10 Things You Can Do To Get More Customers Through The Door
Where did they go?
Here are 10 things you can do to get more customers through the door.
Offer Free WiFi
In the age of everyone carrying a smart phone and people doing business everywhere you definitely want to be offering your guests free wifi. And if you’re using the Captini platform we can collect names, gender, birth dates, emails, and phone numbers just by having the customer connect.
Use Email & SMS Marketing
You need to start email marketing if you’re serious about getting customers in the door. You can easily start collecting emails and phone numbers using the Captini platform as well as on your website with an optin form. Offer something like a free appetizer or desert in exchange for their email address and phone number. Use these contacts for a newsletter promoting your new menu items, upcoming events and specials. Now don’t be annoying with it. An message once or twice a week will benefit your restaurant and get your customers back through the door.
Offer Birthday Gifts Via Email
With regards to email marketing, capture your customers birthdays when they connect to your wifi or opt-in to your website form and let them know that they will be receiving a special gift on their birthday. When it comes time, email your customers on their birthday with a special coupon for a free appetizer or dessert on the day of their birthday. Most people celebrate their birthday with a big group at dinner. Giving them an incentive to choose your restaurant on their special day can both increase your sales and introduce new people to your restaurant.
Keep A Smartphone In The Kitchen
Having a good smartphone in your kitchen at all times is worthy of your investment. And most people have an old iPhone or Android phone with a pretty good camera on it. Have your chefs and staff upload pictures in real-time to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms easily and quickly. Customers want to see what’s happening right now, and they want to see pictures. Pictures are an easy source of content to post online to find new customers and get them engaged with your restaurant. This is probably one of the easiest yet most effective things you can do.
Be Active On Social Media
Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools for restaurant owners as its where your customers are hanging out. Your restaurant needs to be on your customers mind when they are thinking about where to eat. Social media allows you to engage with your customers to keep you on their mind and bring them into your restaurant.
Get To Know Your Regulars
It’s not always about finding new customers that haven’t been to your restaurant. It’s much easier to make more with what you have. Getting to know your regulars on a personal level can greatly benefit your business. By getting to know them you’ll be showing them that you truly do care about them and their experience at your restaurant. We make it easy using Captini VIP. We can notify you when on of your special or loyal customers comes back through the door to allow you to be able to interact and engage your customer. Keeping a customer loyal and getting them back in the door more often can be much more profitable than trying to find new customers.
Use Video To Tell Your Story
Video has a much higher engagement rate than your standard post or picture. And most social platforms are now built around the idea of broadcasting video. Sooner than later the majority of the content on the internet will be video. There is simply no better option for you to get people excited about dining at your restaurant than with an enticing video. And now with platforms like Facebook and Instagram Live its very fast and easy to show off your brand. Just make sure you have a plan and that you remember that you are representing your brand.
Optimize Your Website For Local Search
Everyone now uses the internet to search for where to eat out or order online from; and there are a lot of options to choose from. You need to optimize your restaurant for local search and make sure that your local listings are correct across the internet. This might seem complicated and involved but many places offer this service (us included) for $30-100 a month depending on your needs. otherwise your restaurant’s website will be buried in the never ending list of competitors.
Offer Online Ordering
Who has time to eat out anymore? Unfortunately, not that many people. If your restaurant offers takeout or delivery then you should have an online ordering options on your website. People hate to make phone calls these days, everyone emails and texts. Not to mention answering the phone at your restaurant wastes your staffs valuable time. Make everyone happier by letting your customers order food directly from your website. Make the process even easier by accepting online payments. There are many quality platforms that offer online ordering, and many that integrate with numerous POS systems. We also are a big fan of the platforms like Grubhub, UberEats, and Postmates, just make sure that the costs and fee’s associated make sense for your business.
Get More Reviews
Getting more reviews is very important to being found nowadays. People find the next place they will eat using platforms like TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google +. So having as many quality reviews and the best ranking possible will majorly help in getting your brand exposure. People trust reviews, and choosing a restaurant you’ve never been before for a special occasion is taking a big chance. The more reviews you have the more likely people will trust that they’re making a good decision by dining at your establishment, assuming you have mostly good reviews that is. Using the Captini platform you can easily prompt each and every guest to review you on TripAdvisor, as well as all the other major review sites. This really helps in increasing brand exposure.