Restaurants rely on marketing strategies more than anything else. Their food quality doesn’t matter if consumers are willing to taste it. Therefore, marketing has become more fundamental than ever, especially during this pandemic when people are wary of the places they visit.
The main rule of thumb is spending about 2 percent to 5 percent of your annual revenue on campaigns and advertisements. However, you have to spend over 10 percent of your yearly income on restaurants and other businesses that market directly to consumers. Marketing becomes a complicated process for startups with little revenue for the first five years.
Suppose you’ve just recently started your restaurant business and you’re planning to market to now the generation with the most significant spending power in the United States. In this article, you’ll find out creative marketing tactics that will surely get the attention of millennials in the country.
Market Your Food Through Mouth-Watering Photography
If there is one thing millennials truly enjoy is photography. They have the most presence on social media sites highlighting photography, such as Instagram. Say you want to connect to millennial diners. You’ll have to photograph your dish in creative and colorful ways and market them on your social media sites.
The first step is hiring a professional photographer to do the job. If you’re good at photography, then you can do this yourself. The next step is to present your food as colorful as possible. It’s best to use some of the best dinnerware sets to showcase your food. Also, you can utilize edible flowers on your food. This will make your food stand out in your pictures.
You can create mouthwatering photos of the food you serve. After which, you’ll post them on social media sites is one of the best and free marketing strategies you can implement to get in touch with millennial diners.
Market Your Restaurant’s Sustainability
Sustainability is something that millennials care about deeply. They care about where you sourced your ingredients, whether it’s sustainable, and what you are doing for the environment. If your restaurant isn’t doing any of these things, then it’s time to make a transition.
Look for sustainable options in your area and start implementing them into your restaurant. They are also much cheaper options than purchasing from big companies. Moreover, you’re also supporting the community because of it. It’s a win-win situation for you, and it’s something that the community will appreciate as well.
Influencer Marketing
No other marketing strategy reaches out to millennials than influencer marketing. This strategy utilizes the fame and creativity of today’s influencers. It puts them into advertisements, and since many of today’s generation are exposed to influencers, it makes them effective.
Influencer marketing is a relatively expensive option for advertising your startup restaurant. However, this depends on the influencer you choose. Big influencers with celebrity fame ask millions of dollars from companies to mention them on social media. However, those with less than 500,000 followers are likely to ask for much less than that.
Those who have recently started are the best option for a startup restaurant like yours. These are considered micro-influencers and are willing to help your restaurant gain the attention it needs. You can hire or ask them to visit your restaurant to review your food and location. It’s a pretty simple strategy but effective, especially for millennial diners.
No other strategy can captivate millennials than influencer marketing, so make sure to use this to your advantage.
Discounts and Loyalty Programs
It should be part of your marketing strategy to retain any consumers you’ve gained from the marketing you’ve implemented above. Discounts and loyalty programs should be on top of your list when retaining consumers and making them loyal to your restaurant.
Loyalty programs are part of every restaurant’s marketing campaign, and it’s something that your restaurant should start with. A loyalty program can ensure that you have a steady flow of consumers into your startup. Moreover, it’s a way to take advantage of certain holidays and seasons.
Only you can create a loyalty program for your restaurant since many are so unique. Feel free to utilize discounts and freebies once your consumers have reached a certain milestone. Furthermore, don’t forget to reward them for their loyalty during holidays. This will ensure they’ll keep coming back to your restaurant for more.
A combination of social media marketing, influencer marketing, and loyalty programs should place your restaurant on the map. Once you’ve gained loyal customers from these strategies, your startup will then become a success.
