Welcome to Episode 4 of our podcast series, “Digital Marketing Journey of a Successful Restaurant,” …where we create the roadmap to help your restaurant thrive in today’s competitive market.
In today’s episode, we’re diving into three solid ways to drive sales growth for your restaurant, whether you’re looking to boost your customer base, encourage repeat business, or increase your average check size.
Imagine you want to grow your restaurant’s sales by 10% over the next 12 months. This goal is ambitious but achievable if you focus on three key areas: attracting more new customers, encouraging more repeat visits from your existing customers, and increasing the average amount each customer spends.
We’ll start, first, with how to get more new customers. Peter will share insights into optimizing your online presence and tailoring your marketing efforts to attract fresh faces to your restaurant.
And if you are wondering about digital presence – please listen to our first episode which is dedicated to the topic of Maximizing the Digital Presence of Your Restaurant.
Next, Elena will talk about strategies to boost repeat business. She’ll cover the importance of customer innovative promotions, community engagement, and loyalty programs to keep your existing customers coming back more frequently.
Finally, we will return to Peter to discuss how to increase the average check size. He’ll provide tips on creating high value offers and experiences that entice customers to spend more during each visit.
Stay tuned as we explore these strategies in detail, and don’t forget to check out our previous episodes for more tips on growing your restaurant business.
And now I’m thrilled to welcome Peter, my co-founder and our inhouse veteran of all things digital marketing. Welcome Peter. I am also thrilled to welcome Elena Ruiz our leader for marketing automation and AI integration. Welcome Elena.
Let’s get started. Peter, can you describe for our customers how they can acquire more new customers.
Get More New Customers – Peter
Importance – High // Cost – Medium to High // Effort – High
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Reach New Customers
Check out our Episode 2 that focus on Boosting Your Restaurant’s Digital Reach.
Need to replenish the organic turn over – Most restaurants lose 12.5% of their customers every year – people move, life-stage changes, etc. The good news is that over short periods such as 12 months people move into the restaurant’s market in about the same proportion as they move out. To grow the restaurant must target over 12.5% new customers. So, how can a restaurant attract new customers.
- Findability / Local Search Optimization: Business listing optimization – rich and accurate with important information, images and videos; consistent and updated across the 50+ sites including search engines, review sites (Yelp, Tripadvisor, social media (FB, Insta, Tiktok, X (Twitter), and local business directories.
- Social Media Postings & Boosting: To reach new customers you must invest in boosting posts and running local ads in your market. Video posts and reels also reach more people than static images.
- Grow Email & SMS Opt-in Lists e.g., build your opt-in email and SMS list – important and requires great deal of expertise and compliance considerations. Checkout our Episode 2 in which we discuss this topic in detail. You can also work with Platr team to optimize and accelerate your opt-in programs
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Tailor Your Marketing Programs(Specials & Promos)– for New Customers
Special promotions that specifically target new customers that urge trial, while also a creating a sense of urgency to attract new customers looking for a 1) deal or 2) unique experience.
- Introductory discounts and offers, special pricing for new customers of course requires opt-in or registration so the program is not abused. Many restaurants use Platr’s single use coupons/qr codes.
- Event Nights: Host themed nights, such as karaoke nights, live music, wine tastings, etc.People tend to bring friends.
- Seasonal Menus: Introduce seasonal dishes or limited-time menus to entice customers to try something new. This also works well for increasing repeat customer business.
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Community & Collaboration
Community events and local collaborations can boost your brand awareness and introduce your restaurant to new customer segments.
- Community Events: Participate in or sponsor local events and festivals to increase visibility and engage with the community. Put your QR codes on all material at high school games and local events.
- Influencers: Invite local food bloggers and social media influencers to dine at your restaurant and share their experiences with their followers.
- Local Businesses (Opportunistic): Partner with nearby businesses for cross-promotions, such as offering discounts to each other’s customers. E.g., Costco gift cards.
Thank you, Peter.
Let me turn to you Elena.
Isn’t it equally interesting for a restaurant to increase business from its repeat customers? So, what does it takes to grow sales from repeat customers.
More Repeat Business – Elena
Importance – High // Cost – Medium to High // Effort – Medium to Low
- Studies reveal that people eat at their favorite restaurant about 4-10 times per year.
- Targeting one more visit from repeat customers is BIG opportunity and independent restaurants should not overlook strategies to increase in its repeat customer frequency and sales.
- The challenge is that consumer behavior is hard to change and need incentive… Enough for the customer to forego going to a different restaurant.
- As you might imagine, persistent marketing and promos with high perceived value are very important to get extra visit from your customers.
- And course you can’t undermine the importance of reminders to stay top of mind of your customers.
There are 3 tested strategies that independent restaurants should use to increase the frequency of its repeat customers.
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Reward & Remind Your Customers to Come Again
- Run exclusive promos for your existing customers. E.g., Send/include coupons/offers with online orders to order again or come eat at the restaurant – such as free dessert for your next order.
- Top of mind reminder messaging – e.g., Personalized reminder emails and social media posts – for today’s lunch special. Personalization is important for your customers to feel special.
- Loyalty programs can work very well. For examples, for coffee shops and café’s where the customer come more frequently and can reach the free coffee on the 10th visit easily.
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Keep it Interesting – Innovate – New Offerings & Experiences
If you want your customers to modify their behavior, you must innovate as well. Offer new experiences – According to a study by Eventbrite, 67% of millennials attend events primarily for the unique experience. Peter covered some of this.
- Event Nights: Host themed nights, such as karaoke nights, live music, wine tastings, etc.
- Seasonal Menus: Introduce seasonal dishes or limited-time menus to entice customers to try something new. This works well for increasing repeat customer business.
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Community Engagement
Building strong ties with the local community can foster loyalty and repeat business. According to Small Business Trends, 82% of consumers are more likely to patronize businesses that support local causes.
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Ask for Feedback & Respond Promptly
It will help improve service and it shows customers that their opinions are valued. 91% of consumers are more likely to use a business that responds to their reviews
Platr’s review requester and responder has helped 100s of restaurants get feedback and leverage AI to respond promptly. Our best customers using our growth strategy recommendations have seen upwards of 30% MoM growth.
Thanks Elena. Great Insights. Let me turn back to you Peter. What can you tell our listeners about strategies for increase the average check size – existing or new customers.
Grow Average Check Size – Peter
Higher check size can only be achieved for a much higher perceived value to the customer. That depends on a restaurant, its offering, its competition and its customers’ buying behavior.
- For example – half price wine bottle weekdays can attract value seekers that would select your restaurant over another.
- Live music night tends to attract larger groups, who stay longer and order more drinks and food.
- BOGO offers are a classic way to driving up the average check size.
