Local Online Listings: Cheap and Easy Online Visibility for Your Restaurant

There are a thousand things you could do to get your restaurant better online visibility, and if you’ve got the money, it’s well worth it to hire someone to do those thousand things for you. That said, there are a few things you can do on your own which will automatically boost your restaurant’s online presence. A very simple one is to ensure that your restaurant is listed in all of the online directories available. There are three tiers to consider.

Getting Your Restaurant in Online Listings, Tier #1: Data Aggregators

A data aggregator is a business which compiles information on individuals or businesses into consumer reports and then sells that information to others. There are a number of data aggregators out there, but well known examples include Acxiom, InfoGroup, and Localeze.

All of these providers push their data to numerous sources, including local search engines and directories. Some of them will let you claim and update your business listing for free; others will charge, but it’s worth your time to claim your restaurant’s listing and to ensure that your information is accurate because information from database aggregators weighs heavily on online visibility.

Getting Your Restaurant in Online Listings, Tier #2: Search Engines

All of the major search engines have business directory listings and it’s wise to ensure that your restaurant is accurately listed in every one of them. Google has Google Places, Yahoo has Yahoo Local, and Bing has Bing Local. It’s free to claim or submit your information to these sources and since search engines represent the largest consumer usage and feature their local listings first in search results, it’s wise to have a presence there.

Furthermore, it’s smart to keep an eye on your listing once created. Along with GPS navigation right to your doorstep, search engine business listings now typically have the option for consumers to leave reviews about your business on these sites as well. These reviews are visible to everyone and are often the first thing people will see when they search for you, so it’s important to keep an eye on them and address anything that could adversely affect your establishment’s reputation.

 Getting Your Restaurant in Online Listings, Tier #3: Online Business Directories

Last but not least, you’ll want to claim or submit your information to the variety of online business directories that are out there. Many of these directories are designated to be replacements for phone books or Yellow Pages, and listing your information within the directory is typically free. Well known examples include Yelp.com, Yellowpages.com, Superpages and Supermedia.

Aside from ensuring that your listing is visible to users of these sites, adding your listing here serves the dual benefit of building backlinks to your company’s website – which, in turn, also boosts your online visibility.

Even if you are already listed in a number of online directories, it’s wise to not only look for more, but also to ensure that your information is accurate. If you’re a franchise, spend some time focusing on local listings and include your geographical location in your information so that it will come up in search results for local users.

Of course, there are a ton of other things you can do to boost your online visibility, but ensuring that you’re listed in online business directories is a simple and easy way to start.

Leveraging Social Media and Mobile Apps in the Restaurant

Everyone knows that social media campaigns can be powerful tools to build your reputation and brand loyalty. Most people are also aware of the ever-increasing role smartphones play in helping potential customers locate businesses and decide whether or not to give them their patronage.

What many businesses are struggling with is the creation of a successful campaign that harnesses these technologies effectively. Not everyone uses mobile tech yet and social media campaigns can be difficult to obtain meaningful metrics from, making it difficult to determine if your return on investment makes your effort worthwhile. Nonetheless, you can’t afford to ignore the potential that either of these technologies offers in terms of customer engagement and the building of brand loyalty. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Using Social Media Properly Starts With Understanding What It’s Really For

Getting social media to be an effective tool for your business has a lot to do with how you use the technology. The number one mistake that businesses make with social media is taking too strong of a ‘sales’ approach in their attempts to connect with customers. The key point to keep in mind about social media is that it’s meant to be a social platform.  This means that people are using it because they want to connect and share personal experiences with others; they’re not using it so they can be blasted with advertisements and haggled about buying something.

As a business, the best approach to social media is to think about it as a tool to make friends with your customers. It’s a platform where it’s O.K., even expected, to be less formal and more friendly.  Posts should be value-oriented, delivering information you know your customers would be excited to have.

Your posting frequency matters too. In fact, a recent study in the Restaurant Social Media Index 2012 Consumer Report found that brands who published more than six promotional posts per week, had an opt-out rate of 8% from social customers!

The Power of Images in Social Media

Sometimes one good image can be a far more powerful tool to catch people’s attention than any number of text posts could ever be.  Images also have a longer staying power in people’s minds. Think, for instance, how much more likely you will be to remember that such and such restaurant is running a lunch time special on burgers if you actually see a picture of said burger looking totally delectable beforehand.  Platforms like Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram can be particularly powerful tools toward this end, since they are image-focused and shares are user-driven. Mobile platforms such as Yelp and FourSquare have recently beefed up their image sharing capacities as well, adding to the increased importance of images in restaurant marketing campaigns.

Mobile Apps That Build Restaurant Loyalty and Engagement

Given the increasing use of smartphones and mobile technology, it would be folly not to at least have a mobile version of your website enabled. Even better, build a free mobile app that your customers can download to their devices to stay in constant touch.

Several restaurants are using this technology is very effective ways. Krispy Kreme, for example, has an app that alerts users anytime their ‘hot now’ sign is on at their favorite Krispy Kreme location, allowing people to know exactly when they can show up and get their favorite doughnuts freshly baked and piping hot. Denny’s recently ran a mobile campaign where they gave users a digital ‘badge’ each time they ate at a new Denny’s location. The first user to visit a Denny’s in all 50 states was given free Grand Slam breakfasts for life.

These are just a few examples of how you can utilize mobile technology to inspire engagement and loyalty from your customers. If social media and mobile technology is not yet a well-developed aspect of your marketing campaigns, now is as good a time as any to leverage these technologies to your advantage.

Essential Email Metrics for Effective Marketing Campaigns

One of the factors that make email marketing campaigns so valuable is the fact that it is one of the easiest forms of marketing to get clear, concise measurements on whether or not your campaign is working. The more concise your measurements, the more able you are to fine tune your marketing efforts, which increases the return on your investment. Here are the essential email metrics you need to pay attention to in order to determine how well your email campaign is serving its intended purpose.

How Deliverable are Your Emails? Are They Getting Bounced or Junked?

The first essential email metric to examine is your deliverability. If a good percentage of your messages are getting blocked, bounced, or worse, thrown in the spam folder, it’s time to change your tactics. There are a variety of reasons that this could be happening, and the first place to look is the email service providers that your email contacts are using. (Email service providers are companies like Google Mail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, MSN, etc.)

An easy way to check to see if there is a problem with a particular email service provider is to create ‘seed’ email address accounts at each of them. Then, the next time you send out a newsletter, include your seeds to each of the email service providers and log in after the send out to see if your message made it safely to the inbox.

If your message was blocked or bounced, it’s not a bad idea to contact that email service provider to ask why. In some instances, you can even get a ‘Certified Sender’ status directly from the email service provider which will guarantee that your messages get safely through. If your newsletter is getting thrown in the spam folder, it might have more to do with your content than the email provider. We’ll talk more about that in the spam section.

How Often Are Your Emails Getting Opened? How Many People Unsubscribe?

The next two telling metrics are your open rate and your unsubscribe rate. Now, the fact that someone opened your email doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they actually read it, but it does give you other valuable insights. How well your subject line is working is one such example, and it can be very helpful to compare open rates between different versions of the same newsletter to see which converts more customers.

The type of people who are unsubscribing from your list can provide you with valuable insight as well and it’s important to pay attention to who is removing themselves from your list. Is it your most valuable subscribers? All women? Are they all from one demographic? Try to pinpoint trends and see if you can shift your email marketing campaigns accordingly.

Help! I’m Getting Spam Complaints and My Emails Are Getting Junked!

If your emails are ending up in the spam folder more often than not, there are a variety of factors that could be coming into play. The first no-no is buying purchased email lists – this is almost a surefire way to land in the spam folder AND lose your money. Emails also get junked if they contain too many risky words like ‘buy’, ‘free’, ‘purchase’, ‘order’, etc., which trigger the spam filter. Emails that contain only one image often land in spam country, as do emails with too many exclamation points in the title.

Bottom line: keep your emails small in size and rich with content, and don’t go overboard with the gimmicks. Using a trusted email service provider to send out messages goes a long way as well.

All in all, the metrics you get out of running email campaigns can provide you with really valuable insight about how to best make your next move. Keeping an eye on these essential statistics will give you a clear picture of your revenue and profitability, as well as a better understanding of what is truly affecting your bottom line.