How A Brand Can Speak With Your Audience
Contact points – areas of contact between the guest and the restaurant at all stages: from searching the Internet to paying the bill.
The first contact occurs when you wanted to eat and 100 people in the buzz line or Instagram got to your website or page – brand territory. We got acquainted with the menu, looked at photos of the interior, figured out whether it was convenient to get there. Some people dropped out. The rest made a positive decision and came. 1st did not like the tone of the administrator (appearance, level of friendliness), 2nd was dissatisfied with the offered tables (convenience of sofas / clean air / lighting / atmosphere of the establishment), 3rd did not find his favorite dish on the menu / was annoyed by the waiter’s carelessness.
In general, there are 100 and 1 reason for losing a guest. The points of contact determine the level of loyalty of a restaurant guest; from this first experience of meeting a brand, 90% depends on whether he becomes a brand advocate, a regular visitor and recommends to others, or leaves with the thought “not impressed” and forgets. At each point of contact, the guest makes a critical decision for the restaurant: whether to place an order or not, keep coming to your place, or switch to competitors. The point of contact is the moment of truth.
The restaurant is a space of emotions, where people want not just bread, but also spectacles! Remember: Marketing in the restaurant business 80% is emotions and 20% is numbers. Your task is to provide something interesting, unexpected at the points of contact, something that will evoke a powerful emotional response and make you remember the restaurant and recommend it to others. Try the link if you are not only interested in branding articles but also are accidentally looking for tech branding agency.
American businessmen have a saying, “Let’s put on our clients’ slippers.” Look at the restaurant through the eyes of customers and you will see an opportunity to create wow points of contact (and as a result, become more competitive and generate more income). Turn your restaurant visit into a cultural experience!
How can you help the client feel the presence of the brand, strengthen and strengthen the restaurant’s image?
Outdoor restaurant advertising
- This is usually the first “live” point of contact.
- Outside builds awareness about the brand and does not work for other tasks.
- It is expensive, so it is better to place it near the establishment.
Promo materials
Leaflets are already bad form and the last century. It’s worth coming up with something non-trivial, brand-style, cool and engaging! For example, if you have a Korean restaurant, then introduce the audience to unusual Korean holidays, create a postcard on this topic and include information about you there. Or you are doing a promotion on a grill menu: why not make your handout smell delicious (there is an artificial flavoring of the paper).
Website and pages in social networks
According to the London Institute for Art and Design, 83% of information enters the human brain through the visual channel. And according to OpenTable research, 86% of visitors always or often check restaurant menus online. This first impression is critical. The feel of a virtual visit should match the feeling of going to a restaurant. Make sure that the site has a beautiful design, a pleasant atmosphere, and is easy to use.
Your social media pages should reflect your brand in the best possible way: high-quality photographs of food, interior, exterior, lifestyle, your values. Update the menu, report on promotions and special offers, make sweepstakes, communicate with customers. Content is your voice on the web, which is not only heard but also listened to.
External Appeal
The theater starts with the wardrobe, and the restaurant starts with the exterior. Assess the appearance of your establishment. Is it bright and joyful or discreet and majestic? Is it easy to spot for those who have never been with you? Or vice versa: is finding him part of the game with the guest? As a rule, the exterior should correspond to the “internal” content, because the client uses it to “estimate” whether he can afford treats in this establishment, whether he will like the atmosphere. But there are exceptions when the exterior and interior are deliberately different (an unremarkable place on the outside actually turns out to be a fashionable place “for friends”), but this will work only with restaurants “with a history” and a solid reputation, such places are “fed” by word of mouth and regular customers …
Signboard
It is often ignored, but it can and should be made a point of contact, to produce a “wow” effect).
Hostess and staff
Their appearance, friendliness, helpfulness. Are they involved in the restaurant’s mission? Do brand values share? Are key messages relayed? And does your staff even know about such abstract, although very important concepts like value and mission.
Menu
The most commonly used part of a brand that your guests interact with. The style of service (fast everyday, casual, gourmet food) determines the format of the menu: it will be a large coated board, a one-page menu, a multi-page menu, an additional menu for special offers, a menu for a bar, etc.
to maintain and strengthen the image of the restaurant! What elements do you want to highlight, what brand image to form in your mind? The menu design will tell the guest more eloquently than any words about your positioning.
Interior
Everything that the guest sees inside the restaurant visually informs him about your brand. Furniture, wall decoration, lighting, cutlery, the quality of your napkins, and even your dress code affect the perception of a restaurant.
Takeaway food packaging
If you decide to offer a delivery service in a restaurant, then the task is even more difficult: you need to transfer the whole spirit of the institution through the packaging, because takeout food is not always cheaper, but the guest’s expectations are still high. Therefore, take care of high-quality branded packaging, prepare postcards for the guest, make delivery an emotional experience and they will order more from you! We will tell you more about packaging, its types, printing methods, and creative approaches in the following articles.