Content Marketing For Restaurants: A Beginner’s Guide 

No statistics are required to support the fact that times are tough for the restaurant business industry in the US. When profits slow down, it’s quite natural for restaurant owners to pause their content marketing campaigns to tighten expenses. But if you’re looking to weather the storm, content marketing should be your ideal bet. That’s why B2C marketers, including the restaurant industry, dedicate an average of 26% of their total marketing budget to content marketing.

Let’s dive deeper to understand the importance of content marketing for restaurants and learn the art of content marketing restaurants through different mediums.

Incorporating restaurant marketing ideas, social media marketing, restaurant social media marketing, and traditional marketing can provide a comprehensive approach. Embrace creative marketing ideas to stand out and effectively reach your audience.

Importance of Content Marketing Strategy for Restaurants

Do you know over 80% of people prefer to watch restaurant videos? They like to take a virtual tour of your restaurant, prefer to listen to people reviewing your food, and see if your ambiance is worth making their reels go viral on TikTok. However, video content is not your only option to attract new customers and current and future customers. 72% of consumers like to receive promotional discounts via email, while millennials are five times more likely to check out a new restaurant when recommended by food influencers. Additionally, maintaining a restaurant blog and implementing restaurant loyalty programs can further enhance your reach and engagement.

That’s the power of content marketing!

With the right content marketing for restaurants, your restaurant can unlock:

• Brand Awareness & Visibility: By regularly posting high-quality content across different mediums, you can improve search engine rankings to reach potential customers through organic searches.
• Engaged Customers & Improved Relationships: People love to consume content about interesting food reviews, chef stories, and new restaurants to try nearby – all of these could be the cue points to engage your audience and turn them from casual viewers into engaged fans.
• Increases Sales & Conversions: When you have an engaged audience, they are more likely to convert and drive sales for your restaurant. Imagine a customer coming across an enticing menu description on social media, reverting to your online ordering options, and turning from a website visitor into a paying customer.

Different Types of Content Marketing for Restaurants 

Let’s examine some of the effective content marketing ideas & channels used by restaurants worldwide. 

1. Content Through Blogging

Blogging is a fantastic way to connect with dinners by ranking for popular search queries to drive sales. When blogs are written around popular search queries of nearby diners in your area, they generate more significant leads than outbound marketing. 

Your blog is your creative space to talk about anything under the sun that can help you drive sales. It could be anything but not limited to: 

• Recipe hacks and tips

People love to make restaurant-style dishes at their home. Share home-style versions of popular menu items or offer food pairing and plating tips. 

• Behind-the-scenes content 

94% of consumers trust brands that practice transparency. You can use blogs to prove that by talking about sources of your local ingredients, hygiene practices inside the kitchen, or unique preparation methods. 

• Seasonal menus and events 

You can leverage the blog to create a buzz around seasonal menus and events. For instance, during the fall, you can write a series of blogs focused on seasonal harvests, such as local apples and pumpkins, to curate curiosity about the dishes available on your menu. 

Here are a few points to keep in mind:

• Blogging is a slow game requiring consistent effort as ranking on search engines takes time. 
• Consider investing in high-quality content that is clear, conversational, and contains high-quality images or videos to engage the audience. 
• Track your blog conversions through tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to learn scopes for future optimization.

2. Content for Social Media Platforms

According to a study by Insider Intelligence, the average US adult spends 53.8 minutes on TikTok, 33.1 minutes on Instagram, and 30.9 minutes on Facebook. That said, social media content marketing could be your direct line to hungry customers and drive engagement. 

With billions of active users on different social media platforms, narrow down your audience based on your restaurant niche to reach your target customers with laser precision. Unlike blogs, social media allows you to interact in two ways. That is a perfect opportunity to build relationships with potential customers to drive sales.  

Instead of promoting vanilla content, you can stand out on social media by trying the following tips. 

• Go hyper-local 

17% of restaurants partner with local influencers or food bloggers to promote their business on social media. Apart from local influencers, you can also highlight your connection to the community by sharing how you value local food culture and promote them in your menu. 

• Prompt UGC content 

Encourage user generated content (UGC) to reach a maximum audience on social media. One of the best ways to do this is by incentivizing customers to share photos and videos of their dining experience on their social media with a hashtag dedicated to your restaurant. 

• Dominate trending reels 

Use trending hashtags and sounds on Instagram and TikTok to promote your food, ambiance, or special events. For instance, try the “Then vs Now” trend to show how you transform simple ingredients into a delicious dish at your restaurant.   

Here are a few points to keep in mind:

• Initially, target content marketing on one or two social media platforms and gradually expand your network with other platforms. 
• Maintain a content schedule and try to be consistent with post-release. 
• Make sure the content is highly engaging, or else it may increase the bounce rate and negatively influence the social media algorithm. 

3. Email Marketing Campaigns

Do you know 68% of customers like to receive emails about new food items from restaurants, at least once a month? Email marketing is a powerful medium to nurture long-term customer relationships. All it takes is to write helpful emails that prompt sales and foster brand loyalty for repeat business. 

The real challenge is building an organic list of recipients who would like to hear from you. However, you can bridge the time gap by offering discounts or free appetizers to your customers in exchange for signing up for email campaigns. 

Make sure your emails are worth your readers’ time. They do not necessarily have to be promotional. For instance, a vegetarian restaurant can educate its customers on seasonal salad recipes while highlighting its commitment to sourcing fresh local produce. 

Here are some more ideas for building engaging emails: 

• Welcome emails

These are welcome emails that express gratitude to your customers for signing up. You can add a special welcome discount coupon to earn repeat sales or prompt customers to try your restaurant for the first time. 

• Virtual food-making class

Send short cooking recipe emails with clear descriptions and high-quality preparation photos to offer nothing but pure value to your subscribers. You can always feel proud to add a call to action button at the bottom for those enticed by food images and want to order something right away from your restaurant to satisfy their taste buds.  

• Holiday celebrations

Delight your customers by sending festive emails on special holidays to promote your holiday-special menu, themed cocktails, or pre-order reservations. For instance, you can send an email regarding a family-friendly barbecue combo for Mother’s Day or romantic dine-in dinner packages for upcoming Valentine’s Day. 

• New menu item announcements 

You can also thrill your subscribers with an email inviting them to savor something new. A mouthwatering image of the dish or a short video would be enough to get them to hit the pre-order button at the bottom of the email. 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind: 

• Make emails personal for your recipients by adding their names to the subject line and in the content. 
• Consider adding a sense of scarcity by mentioning limited-time availability or offering a discount for trying the new item within a specific timeframe. 

4. Video Content

Imagine a timelapse video on TikTok showing the preparation of your signature dish to your audience. Or, imagine your customers watching a fun “What’s in my Fridge?” challenge reel on Instagram with your chefs creating a dish using surprise ingredients. 

Restaurants use video marketing strategies to stand out and transport viewers onto serving tables. 

Video marketing is a great way to attract audiences with short attention spans and make a quick impact to drive your sales. Through video, you can show your cuisines and trigger actions in a way that static images and text simply can’t. Well, there are good reasons for it. 

• 92% of marketing professionals claimed video marketing to be highly effective. 
• A short study found that 36% of TikTok users ordered food after watching related short-form videos on the platform. 
• Restaurants leveraging video content on social media witnessed a 33% increase in engagement. 

If you are wondering what type of video content you can create to grab attention, here are some cool suggestions. 

• Signature dish spotlight: take viewers on a visual delight with a close-up video of preparing and plating one of your most popular dishes.
• How-to recipe tutorials: educate viewers on how to recreate your most popular dishes at home to inculcate brand loyalty and encourage future dine-in visits. 
• “Meet the Chef” series: introduce your behind-the-recipe heroes (chefs, kitchen staff) and their passion for food to foster transparency. 
• Restaurant ambiance tour: give your fans and potential customers a quick virtual tour of your restaurant with a special focus on the atmosphere, kitchen hygiene, local ingredients sourcing, etc., that set your restaurant apart.
• Customer spotlight testimonials:  feature happy diners sharing their positive experiences at your restaurant.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind: 

• As people have short attention spans, keep your video under 2 minutes to make maximum impact. 
• Do not hesitate to invest in good lighting and sound to capture the liveliness people crave while watching food reels for fun. 
• Consider outsourcing the work to a professional to ensure a clear brand message and engaging flow

Tips for Getting Your Restaurant Marketing Strategy Right

1. Understanding Your Audience

Unless you understand your target audience, crafting compelling content to drive sales and engagement can be challenging.

For a restaurant owner, developing a strong social media presence across various social media channels is crucial. An effective social media strategy will not only enhance the restaurant’s visibility but also engage both existing customers and potential new ones. Aligning your marketing efforts to create quality content tailored to your audience is key to restaurant success. Utilizing different social media networks helps in maintaining a consistent and impactful online presence.

Here is a definitive guide to identifying your ideal audience. 

Step 1: Define your ideal customer

You need to consider the following aspects of your customers: 

1. Demographics 

Narrow down your preliminary audience based on

• Age
• Income level
• Family size

2. Interest and needs

Research about the dining preferences to further narrow down the list.

3. Online behavior 

Try to identify what restaurant content marketing channels your audience is used to. This will help you choose the right medium for maximum efficiency at the start.  

Step 2: Create a buyer persona

With the data you have gathered from your research, create a detailed buyer persona. Be as vivid as possible, as this will help you tone your content accordingly. 

Step 3: Plan the conversion funnel 

Map out the different stages a potential customer will go through to drive you a sale. For example, they could land on your home page searching for “best pizza near me” or browse blogs for food inspiration. 

2. Setting Up a Content Calendar

There are two effective ways to create a content calendar: 

1. Use a simple Spreadsheet 

A basic spreadsheet, like Google Sheets or Excel, would be the best way to start. In that spreadsheet, create columns for the following

• Date
• Content Type
  • Blog post
  • Video
  • Social media post
• Topic
• Target platform (website, Facebook, Instagram)
• Status
  • Draft
  • Scheduled
  • Published

2. Take the help of a marketing project management tool

It is imperative to attain variety while building the calendar. Most new restaurants stick to one format, such as a blog or video reel, when starting. However, you never know what will work best for you unless you try everything in moderation. So, include a mix of blog posts, recipes, eye-catching photos and videos, and bite-sized social media content—anything and everything that can help you identify your ideal restaurant content marketing plan. 

Also, match your content type to your restaurant’s core theme or vision while planning content. Most importantly, use the right medium to promote the right type of content. For instance, use blog posts for in-depth articles, videos for recipe tutorials, and social media for quick updates and promotional offers.

3. Tools and Resources

Unless you have the right tools and resources, running content marketing campaigns to drive sales and engagement is nearly impossible. Here are some essential resources for different content marketing channels to streamline the work process. 

1. Content Creation & Management: 

• • Canva or Adobe Spark: These two tools are available in free and premium versions to help you create high-quality social media graphics, posters, and even short video clips without hiring a graphic design expert. 
  • Free Stock Photo Websites (Unsplash, Pexels): These are great sources of royalty-free images to make your content shine and stay safe from copyright issues. 
  • Content Management System (CMS) – You can create your official website on a free CMS like WordPress and integrate various plugins to showcase your menu, blogs, and video content, and capture emails of your potential customers. 

2. Social Media Management: 

• • Hootsuite or Buffer: You can use Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your social media posts across various platforms automatically. These tools can also help you track engagements, and analyze your content performance to help you make the right adjustments for maximum efficacy.  
  • Social Media Listening Tools (Brandwatch, Sprout Social): Top restaurants know how to stay on top of online conversations using industry trends. In this regard, social media listening tools can help you identify what people are saying and what content resonates most with them.

3. Email Marketing 

• • Mailchimp or Constant Contact: These are popular email marketing tools widely used for creating and managing email marketing campaigns. You can use them to create email lists, segment your audience for targeted campaigns, and track results for making informed modifications to future campaigns.

4. AI Content Marketing for Restaurants 

AI has been taking content marketers by surprise for the past two years. Nearly 22% of marketing professionals worldwide are now using AI to generate product and content recommendations, and personalized email subject lines. Here is how you can leverage AI technology for your content marketing. 

AI content generation tools: If you are running tight on budget to hire professional writers, you can take the help of free AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to brainstorm content ideas, generate topic outlines, or even create eye-catching headlines and titles for your content. However, do not blindly rely on AI for content creation. Give a human touch to the generated content to make sure the content resonates well with your audience and brand voice.

AI-powered social media schedulers: These tools can analyze past performance and audience behavior of your social media posts to suggest ideal times to post your content for maximum engagement.

Social media listening tools: These tools are powered by AI capabilities to read customers’ sentiments and learn how they perceive your brand and restaurant marketing strategy. For instance, they can categorize sentiment (positive, negative, neutral) in online conversations so that you can refine your content strategy and address customer concerns proactively.

5. Measuring Success

Connect your website with Google Analytics to monitor metrics like website visitors, page views, and average session duration. Analyze user behavior to see which pages receive the most engagement and use that feedback to plan your content accordingly. 

Check for email marketing metrics like email open rates and click-through rates. You must work on your email subject lines if you are getting a low open rate. Similarly, a healthy click-through rate suggests your emails are relevant and drive action.

Most importantly, calculate your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). This metric represents the average cost of acquiring a new customer. You can calculate it by dividing your marketing spend by the number of new restaurant customers acquired during a specific timeframe.

Based on these analyses, refine your content and optimize your campaigns for better results.