Even if you craft the perfect menu for your restaurant and master restaurant hiring to build the best team, your business may fail to take off without a proper marketing strategy. After all, given the cut-throat competition in the market, how will prospective customers know you exist unless you spread the word?
While there are several restaurant marketing methods you can employ, you need to ensure that your strategy actually gives you an edge over your competitors. And that’s precisely where video marketing stands out. Marketers swear on video marketing to get up to 66 percent more qualified leads per year. Videos make it easy for your prospective audience to learn more about your restaurant and retain the message.
In fact, studies show that 54 percent of customers crave videos from their trusted brands before trying out a new service or product. So if you are keen to get more footfall at your restaurant, it is time to embrace video marketing. Only videos allow you to give prospective customers an authentic feel of your restaurant and make them feel more excited about planning a visit or placing an order. Compared to traditional modes of promotion which include publishing lengthy brochures, the audience finds it easier to retain the information presented to them through visuals paired with audio.
So if you are keen to harness your audience’s attention and promote your restaurant, here are some ideas you can try out.
4 ways to use video in your restaurant marketing strategy
1. Educate with how-to video content
How-to videos are among the most popular types of videos that restaurants can use. Simply pick a bestselling dish and show how it is made to give the audience a feel of what they can expect when they order it.
Take inspiration from Shake Shack®, a modern-day “roadside” burger stand that is popular for its burgers, hot dogs, and frozen custard. Shake Shack’s USP is working simple and fresh ingredients to create finger-licking food. And they use the same strategy for video marketing through YouTube. The Chick’n Shack is one of the bestsellers at Shake Shack, and the restaurant decided to create a short video to teach the audience how to recreate the classic right in their shack. The 46-second long video gives you just the kind of information you need to whip up this quick dish and also makes you excited to visit the restaurant and enjoy the scrumptious fare straight from their kitchen.
Creating video content like this can seem complicated, but it is easy these days as all you need is a video camera (even your phone will work) and a video editor.
2. Create excitement around upcoming events
Are you crafting a special menu for an upcoming holiday? Why not give your customers a sneak peek into what they can expect? Showcase your specials in a visually appealing manner to create an instant appeal for the audience. Take inspiration from this YouTube video created by Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai, for highlighting their Christmas special. Calling it a Santa Approved dining destination, the video celebrates the festive season and shines the spotlight on the mouthwatering dishes one can enjoy during this time.
Pro tip: Be sure to include these videos across all your marketing channels and customer touchpoints. That includes your social media profiles, Google My Business page, as well as your restaurant website.
3. Promote your bestselling dishes
Is your restaurant famous for a particular dish? Create a video to showcase that dish and feed the curious guests virtually. Make sure to include aesthetic shots so that the visitors are convinced that this is exactly the meal they have been looking for all this while.
For instance, PizzaRev, a popular pizza chain that allows you to craft your own pizzas, has an extremely active IG page. The restaurant creatively uses video marketing to showcase its bestselling dishes, such as a spicy BBQ Hawaiian pizza.
Or take a look at this video from Elephant Walk, which showcases the originality of their cuisine, narrates the story behind their delicious food and how they are different from other Asian restaurants in Boston.
4. Display your menu items in videos
Featuring individual items from your menu on a video is an excellent idea to get the customers salivating. Give them a little peek into what you offer and watch them line up outside your door.
Piada Italian Street Food does it effortlessly. Short videos on their Instagram page regularly feature the new items on offer. For example, they recently added Hot Chicken Carbonara to their menu. They created an eye-catching video to introduce this creamy alfredo laced with Calabrian chili oil and pitch it as a must-try dish. The caption specifically highlights how this spicy winter feature is the chief attraction of the menu to attract more customers.
Wrapping Up
Exciting and catchy videos about your restaurant can help you remain on top of the mind of your target audience. Video marketing is undoubtedly a cost-effective way to raise brand awareness and create a familiarity with your prospect even before they have a chance to dine in or place a takeaway order. Moreover, the good news is that you don’t need to invest in high-end equipment to shoot such videos. Your smartphone and a good video editor are more than enough to create professional-looking videos and boost your marketing strategy to the next level.
