Ambience
Here is Why a Digital Marketing Plan is Important for Your Restaurant
We are all remarkably active these days!
It is a powerful and true statement. We are all busy, plus the tonnes of distractions that surround us.
However, to have a more profitable restaurant, you need to set aside some time to build and take care of your digital marketing plan.
What is a digital marketing plan anyways?
A digital marketing plan is where you define more specific goals for your restaurant, create a marketing schedule, and assign marketing tasks to your team members.
For you who are in doubt if you are doing any digital marketing, I can say yes, you are. Digital marketing involves any activity to attract the attention of your current or future customer, for example, photos on Instagram, emojis on Facebook, images on your website, etc.
The question is whether you are somehow organizing your activities into a structured plan or not.
Set goals, create a schedule, and assign marketing duties
For more effective marketing, you need to redouble your focus on how you set goals, create a schedule, and assign it to your crew.
One of the biggest problems is overreacting to unexpected situations. I'm the kind of person who loves writing things down because it helps me think better, and the marketing plan is one of them.
You can relate to me. The point is that with a digital marketing plan, you will have much more control over all situations. You'll have the chance to analyze what's working and what needs an adjustment.
What should you include in your restaurant's digital marketing plan?
What are your goals? Well, increasing reservations and orders is an obvious goal for any restaurant.
However, you may also want to improve your brand awareness, build a more prominent social media presence, or attract a new audience. With that in mind, let's go a little deeper into what you should include in your restaurant's digital marketing plan.
The Goal
What are they? How can your digital marketing plan help you achieve them?
As I mentioned, your goals can be many, so it's super important to take the time to analyze what you want to have as your ultimate goal.
Avoid keeping your goal tucked away safely in a vault. Talk about it with your team and use brainstorming to sharpen your vision of how your digital marketing plan will guide you on a successful journey.
The Actions
What do you need to do to meet your goals?
Imagine that you are building a new room in your restaurant, but halfway through your work, you end up realizing that it will last much longer than expected. More labor, and yes, more stress.
A successful digital marketing plan needs to have the same focus. Understanding and planning the actions needed to make your goal a reality is as important as the goal itself.
Align your actions from start to finish. Unexpected events can and almost always do happen. The key is not to make them a frequent appearance in your plan.
The Channels
What digital marketing channels (website, social media, email, etc.) will you use?
There are hundreds of digital marketing channels to test and set your plan in motion. But you might be wondering which one is best for your restaurant.
You can try most of them, but the problem is having enough time and budget to draw valid conclusions from those bringing a positive return.
Select three, the ones you feel your customers use more, and then pick just one to go deeper. Study your customers, their behaviors, brands they like, how they dress, etc. With this information, you will perceive the appropriate channel and message to connect with your audience.
The Who
Who on your team will be responsible for what and when does it need to happen?
I understand! You must be pretty busy with tonnes of paperwork, new hires, and even another restaurant makeover.
The solution may be to divide the tasks among your employees. Your waitress could be doing social media while there are no orders. Your chef could take pictures after finishing a dish or another assistant updating your website. (Sorry everyone for the extra work)
No one in your restaurant can handle your digital marketing plan? Hire an agency to take care of everything is another option. But be careful, work closely with them to testify everything is in line with the initial goal.
Whether you, your team or a contracted agency, pay attention to when tasks need to happen. Shifting your focus and not analyzing your progress can be fatal to a successful digital marketing plan.
Now that you know what a digital marketing plan is and why having one is essential to your restaurant, it's time to make it happen.
Don't lose time and set your goals, create a tremendous schedule, and assign the marketing duties to yourself, your employees, or an agency.
