What communications initiatives should you adopt for your restaurant?

How can you become visible to your customers? What are the keys to success for improving your restaurant's reputation? 80% of French people choose their restaurant or hotel online. Gaining visibility on the Internet has therefore become one of the top priorities for restaurants, as acquisition is now played out on the Internet.

In the age of the Internet and 2.0 technologies, it's essential for a restaurant to be visible online, and on every medium likely to win customers! At a time when the health crisis linked to Covid-19 has shaken up the economic activity of CHR players and customers' consumption habits, communicating on your values, your offer, your menu and your service is no longer a choice but a necessity! Since mid-March, the French have been unable to travel, but have stayed connected: web browsing has increased by 70% and the under-35s spend 40 times more time on social media Instagram and Facebook Whetheryou're a restaurant owner, F&B manager, coffee shop, bar or tea room manager, there are many tools at your disposal , such as Google, Tripadvisor, La Fourchette, Facebook, Instagram or even Mapstr! How can you use them to raise the profile of your establishment, improve its visibility and longevity, and ultimately acquire new customers?

1) SEO: improving your online visibility

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the set of techniques used to help a website rise in the search results.Google and its services, as well as online directories, are among the main tools used by Internet users to find a restaurant. Your potential customers choose the establishments that appear in the first results of their search. To acquire new customers and fill your restaurant with every service or increase your online sales, it's vital to maximize your SEO.

Working on your search engine optimization: fast, concrete results

It's essential to be visible on Google and wherever your customers - current or future - are to maximize your chances of getting them to eat in your establishment and/or order takeaway or delivery! Appearing at the top of the search results will significantly boost the number of visits to your restaurant, and ultimately your sales. Increasing your visibility, generating interest and converting Internet users who have found your restaurant into customers are all objectives that can be achieved through daily SEO work! Loyalty is built by delivering a good experience in the dining room, responding to customer reviews, and sharing quality content intelligently disseminated on the Internet. social mediaMalou's SEO work has paid off: by applying the various methods we'll describe below, in just one month the Wilson restaurant improved its visitor rate, and consequently its sales.

How can I work on my SEO? What actions need to be taken?

But how do you achieve these goals?

• First of all, you need to list your restaurant online on :
  • Main platforms for direct acquisition: Google my Business, Tripadvisor, possibly La Fourchette (2€)
  • Secondary platforms to reinforce this direct acquisition: Apple Maps, Yelp, Foursquare
  • Directories for indirect acquisition: Les Pages Jaunes, Le Petit Futé, L'Internaute
  • Specific directories: HappyCow, Handiplan, PagesHalal
  • Platforms for reaching tourists: Dianping, Yandex, Kekanto, MangoPlate...

• Update your opening hours wherever you're listed online. By standardizing the information available - opening hours, special closing days, menus, prices - and updating it regularly, search engines - and Google's algorithm in particular - will reward you! If it finds inconsistencies online about an establishment, it will penalize your establishment in favor of others that are more reliable!
• Optimize your GMB page: In France, 94% of Internet searches are carried out on Google. Every time someone searches for a restaurant online, Google suggests the most relevant results according to their search criteria and location. The first page of results includes 3 establishments located on a map, followed by a series of links deemed relevant by Google.

• Identify your keywords, those that are really used by your potential customers. When it comes to search results, it's important to consider the nature of the queries for which it's worth appearing at the top of the results. Keywords are the words, phrases and sentences that prospects will use to search for an establishment online. The keyword is built around 2 elements: the first describes the offer (pizzeria, brasserie, café, vegetarian, terrace...), the second specifies the location (a city, a district, a suburb, a metro stop...). The location can also be determined by geolocation - i.e. suggesting establishments "close to your current position" without having to specify the place in words.
• Include your keywords in your descriptions and responses to customer reviews. 8 out of 10 French people say they attach importance to online customer reviews. In addition to a restaurant's menu, website and photos, 86% of Internet users attach importance to the notes and comments left by gourmets who have visited the establishment before them. Posting positive reviews of your establishment is therefore decisive in convincing potential customers to visit! Don't hesitate to use these reviews to share your news!
• Take photos to inspire your customers. Rename them with your keywords to improve your online visibility!

By implementing these various digital habits, your establishment's SEO (search engine optimization) will improve significantly, and you'll significantly increase your chances of selling out. However, there are other important areas to work on to optimize your online visibility.

2) social media : building your online reputation

E-reputation is now a strategic issue in all digital communications, and particularly so in the world of food! The social media website has become an excellent showcase for restaurants looking to win new customers, and food is one of socionauts' favorite themes. With 386 million posts featuring #food, Instagram photos have become a key tool for restaurateurs to capture new customers!

Restaurant Instagram and Facebook accounts are being consulted more than ever. In France, nearly 300,000 people consult at least one restaurant page every day. But how can you optimize your presence on social media ? What are the strategies and trends to apply? How can you take care of your e-reputation and reach the right prospects? Since the containment period, the engagement rate - the number of socionauts who have liked, shared, commented or clicked on a publication in relation to the total number of people who have seen that publication - on social media has risen by 60%. An opportunity to be seized as a matter of urgency to convert these food photography enthusiasts into customers! We recommend that you :

• Create an Instagram and Facebook account for your establishment: as visual content is more appreciated than textual content, publishing beautiful photos on your accounts makes it easier to create engagement.
• Apply your global online communications strategy. Communicating your offer, informing potential or future customers of your opening times, sharing news about your establishment, showing what's behind the scenes and being transparent are the foundations of digital communication!
• Create your own visual identity by using the same filter for all published photos. A harmonious, aesthetically pleasing feed - the photo gallery of your Instagram account - will make your potential customers want to come and eat at your establishment! The continuity and cohesion of your editorial line is therefore essential. Make sure your logo is visible, and don't hesitate to use words and expressions that set you apart.

• Vary your content. The social media website offers a wide range of tools to help you stand out from the crowd! Permanent are a permanent way of communicating, spreading your message and sharing different kinds of content.

• The stories Stories allow you to be more direct with your community and instantly share your daily life. Most often in the form of videos, stories are excellent ways to exchange with your subscribers. Here are a few tips to make your stories a success:
  • Be careful not to position yourself between the light and the object to be shot. Shooting against the light is forbidden!
  • Optimize focus. By clicking on the main object in the video, the phone will recognize it as the object to follow and focus on it.
  • Framing wider! The format of Instagram story videos can be easily modified. It's better to shoot wide than too tight. But always shoot vertically.
  • Vary the objectives: is the video used to present a set of dishes (for example, a brunch menu), or focus on an action (a soft-boiled egg cut in half)?
  • Alternate video formats: boomerang, slow motion, accelerated... any format is good for Instagram stories.

• Increase your interaction by publishing frequently! We advise you to publish twice a day, varying the content. If your restaurant is only open for takeaway or delivery, you can share content once every two or three days. Encourage your customers to send you messages on Messenger or direct Instagram messages to answer their questions, resolve their doubts and reassure them. Open up the discussion with the "Questions" sticker, allowing them to share their questions with you. You can then share your answers in subsequent stories. This type of communication increases authenticity and transparency.
• Encouraging your followers and visitors to post photos of themselves in your restaurant : for you, it's free advertising! Burger King encourages Instagram users to post photos of their burgers on their accounts. The brand's Instagram account is driven almost exclusively by "regrams" - shares of posts from another account - from its subscribers.

• Organize competitions to raise awareness : before launching a competition, identify the people you want to target and what you want them to remember about your restaurant. With the help of the Malou team, O'Tacos Vavin multiplied its audience by 10 thanks to a contest!

• Sponsor your posts to improve visibility and reach people living within a radius of up to 3 kilometers. Using the right tools like Facebook Business Manager and Instagram Business, you can target your customers according to age, gender, interests and location. All you need to do is set a budget beforehand, and then repeat the process, analyzing each campaign as you go along!

As a reflection of your restaurant , social media is more than just an asset for sharing your values! In addition to communicating your services and offering, these digital tools enable you to maintain a daily link with your customers, build loyalty and increase your visibility to convert potential customers!

III) Press relations and influencers to generate awareness

A presence in the most relevant media

Competition between catering establishments is intense, and the choices available to consumers are increasingly varied. In this particularly competitive environment, a coherent and powerful press relations strategy is essential.Big Mamma, PNY, Les Pinces, Pizzou, Easy Sushi, Chipotle and Sushi Shop are just a few examples of the importance of these tools to the success and longevity of a restaurant. As well as raising awareness, articles in the media, whatever they may be, encourage potential customers to give your establishment a try. Implementing a strategy to reach your customers - current and future - is more difficult than you might think! To optimize your strategy and stack the odds in your favor, you need to :

• Work on your storytelling, both form and content, writing a press kit and/or press release. The writing and layout of these are key steps in showcasing your restaurant. They give rise to the first impression that visitors will have. journalists and influencers of your establishment.
  • Structure your information.
  • Value your work and commitment.
  • Don't neglect the quality of your photos.

To contact journalists in the best possible way, we recommend :

• Identify relevant media for your restaurant. There are several types of media: general information, guidebooks, women's magazines, daily newspapers, cultural magazines, specialized media, specific radio features...

• Don't neglect the local media, which will reach your most direct target! The local press gives you visibility among the inhabitants of your neighborhood, town or region...

Detecting the right media and contacts for your restaurant is definitely important, but it's only the first step in a well-thought-out press relations strategy. To optimize press coverage, it's important to work out exactly how you're going to approach these journalists.

• Target journalists according to their preferred topics and reconstruct their email addresses.
• Approach journalists effectively by explaining your approach in a concise, personalized way, using a press kit and/or press release written in advance!

• Collaborate with the most relevant influencers

In parallel with your actions on your social media and your community management strategy, we advise you to develop an influencer marketing strategy. It's in the food industry's best interest to work alongside the most relevant Instagram professionals. Generate awareness and showcase your commitment by collaborating with influencers. This will enable you to establish your e-reputation among the foodosphere. To achieve this, we recommend :

• Identify the most relevant influencers, those who are closest to your restaurant's values.

• Check the nature of the influencer's publications: does he or she focus on exceptional places? A specific type of food: healthy food or foodporn?
• Choose your approach beforehand: one-off relays or long-term collaboration?

In a nutshell,

Having an online presence is not enough to be seen by Internet users. The three pillars of digital communication whose secrets we have revealed form a whole. To improve your e-reputation, attract new customers and become a preferred destination, these three complementary forms of communication - local referencing, social media, press relations and influencers - need to be activated!