In our last blog, we pointed out that your restaurant should be utilizing some smart marketing strategies to set it up for summertime fun. They included catering to seafood lovers, concocting new summer cocktails and adding some spicy dishes to your menu. Unofficially, the fun gets going this forthcoming Victoria Day long weekend. Of course, once the holiday weekend is through, you’ll want your customers to keep coming back.
What can you do to boost the popularity of your restaurant all throughout summer?
Set up a food truck.
We’re hard pressed to think of a more popular summer-based eating activity than grabbing treats from a food truck. As Mel Watson on GourmetMarketing.net mentions, food trucks are fantastic ways for restaurant owners to show off their businesses. Naturally, they get your food to other locations to help you establish your brand in different areas.
“For example, if there are food truck opportunities near industrial or commercial locations with many office buildings, then you could bring a lot of attention to your food and show it off to more people,” writes Watson, “Those people will then recognize your brand when they go into the city and see your restaurant. It’s all about creating a consistent brand and offering your food to more people.”
Respond to all online reviews.
Whether your online reviews are positive or negative, they deserve responses. We would highly recommend that you pay special attention to the bad ones. They provide great opportunities to grow your business. Consumers care a lot about the opinions of other consumers. However, they also care a great deal about how businesses interact with their customers. By reaching out to those who have posted negative reviews, you offer your business chances to make amends.
As Stephanie Schalow of SevenRooms notes, “monitoring and responding to reviews, both positive and negative, is crucial to a healthy online presences. Sixty percent of diners read reviews before going out for a meal, and more than one-third of customers won’t eat in a restaurant with less than a 4-star rating. More important are your responses to these online reviews – customers notice your communications, and even a slight boost in your rating on Yelp, for example, can increase revenue by 9%.”
Place signage throughout the restaurant.
People expect delicious meals when they visit your restaurant. However, they should also get opportunities to dine in a fun and inviting environment. With vibrant posters visible throughout your place of business, you will get to promote your most popular dishes, upcoming events, drink specials. Make the dining area an enticing environment that encourages your visitors to keep coming back.
“Your restaurant can be adorned with large and unique posters in order to draw the attention of people passing by,” says Watson, “They can also be used indoors to show off some of your latest menu items, combos, discounts, and rewards. It’s a fantastic way to attract more attention but can also be informative as well.”
Allow your customers to pay at the table.
Why not use the sleek dual-screen smart payment terminal from Unity Payments? Equipped with our POS solution, your restaurant can optimize the checkout process, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and drive revenue growth. To learn all about it, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca.
