Reach Highly Engaged Customers by “Going Deep” with Your Restaurant Marketing
Many restaurants try to go wide with their marketing. They promote to the masses rather than drill down into a specific audience or category.
Sometimes, this can pay off. Locals may easily find a pizza restaurant when searching online, or they may think of a nearby chophouse when they crave a steak dinner.
But there is another way to market your restaurant. You can go deep.
What Is Deep Restaurant Marketing?
Deep restaurant marketing attracts customers who are looking for a very distinct type of meal, night out, or atmosphere. It drills down to reach customers when they want a specific dining experience.
Going deep means digging into a specific subset of a restaurant experience.
Instead of promoting your broad restaurant category like “taco restaurant” or “Italian food,” you go deeper and drill down into sub-categories. For example, a taco restaurant may focus on “taco Tuesday specials” and an Italian restaurant may focus on “restaurants with homemade pasta.”
This approach can help you differentiate your restaurant from others like you and get in front of engaged customers who are ready to visit your restaurant.
How Can Your Restaurant Go Deep with Your Marketing?
To go deep with your restaurant marketing, consider these questions.
1. What makes your restaurant different from competitors?
Even if a restaurant fits into the same category, there are elements that make each one different. (If you don’t have anything that makes your restaurant different, you may need to take a step back and revisit your brand plan.)
Think about your differentiators and how you can present them to customers to make them choose you when looking for a restaurant with your unique offerings.
Related: Use This Template to Create Your Restaurant Marketing Plan
2. What unique experiences does your restaurant provide?
Another way to go deep is by considering what experiences customers can have at your restaurant. Think about the unique elements of your space or location that make it a special setting for your guests.
Here are a few ideas to help you get started.
- Date Nights: Are you a good date night spot? What elements of your restaurant make it a good spot for couples?
- Special Occasions: Does your restaurant offer anything unique for special occasions? If someone is celebrating a birthday or anniversary, how do you make it a special evening?
- Group Parties: Is your restaurant great for accommodating groups? How so? Do you have private areas, themed rooms, tasting menus, or something else that elevates the group dining experience? What types of groups can you accommodate? Birthday parties? Corporate meetings? Families with kids?
- Unique Setting and Views: Do you offer a unique setting or great view? What can guests see from your location? A downtown skyline, a sunset, or something else impressive?
- Sports Viewing: Is your location set up with enough TVs for sports lovers? Do you offer NFL Sunday Ticket? Is your bar loyal to a team with fans who want to watch together?
Listing the unique experiences customers can have at your location will help you identify ways to go deep with your restaurant marketing.
How to Go Deep with Your Restaurant Marketing
Some customers know what type of experience they are looking for. Others won't know they want something you offer until you put it in front of them. Here are a few marketing tactics that can help you reach both types of audiences.
Create pages on your website that target long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are search phrases of three or more words that people use when they are looking for something specific. For example, “steakhouse” is a regular, short keyword phrase. “Steakhouse for anniversary dinner” is a long-tail keyword. It is longer and has more specific search intent.
To go deep with your restaurant marketing, create pages on your website that target long-tail keywords. If you’d like customers to find your steakhouse when looking for a place to celebrate their anniversary dinner, target the phrase “steakhouse for anniversary dinner” and include content about what guests will experience and how they can reserve their table.
Related: How to Attract More Local Customers Using Long-Tail Keywords
Target customers based on their unique characteristics.
When you go deep with your marketing, you are attempting to reach a more defined customer. Keep the unique characteristics of that customer in mind as you craft promotions. When possible, use what you know about your audience to put your promotions in front of the customers who are most likely to be interested in them.
Use hypertargeting on social media ads. When running paid social media ads, use targeting that identifies audiences based on their interests and characteristics (like job title, relationship status, etc.). For example, the fresh pasta Italian restaurant might run an ad to target customers located nearby that have an interest in Italian restaurants.
Use customer data to identify engaged customers for text and email campaigns. If you have a customer data platform, you know things about your customers that can help you craft targeted emails and text messages. For example, if you know a customer’s birthday is coming up, send them an email campaign promoting options for having a birthday party at your location.
Use location targeting to reach customers through geotargeting and geofencing. Use geotargeting to set up campaigns to reach customers in the area around your business, and run geofencing campaigns that target specific places where ideal customers spend time. For example, target the beach near your restaurant and send ads to people in that area to encourage them to visit you for dinner with a view of the sunset.
Related: How to Use Geofencing for Restaurants to Increase Store Traffic
Add events to calendars.
When customers want a specific experience, they often turn to local events calendars. When relevant, add your unique, deep marketing offerings to a calendar on your website as well as on local calendars in places like Local Area Sites. For example, if you have NFL Sunday Ticket, create an event each Sunday to remind customers that you cater to this specific situation.
Related: 6 Ways to Promote Your Event (That Have Nothing to Do With Creating a Facebook Listing)
Want to Reach More Highly Engaged Customers?
Going wide with your marketing can help you reach more people. Going deep with your marketing can help you reach more of the right people. It allows you to get in front of audiences who are looking for the exact thing you offer.
Don’t put all of your marketing efforts into going wide. Consider how you can create some deep marketing campaigns to reach highly engaged customers who are looking for a restaurant exactly like you.
Need help putting together campaigns like this? Talk to MyArea Network about how our team can help you drill down into what makes your restaurant unique so you can attract more nearby customers. Schedule your free call with us today.
