In 2021, your restaurant’s website has never been more important. With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to prevent dine in experiences, it’s vital your restaurant enables hungry visitors to place takeout orders online. Needless to say, your website needs to be more alluring than ever. But it also needs to be promoted with more energy and excitement in order to stand out from other restaurant websites.
Here are three mouth-watering ways to promote your restaurant’s website:
1. Share photos on Instagram daily.
If you haven’t already made Instagram a regular part of your marketing strategy, begin right away! It costs you nothing to set up an account. The picture and video-sharing social media platform grows in popularity each day. It’s hard to argue that photos and videos aren’t the best way for restaurateurs to tempt taste buds. The great thing about Instagram is that your profile can include a link to your website. Therefore, every one of your posts should incorporate an “Order it now by clicking the link in our bio” message to drive traffic to your site for orders.
“Instagram is the perfect place to share your menu and restaurant photos,” insists RestaurantEngine.com, “It seamlessly integrates with Facebook so your images show on both platforms. High quality photos are a must. Take your menu photos one step further – encourage your customers to upload their favourite items. This helps build your menu of images while increasing engagement.”
2. Send out weekly newsletters.
Your email subscriber list is a gold mine. Business owners, of all kinds, are well aware that it’s far more cost-effective to promote their brands to current customers than it is to try to lure new ones. Be sure to keep in regular contact with those on your email list. Send out a newsletter each week highlighting a different delicious meal your restaurant offers for takeout via its website. Make it a rule of thumb to always include vivid photos of your sumptuous eats. As mentioned, nothing elicits mouth-watering like a vibrant picture of a yummy meal.
“Even with social media, email marketing for restaurants is still a powerful tool—especially if you attract your subscribers with exclusive offers,” writes Stefan Sturm on Jimdo.com, “You can update your regulars on your latest news and upcoming events in your newsletter, share recipes and expert tips, as well as giving them a gentle reminder that you’re still around and that it’s time to stop by again.”
3. Post regular blogs.
Taken straight out of our “practice what you preach” column, you should post a new blog to your restaurant’s website every other day, at a minimum. The more fresh content on your site, the higher it will rank in search engines. Google looks favourably upon websites that regularly update. The last thing you want is for anyone to consider your site stale. Fun-to-read, engaging blog posts encourage visitors to keep coming back. Not to mention, blogs help to enlighten readers about your establishment which can grow brand loyalty.
“Blog about anything that has to do with your restaurant,” encourages RestaurantEngine.com, “Share facts, recipes, photos, staff favourites and more. Link your posts to all of your social media networks…Consistency is key. Once you’ve established a routine, your blog visitors will come to expect it, so don’t disappoint them.”
Contact Unity Payments today to quickly set up an online ordering system for your restaurant! Call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca.
