What’s the point of having an amazing menu and restaurant atmosphere if there’s no one to experience it? That’s why customer retention is so important, especially in the restaurant industry. While keeping customers around can be a pretty tricky feat, there are some clever marketing tips that you can use to help you out. Keep on reading to discover 7 easy to achieve restaurant marketing tips to help with your customer retention.
#1: Give Customers a Reason to keep Coming Back for More
So how exactly do you show your customer that you want and cherish their business with you? Easy, just start a loyalty program! A loyalty or rewards program is an amazing way to offer practical incentives to your customers while also tracking their response to what you’re doing within your restaurant. By offering your customers rewards catered to their needs it allows for a personalised connection to be established and may entice customers to keep visiting your restaurant more often.
#2: Use Data to your Advantage
Want to know what’s the key to successful customer retention marketing? Customer data. The more you know about what your customers like and dislike within your restaurant, the better you will be able to cater to them! Knowing certain details like what are your customers’ favourite orders or birthdays can also help you target your marketing efforts more efficiently. To do this you’re going to need a restaurant management software that helps you collect as much customer data as possible from table ordering to dine-in dietary preferences. What this results in is a highly personalised yet effective customer retention strategy.
#3: Communicate with your Customers
In order to retain as many customers as possible you’re going to want to make sure your restaurant is at the top of your customer’s minds when they feel like grabbing a bite. With the competition for your customer’s wallets getting fiercer by the second, you’re going to want to position your restaurant and all it has to offer in a way that can be done daily and helps you stand out from the crowd. And this can be achieved in a number of ways from mobile apps to social media campaigns and even SMS marketing blasts.
#4: Keep Customers Engaged
Another way you could keep your customers coming back for more is by engaging with them as soon as they are done with their meal. And no, we don’t mean having a waiter go up to them and ask them how was their meal. Instead, you could use an email survey via your POS system to see what your customers thought of the meal they just had. And the survey itself doesn’t even need to be too complicated! Your goal here is just to keep the memory of your restaurant fresh in your customers minds and show them that you care about their experiences at your establishment.
#5: Recover Lost Customers
Monitoring and responding to the feedback from any unhappy customers is another restaurant retention marketing tactic that you really ought to consider. On one hand it can be seen as an opportunity to make things right with your dissatisfied customers while on the other your dedication may wow them and turn your customers into regulars thanks to your service. Aside from that, one of the most effective strategies for increasing your customer retention is by responding to negative reviews. Your response may actually encourage your customers to reverse any bad reviews they’ve left!
#6: Create a Personal Touch
Who wouldn’t want to keep going back to a palace that makes them feel like royalty? This same mentality applies for your customers. Train your staff to be hospitable and welcoming to whatever customers that come in, from greeting guests to even escorting them to their tables. Ultimately, it’s the little things that count. Having a server who remembers your name or favourite order can easily encourage a customer to return and even bring their friends this time, which gives you higher customer retention and engagement.
#7: Offer Free Wifi
Never underestimate the power of free wifi. While it is wise to utilise the internet to promote your business and keep operations as streamlined as possible, by offering wifi to your customers it can actually encourage them to not only visit your restaurant but also stay for longer since they don’t have to worry about losing internet connection when they want to post a picture of their food for example. At the same time, to prevent anyone from stopping by just to mooch off your wifi without ordering anything you could create a deal that offers your wifi password to people in exchange for ordering something off your menu.
And there you have it. 7 easily attainable ways to keep your customer retention numbers looking up while also utilising smart restaurant marketing tips to your absolute advantage.
Ready to take the first step towards digitization for your restaurant? EasyEat is here to help! We look forward to hearing from you!
