to do so.
At Breadth we have years of experience not only in the digital marketing world but in restaurant operations, giving us the ability to implement successful strategies for our restaurant clients. We work to help you strongly position and develop your brand and drive sales even during these unpredictable times.
Interested in working with us, let’s chat!
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