Creative Marketing Ideas for F&B Restaurants are explained in detail in our article. Need inspiration? Choose just one of these strategies and see your sales and revenue increase.
There exists the 80/20 Rule of Everything. 20% of your activities will result in 80% of the impact. This applies to the marketing and F&B industries too. With intensifying competition in the F&B industry, you need to identify what are the small actions you can take to experience a huge boost for your business.
Curious to find out our top marketing strategies which can help you stand out of the crowd? Read on! Worried about how the Covid-19 pandemic will affect your consumers’ tastes and preferences? Check out this article on Changing Consumer Behaviour During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Interested to know how to Boost Sales for F&B Companies during COVID-19? Read all about it here.
1. Instagram Account
Instagram is now acknowledged by social media marketing experts as a titan in the advertising industry. While this does not mean you should not have a Facebook page, you should strongly consider creating an Instagram page.
As an F&B owner, you are likely already creating high-quality photos and videos of your dishes and dining experience. On Instagram, food posts are particularly popular. One statistic indicates that as of February 2021, #food alone accounted for 430 million Instagram posts.
Creating an Instagram account provides you with an avenue to post deals, new offerings, and updates about your restaurant. These are shareable and can reach many times more people than if you did not post at all. On top of this, Instagram allows your customers to check in to your restaurant and post about it on their own accounts. They tag your account and location, and you receive free advertising to their direct circle.
In recent years, Instagram Ads have improved tremendously. Creating ads on the platform has never been easier and more customisable. On top of that, it is also affordable due to its direct and local targeting, which means every dollar spent will generate more sales.
2. Competitions or Giveaways
In Singapore especially, where everyone complains about things being so expensive, people love winning freebies. Social media competitions can advertise your business in ways better than even paid advertisements.
By crafting several simple steps for participants to do, you can gain long-lasting results. Some common examples include: following your page, liking your post, sharing your post onto their Instagram story and tagging you, tagging 3 friends in the comments, stating why they want to win the giveaway.
Contests and giveaways can raise your brand recognition and improve your online presence. Additionally, they help to attract potential customers to dine in your F&B restaurant. Everybody loves free food!
Take note: Make sure to follow your platform’s contest or giveaway guidelines, or you may get into some legal troubles. If your campaign does not run as expected, check if your contest is too troublesome for participants and if your prize aligns with the interests of your target audience.
3. Loyalty programmes
Are you collecting data on your customers? If you are not, you may be missing out on valuable insights. Not only that, but you may have difficulties connecting with your customers. The best way to establish a connection between your customers and your F&B restaurant is to implement a loyalty programme.
Give back to high spenders and frequent visitors by creating a free digital membership that they can sign up for. This allows them to keep track of how close they are to redeeming a certain prize or offer, and it shows you which promotions are most appealing to them.
Loyalty programmes not only encourage past customers to return regularly but also establish a connection with first-time customers. Many customers focus on earning points or scoring a free or discounted meal. It makes each subsequent visit to your F&B restaurant more worth the trip, as it gets them closer to their goal.
Another pro of a loyalty programme is what it requires. This ranges from the personal information of your customers, such as their email address, birthday, to anything else you would like to know. Curious to find out which dishes your customers rave about? Desire more constructive feedback? Simply pose a question in the sign-up form, and get your answer in no time!
4. Email Marketing
Email is NOT an outdated form of communication! It is one of the most widely-used methods businesses use to keep in touch with their customers. It has been successful for so many years, and there is no reason to shun it now, even though newer social media platforms have gained popularity. Some sources even suggest that email marketing has a Return On Investment (ROI) of $41.
Firstly, collect the email addresses of your customers. You can do this by placing a form on your website that allows viewers to sign up for a newsletter. You can also create a pop-up on the website to remind customers of the newsletter. Another method of building a customer list is to utilise a loyalty programme, which will already give you a ready list of customers who are interested in your products.
Your newsletter needs to be enticing with content that is both compelling and relevant to the customer. High-quality and relevant content includes event and menu updates, holiday wishes, stories about your F&B restaurant, and exclusive promotions. With consistent – not “spammy” or “salesy” – emails, you reel your readers in and bring them into the restaurant.
Customers love promotions. Including coupons or special offers to newsletter subscribers will ensure that readers regularly check your email, and not relegate you to the spam folder. Have difficulties attracting subscribers? Add an incentive, such as a free dessert or entree for all new subscribers.
5. Food Blog
As an F&B owner, you already have a lot on your plate. However, food blogging is a worthwhile investment of time and money. Written content can engage users in totally different ways than photos and videos.
Create content that people want to read in full. Some examples include recipes, industry insights, the story of your restaurant, and an avenue for you to inform readers about activities or events you have attended.
Having a blog on your restaurant website is beneficial to your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). People take time to read and digest content, and thus spend time on your website. Search engines take this as a positive sign that your website is valuable to consumers and provides unique content. This improves your ranking on search engines.
Another plus point is that your blogs are shareable content. These can be shared by interested readers or turned into marketing materials for your business.
6. Online Menu
Without a menu on your website or social media platforms, you risk turning away uncertain customers. With so much choice in the F&B industry in Singapore in 2021, customers are becoming increasingly picky about where they spend their money. They want to know what they can expect to order.
An online menu will allow potential customers to browse through it before stepping foot in your establishment. This has multiple benefits. Not only does it affirm their order choices and thus increase the likelihood of them visiting, but it also saves time as they order quicker. These benefits are not understated, as according to a survey by OpenTable, “93% of people view menus online prior to dining out.”
7. Online Reservation System
Reservation systems may seem to be exclusive to fine dining establishments, and that is precisely what makes it so beneficial. With a reservation system, your F&B restaurant will have an aura of exclusivity, which will lure in customers who feel like they may miss their shot at getting a table for dinner. This will work wonderfully for improving your reputation.
On top of that, it allows bigger groups to have ease of mind when it comes to dining at your restaurant. Oftentimes, it can be difficult for larger groups to find enough seats for their entire party. With a reservation system, you open your restaurant up to hosting large-scale events and celebrations, which are more profitable as compared to regular diners. With permission from the organisers, you could even turn such events into promotional materials.
Conclusion: Creative Marketing Ideas for F&B Restaurants in 2021
These are the 7 Creative Marketing Ideas for F&B Restaurants we have hand-picked for best results. With intensifying competition in the F&B industry, it is no wonder that F&B owners like yourself are having a harder time connecting with your customers.
Try out these 7 Creative Marketing Ideas for F&B Restaurants today, and see the results for yourself! If you are uncertain about the best way to go about this, contact SkipQoo, an established expert in the field of marketing F&B restaurants online.
Want to learn more about how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the tastes and preferences of your consumers? Read more about Changing Consumer Behaviour During the Covid-19 Pandemic here. Interested to know how to Boost Sales for F&B Companies during COVID-19? Read all about it here.