Franchises, restaurants: how AI optimizes customer acquisition

Save time, centralize actions, optimize costs, attract customers: for franchisors, the objectives are huge. The good news is that, in just a few years, AI has completely changed the way we do business. Every day, new digital solutions, software and applications appear to simplify the lives of professionals. The foodservice industry is no exception!

Discover how AI can save you time and customers in your restaurants👇

Why is AI revolutionizing restaurant operations?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a scientific field that aims to simulate human intelligence. It is generally based on an algorithm that can be "fed" with information and data.

Learning, making decisions and solving problems as a human would: these are the missions of AI. This is made possible by algorithms and mathematical models that enable it to analyze, extract and order large quantities of data.

AI's main objective: to save time. And if you're the founder of one or more restaurants, the CEO of a franchise or the Marketing Manager of a group, you know better than anyone: time is your most precious resource.

From operations to HR management and marketing, Artificial Intelligence now offers solutions capable of changing the daily lives of restaurateurs.

"AI is akin to a revolution on a grander scale than the Internet was in the 1990s. It enables us to do more and better - with fewer resources.. And this fits in perfectly with the hyper-competitive context and the race to to improve margins that restaurants and the race to improve margins."Louiza Hacène, CEO of Malou

Focus: what are ChatGPT and Dall-e?

Both interfaces are developed by OpenAi, one of the leaders in AI software:

• ChatGPT analyzes, organizes and generates text based on information learned online and according to your request or "prompt", for those in the know.
• Dall-e creates images from text descriptions (prompts). It works by associating keywords and descriptions with creative images, producing unique illustrations. Dall-e can then refine the images generated according to the modifications requested.

So how can you use Artificial Intelligence to acquire more customers?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Artificial Intelligence (AI) for restaurants at the top of search results

Your restaurant's Google My Business listing is its digital shop window. Creating, optimizing and updating this listing is ideal for attracting and converting customers (thanks to the "book", "call" or "directions" buttons ).

Appearing at the top of search results for your keywords is an undeniable lever of visibility and traction. To achieve this, you need to carry out regular local SEO work, particularly on your Google listing. In addition to referencing and updating your restaurant's information on all platforms, you need to :

• Define the keywords on which to position your restaurant;
• Create and publish Google posts 2 to 3 times a week
• Optimize this content with your keywords

With artificial intelligence, you can:‍

• ‍CreateGoogle post ideas and captions. Give ChatGPT the precise elements of the photo(s) that illustrate the post (visual content, name of dish, ingredient...), and the software writes your caption. Don't forget to specify the keywords you'd like to include in the post text, as well as the tone you'd like to use (friendly, corporate...).
• Translate these posts if you want to attract foreign tourists. Add an English caption to your posts written in French. For translation, rely on ChatGPT.

• Create unique images if you're short of visuals. Use Dall-e: share the information you need to transcribe into images, then, once you've received the first version, ask for adjustments by giving more details. Even if these images don't really correspond to your restaurant, this is of less importance to Google, as these posts are mainly used to improve your SEO.

AI to enhance your restaurants' e-reputation

When choosing a restaurant, Internet users rely on what they find online, particularly reviews left on Google, TripAdvisor and TheFork.

To improve not only your reputation (average rating on Google), but also your referencing, it's essential to respond to all the reviews left about your establishments, and to do so in less than 48 hours.

Ideally, your answers should contain key words.

In addition, the semantic study of your reviews is a key strategy for highlighting certain problems in your establishments. Service, the quality of a dish, etc.

With artificial intelligence, you can:‍

• Send your reviews to ChatGPT to generate responses directly. The AI will do this by taking the author's name, and without forgetting to include some of your keywords that you will have specified to it in prompt. Be careful with negative reviews: their responses need to be personalized , as these are generally more delicate situations.‍
• Analyze customer feedback via review semantics. Copy recent reviews in their entirety and share them with ChatGPT. Create a specific prompt such as "analyzes the content of reviews left on this restaurant and lists the negative and positive conclusions that come back most often about the establishment."

AI to win over social media and attract new customers

Instagram's success is unquestionable. Today, the social network is proving to be a must-have when it comes to making a name for yourself and winning new customers.

The network's algorithm focuses on a number of criteria to highlight establishments' pages: formats that work, regular post frequency, content quality, use of available features, hashtags, subscriber engagement...

The guide to success on Instagram:

• Create and post varied, high-quality content on a regular basis;
• Write powerful captions with keywords for each publication.

With artificial intelligence, you can :

• Generate post ideas related to the branding of your restaurants. Write a precise prompt for each establishment, describing its world, specialties, teams...
• Generate optimized captions for your posts.

Two tips for your prompts: specify the tone (humorous, poetic, corporate) and list the keywords and hashtags that Chat GPT can use.

• When it comes to images, you can use Dall-e software, but Instagram is much more demanding on visuals than Google. The algorithm loves authentic, grouped images with human faces. We therefore advise you to use a professional photographer;
• For the creation of your videos (Real), the most efficient format, there are other Artificial Intelligence software programs specialized in video. Beware of quality, however: "hallucinations" (distortions in certain images generated by an AI) are very common.

The limits of Artificial Intelligence

We've just talked about it: AI has its limits!

In particular :

• The need to master prompt engineering;
• Prompts can be more time-consuming than the task itself;
• The risk of hallucinations about images or videos that may discredit you;
• A free version of ChatGPT limited to 2021 (some information may be out of date);
• Algorithms generally perform better when spoken to in English;
• On Chat GPT, an analysis that doesn't always take proportions into account. You should therefore take them with a grain of salt, and not remove a dish from your menu after only 1 negative return, for example;
• Limited number of requests for the free version.

For the record, here's an iconic image of AI's foibles. In the photo below, the basic prompt was"create a photo of salmon swimming upstream" 👇

What's the most effective AI for a franchise or restaurant group?

For AI to be accurate and efficient, it needs to be trained.

That's the huge advantage we offer at Malou: an algorithm that's expert in catering, designed to support the various dimensions of the business (digital marketing, SEO, social media, etc.).

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To achieve these results, we trained Artificial Intelligence with over 2,000 customers. As a result, it is faster and more accurate than Chat GPT.

The Malou AI generates posts for SEO in less than 20 seconds, optimized with your keywords and alternating volumes of these keywords to please the algorithm.

Directly integrated into Malou's all-in-one solution, our Artificial Intelligence generates Google post captions and writes them with your establishment's specific tone.

This AI also generates responses to all your reviews in less than 5 seconds, using your tone and keywords, adapting to the content of the review and respecting good review response practices (cordiality, thanks, greetings, mention of the person, etc.).

Trained to generate automatic responses to your reviews based on the author's emotions and feelings, Malou's Artificial Intelligence enables you to guarantee consistent responses that contribute to customer satisfaction. Optimized according to your own keyword strategy, it helps you move up the search results.

With a 100% response rate on all platforms and in record time, you improve your restaurant's reputation with web users and algorithms alike.

Ditto for social media.

You can generate posts in under 20 seconds with your usual tone and the subject of your choice. AI also adapts to image content.

We've trained the Artificial Intelligence so that the content created automatically respects and adapts to your world, the tone used in your previous posts, and always meets the algorithm's expectations. 

Result: no need for a prompt, just a few key details about the photo/video to be published. Malou's AI writes the best possible caption for you, impactful and engaging, with the most relevant hashtags. 

As if you'd written it yourself, but didn't spend any time on it.

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Finally, AI scans your reviews to provide semantic studies, but also generates detailed analyses of your establishments to improve your performance.

Malou's integrated semantic analysis identifies, for each sentence in each review, the main categories referred to by the author: cuisine, ambience, service, price... Then, for each category, the algorithm associates the customer's feeling: positive or negative. All the feelings expressed in each review are then grouped together in detailed reports provided by MalouApp, to give the restaurant an overall view of its business.

For each category ("cuisine", "price", "atmosphere"...), the proportion of positive and negative feelings is displayed, as well as the overall proportion of feelings across all categories.

In each category, you have access to details of what your customers liked and didn't like.

Example: for a brunch restaurant, if the term "pancake" in the "cuisine" category has been reported many times positively, it's best to keep it on the menu and highlight it in your digital marketing strategy.

Finally, you can track the evolution of positive and negative feedback over time, so you can understand which events or initiatives are effective, or which seasons are the best for gathering feedback.

To put it plainly: this AI, "trained" for the restaurant sector, is far more efficient and accurate than Chat GPT. If you're a multi-site chain, you'll save even more time for each establishment centralized on the MalouApp.

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