When you log on to Facebook, it typically takes just a moment to see advertisements for items you are likely to buy. These ads aren’t merely tailored to people in your demographic or posted based on the weather or what other consumers happen to be buying that day. They are tailored to you, specifically. Yet somehow, in the current era of personalization, restaurant menus are lagging. At a time when an estimated 32 million American consumers have a food allergy, and many others have a food intolerance or follow some specific eating regimen, be it paleo or plant-based or Whole 30 diets, even the most forward-thinking of restaurants don’t yet provide menus that are designed for an individual consumer. Expect that to change, particularly in light of McDonald’s recent purchase of the menu personalization startup Dynamic Yield. At the moment, restaurant menu personalization is more about adjusting menus based upon broader environmental conditions as opposed to individual consumer tastes. And as The Spoon reports, a number of barriers still remain when it comes to gaining consumers’ trust with personal data. But it’s not difficult to see a time when a person with a nut allergy might be able to log in at a restaurant and bring up a variety of nut-free food choices based on items he or she has ordered at that restaurant and elsewhere, or reviewed on Yelp, posted on Instagram, or even “liked” on Facebook. How do you accommodate personalization at your restaurant? Does your tech currently help you in this effort?
Need another reason to fine-tune your restaurant’s presence on Google? Google Maps has now made it possible for consumers looking for their next meal to pull up photos of a restaurant’s most popular dishes. (And in the meantime, other companies are angling to help restaurants make the most of that exposure). When Google Maps users post reviews and photos of their restaurant meals, machine learning will be able to identify and promote the most popular dishes at that business so they are front and center when consumers search for information about that restaurant. The feature is available on Android now, with iOS devices to follow. This news comes on the heels of Google’s announcement that users of Google Maps, Search and Assistant can now order food delivery directly from those apps. Locl is one player looking to disrupt this space: It partners with restaurants to jazz up their listing on Google (and in the process, might end up making restaurant websites obsolete).
Last year, more than 52 percent of all web traffic around the world came from mobile devices, according to Statista. Do your website’s visuals and text come across well regardless of whether a person is visiting your site on a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer? As Next Restaurants reports, if you have a traditional fixed website as opposed to a responsive one, your site’s images may be distorted or other content may get cut off altogether when people visit your site on a mobile device. What’s more, Google gives priority to responsive sites. You need one to ensure you’re appearing near the top of web searches. Once you convert your existing site to a responsive one or build a new one, ask an objective source to scroll through your site to ensure your graphics or other visuals don’t make navigation more difficult. Next Restaurants advises you give any important call-to-action items prime position on your homepage — email or loyalty program sign-ups, events or other key promotions should be easily viewable on a mobile device. While you’re at it, make sure your site is optimized for key words and SEO. Thanks to Google, consumers can make very specific searches on the Internet and get accurate results (research from the Hubspot indicates that 50 percent of web searches are four words in length or longer). That means your keywords should reflect that specificity. Instead of keywords as simple as “Italian food,” think “best Italian food in West Village.” For help, The Rail suggests using Google’s AdWords’ Keyword Planner to find popular search terms and to identify words and phrases that your competitors are using.
About 40 percent of people discover food and restaurants through websites, blogs or social media, according to research from Valpak. Tapping into social media influencers can help you get some business from local consumers — but how can you get the right kind of attention from those gatekeepers? An Entrepreneur report suggests avoiding the big fish in favor of smaller, more local influencers who have enough followers to deliver an impact but not so many that they won’t notice you. Take a look at their engagement rates and make sure each one of their posts garners sufficient engagement (e.g. Valpak advises that if only 2 percent of their 100,000 followers comment on or like a post, it may not be worth your while to connect with them). Make an effort to do some background research on the person’s values and overall brand to make sure your business aligns accordingly, and take note of what the person likes and dislikes so you’ll have a sense of who they are before you ask for any favors. On that note, always give before taking. That could mean doing something as simple as sharing the person’s post, or making pertinent comments on their blog posts that help further the conversation in a productive way. If you make a request, respect their time and if you don’t get the kind of response you’d like, be patient and move on until you find the right match.
There is a new way for Google to help you connect with your guests. The company just announced some enhancements to Google Lens, its image recognition software, that may change the consumer experience of eating at restaurants, according to a report from The Verge. Consumers who either have Google Pixel phones or a Google Lens app can point their phone’s camera at your menu, and the Lens will highlight your most popular dishes and be able to call up photos and reviews of individual dishes via Google Maps.
Conventional wisdom says that people who want a harmonious relationship shouldn’t go to bed angry, right? Toast is now applying that logic to negative restaurant reviews. The company commissioned a study that found that 65 percent of one-star reviews on Yelp were posted within one day of a dining experience. To use that one-day window as an opportunity for customer retention, Toast created Toast Guest Feedback, a new guest feedback platform that sends a text to a manager whenever their restaurant gets a one-star review. Often times this will allow the restaurant to correct problems in real time, deescalate customer concerns and avoid losing those customers permanently.
Could your Instagram presence carry more weight than your Yelp reviews? Instagram influencers are surpassing Yelp Elite — the review site’s subgroup of users that Yelp has recognized for their quality recommendations and reviews, among other qualities — according to a recent Eater report. Considering a Fundera poll that found that 69 percent of millennial diners photograph their food before eating it, Instagram’s power makes sense. It is an ideal platform for you to benefit from user-generated content if you create the right conditions for it. To help boost your Instagram presence, Next Restaurants suggests you add some eye candy — have one distinctive visual element in your restaurant that belongs in photos. That could be accomplished with eye-catching flowers or plants, unusual art or wallpaper that serves as a memorable backdrop, seasonal décor, or unique signage. Add photo-friendly lighting, attractive plates and food presentations, and you have the components you need for compelling photos. Then entice guests with a freebie or discount in exchange for posting a photo with your hashtag and geotag, along with tagging your account. When you have a special event or a new menu to promote, up the ante by running a contest that awards a gift certificate as a prize for the best post. When your guests post content, be sure to do your part and like, comment and share their posts (with credit) to build on your connection. If you know of some Instagram influencers who resonate with your target market, it may be worth your while to invite them in for a free dinner when you want to make a big splash for a grand opening or a rebrand.
If you offer your guests free wifi, you could be collecting valuable data as a result. Are you? As NextRestaurants reports, your wifi marketing can take off if you ask guests connecting to your wifi to log in using their email address or social media account information as opposed to a universal password. While it may feel Big Brotherish to some, this system can help you forge stronger connections with visitors who log in. (Upon signing on, visitors are taken to a landing page where you can offer them a discount on food or drink, or introduce them to your loyalty program.) This system can give you a much deeper understanding of who your guests are, how often they come and how long they stay, and what your most popular days and times are — particularly if you are able to integrate this data with your POS and build targeted marketing campaigns from it. (Need a wifi solution? Team Four can help with that, contact us anytime).
The images of menu items you share online need to sing — or at least motivate people to pay you a visit. While it can help to have a professional photographer do it, a couple of pros recently shared some food styling tips with Edible Manhattan that are easy for amateur photographers to implement. When setting up a shoot, try having an ice bath on hand to keep vegetables and herb stems looking fresh. A brush of olive oil can help food glisten. Use natural light when available and, to minimize shadows, a piece of white cardboard, or even a white cutting board or plate can serve as a makeshift reflector. While the colors in your dish are a focal point, you can accent them with table linens or glassware in similar (or complementary) colors. If there is a memorable spice or other seasoning used in the dish, accentuate it by adding seeds, sprigs or other natural elements to your photo setup. Consumers tend to focus on negative reviews. As the New York Times article “You Can’t Really Trust Negative Reviews” points out, such reviews may help us better “understand risk and reduce our losses.” But on the flip side, such reviews may include inaccurate or vague recollections, represent a small cross section of guests, or be downright fraudulent. They also make it more difficult for restaurant operators to make amends. Hospitality Tech advises operators to use their own technology to quiet the noise of large online review sites. Prompt guests for feedback immediately after the meal, then share that feedback immediately with the pertinent people involved. Soon you’ll have hundreds of reviews at your fingertips (not just a handful of extreme reviews on Yelp). Connect those reviews with a server, product, and time of day and you will quickly be able to see patterns — and get a more accurate idea of what needs attention. You’ll be able to update menu items more confidently, adjust staff training, better reward great service and potentially resolve guest complaints before a guest even leaves your restaurant, salvaging your relationship with that person.
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