No matter which industry you’re in, digital marketing helps your business grow, especially now that almost everyone is online. This is especially true if you’re working in the F&B industry. 

According to recent studies, about 70 to 80 percent of customers search restaurants online first before visiting in person. 

This helps customers review whether they actually want to go to the restaurant before they actually go to the store. That said, if you want to attract more customers, it’s best that you put in extra effort to market your restaurant online. Creating a website may be easy, but making your business stand out online against your competitors will be the real challenge. Here are some digital marketing tips to help your business be visible online:

Tip #1: Regularly publish engaging posts on your social media

Many online users are active on popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you want to get a massive audience, these are the online sites you should go to and set up a platform for.  The “sharing” features of these social media sites are incredibly useful for boosting brand awareness. Even though you only have a small following, in the beginning, your page can become more successful once you share a post that connects to your audience.

However, competition on these sites is tough, since many other businesses also use these platforms for marketing. As such, make it a point to stand out. One way of doing that is by sharing unique content that catches the attention and interest of your audience, including:

• Photos and videos that showcase the interior design of your store
• Musical/band performances
• Behind-the-scenes cooking videos
• Store staff appreciation posts
• New menu products video sneak-peaks

Tip #2: Work with local influencers 

Social media sites have helped develop and discover the online “influencers” that most online users love today. People follow these influencers online because, unlike celebrities, they can connect and relate to these people in terms of lifestyle and interests. Influencers have massive audiences, and that is why most brands choose to work with them. Not only are they much cheaper than celebrities, but they can help you get organic followers.

Take the opportunity to grow your audience online and contact influencers that you think match well with your restaurant’s vibe. Pitch an engaging collaboration project and see where it goes! Some of the projects that you can do are:

• On-site food vlog review
• Trying out of recipes
• Restaurant vlog tour

Tip #3: Produce high-quality, informative content

One way of making your restaurant visible online, even outside social media sites, is by creating informative blog content. Although reports say that online users engage more on visual content than text, written content will always be necessary because this is where people get the most detailed and useful information.

You can share anything on your blog as long as it is relevant to your industry. Incorporating ranking keywords will also help your audience easily find your site and your content. Here are some topic ideas that you can use to jumpstart your content marketing:

• Food recipes
• Food reviews
• Meal plans
• Food presentation guide
• Cooking tips and techniques
• Special event updates

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Tip #4: Rank your website via SEO marketing

Digital marketing will not be complete without search engine marketing. Reports have shown that about 90 percent of online users start on search engines. Thus, you should prioritize making your restaurant rank first on those search platforms.

Search engine marketing does not only refer to the use of keywords, but it also involves designing your website in a way that is easy to find and navigate. Your goal with using keywords is to get your website to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) so that audiences will be more likely to click it. Therefore, it’s crucial that you learn how to search for the ranking keywords in your industry and incorporate it into your content. Geo-tagging will also help you attract customers to your store.

Conclusion

More and more businesses are seeing the advantage of digital marketing when it comes to helping their business grow, regardless of the industry. To make your business visible and relevant online, be creative and smart on how you market your restaurant on digital platforms.

At XPM Agency, we specialize in providing SEO services for food trucks in the US. If you want to learn how to grow your business in only four simple steps, get in touch with us today!