Marketing is an essential part of all businesses. If people don’t know about you, how on Earth will you stay in business? According to Toast, there’s a failure rate of 30% of restaurants in their first year. How do you avoid being part of that gloomy stat? The answer is in restaurant marketing software.
The restaurant industry is such a competitive and saturated market that it’s no wonder businesses struggle. The way to success is through a super effective and innovative marketing strategy. You want people to flock to your restaurant, not just once but on repeat. That attraction and retention are where you’ll get the most immunity from the “one in three” early death statistic.
Software automates this process for you. Instead of having the toll of hours of manual investment in marketing, software makes it an easy commitment. What better way to prioritize your business?
In this guide, we’ll show you how software is the most valuable restaurant marketing tool. Get ready for insights into the restaurant marketing world. You’ll be a pro in no time.
3 Types of Marketing Software
First of all, let’s establish exactly what types of marketing software are on the market for your restaurant. It all depends on what strategies you want to use.
You may want email marketing campaigns, social media marketing, or proximity marketing. There’s certainly a lot to choose from when marketing your restaurant.
Here’s a breakdown of the ones we’d particularly recommend choosing.
Social media marketing is incredible for marketing restaurants. Whether you need social media post ideas or a posting schedule calendar, having management software is a lifesaver. It takes all the hassle out of brainstorming and keeping a manual schedule. It’s a great way to stay on track, accountable, and goal-orientated.
Did you know that the average person spends 28 minutes on Instagram daily? That’s a whole lot of marketing potential. These are some software to consider:
- Hootsuite
- Sprout Social
- Buffer
2. Email Marketing Software
Running email campaigns is an essential part of any successful restaurant business. It’s a great way to establish consistent communication with valuable customers. And if you’re considering loyalty programs, this is the backbone of the strategy.
If you want a solid guest database of loyal regulars, you can contact them via email. This way, you can send out promotional emails, newsletters, and birthday marketing solutions. The software helps your email marketing campaigns through bulk sending, email templates, and holding contacts in a database.
Here are a few popular email marketing platform software for you to weigh up:
3. Proximity Marketing
Proximity marketing is relatively new to the industry. It involves reaching out to potential guests when they are close to your restaurant. Using Bluetooth and WiFi, you send them notifications and tempt them with special offers and opportunism.
This may be for you if you have a restaurant near a major shopping mall or somewhere offering public WiFi. Check out these top proximity marketing software:
- NearBee
- Beaconstac
- Bleesk App
3 Benefits of Restaurant Marketing Software
We are big believers in establishing why you should care. It’s all well and good standing and preaching about how you can use marketing software for your restaurant. But it’s actually more important that you understand the benefits.
Why? When push comes to shove, the benefits are what will keep you motivated. They also help you decide what level of investment you need.
For instance, if you are really working on brand awareness, you might choose social media marketing. If you want to grow customer loyalty, you may pick email marketing.
Understanding the benefits of restaurant marketing software will transform your strategic approach. Here are the top three to keep in mind.
1. It Automates the Little (but Important) Stuff
The primary benefit of marketing software is that it automates the little, essential details. Things like bulk sending might seem like tiny details, but they save you money and time in the long run.
By using software, you get a great return on investment (ROI). The automation reduces your workload and acts as a form of extra hands.
2. It Guarantees Results
Software is like having an expert at your beck and call. It’s a great way to get results over things like your online reputation, customer loyalty, and attraction of first-time guests. The software bases its processes and recommendations on concrete analysis and goals. So you can guarantee results when you stick to the plan.
3. It’s a Suitable Investment for All Businesses
Marketing software comes in all shapes and sizes and for all ends of budgets. You aren’t excluded from investing in marketing software just because you have a small business. In fact, you can find hundreds, if not thousands, of free software out there.
A major benefit of software is that it’s a suitable investment for all businesses.
How To Choose Marketing Software for Restaurants
You now know the benefits of marketing software and the different types you can invest in. But how do you actually narrow down your choice? You might know the software category you want, but how do you choose the right software for your restaurant?
Here are three simple steps you can take to choose the right software for your restaurant:
1. Get Clear on Targets and Goals
Getting clear on your target customer is a vital first step. If your target customer is part of a TikTok demographic, that will differ from a Facebook demographic. Similarly, if your target demographic is remote working corporates, that will be different from studying university students. Re-establish who you want to attract.
Similarly, get clear on your goals. Social media marketing is ideal for increasing brand awareness, while SMS or email marketing may be better for increasing customer retention.
This stage will help you identify the software with the best features and specializations.
2. Crunch Your Budget
Crunching your budget is often frustrating but equally vital. What is your long-term budget for this strategy?
This will help you narrow down your choices later. It might also help you decide between packages (like beginner, medium, and advanced subscriptions).
3. Ask for a Demo or Free Trial
Most software offers either a demo or a free trial. The final stage is to try out your top options. The software can look great in an ad but then have poor usability. Software is also just such a personal thing anyway; one person’s “wow” might be another’s “meh”.
Trial it out before you make any firm commitments.
Beambox: WiFi To Feed Your Marketing Campaigns
Establishing solid WiFi is vital — regardless of your marketing developments — because your WiFi will feed your marketing campaigns with actual contacts.
We all know that 74% of customers want WiFi in restaurants; it’s one of those famed stats. Guest WiFi allows you to set up a captive portal to benefit from it, all while offering a positive customer experience. It’s the most winning compromise of the century.
The captive portal acts as a buffer, initially blocking access to your WiFi when customers click to join. A web page form asks a series of questions or requires set actions instead when taking users there. You could ask for email addresses, online reviews, phone numbers, or social media followers.
That strategy helps to bolster marketing campaigns and boost customer satisfaction. If you aren’t using captive portals already, you need to be.
At Beambox, we can help you with this exact strategy. Our all-in-one WiFi software allows businesses to personalize their captive portal. Let’s get your captive portal up and running so you can start collecting contact details. Start your Beambox free trial today today, and we’ll start your restaurant marketing software journey properly.
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