From 3 August, the government’s Eat Out To help Out scheme will get underway. Restaurants, bars, pubs cafes – an establishment that provides an eat on site offer for diners – will be able to sign up to take part in the scheme. It means that on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday up until 31 August, diners can benefit from up to 50% off when eating or drinking soft drinks in participating places.
So, Croydon restaurants have you signed up to the scheme? If not, here’s the link to the details of what to do: Register your establishment for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.
But, once you are signed up, it’s important to spread the word. The government has promotional items you can utilise here.
At the moment, it may be less about passing trade as many people will be making plans first before going out. Therefore, while traditional marketing like signage in your restaurant window is important, we’ve got a few more online marketing tips you can implement swiftly to help spread your reach.
Social media
If you’ve not been doing much social media up until now, then now is the time to ramp up your presence with your social network.
Make sure you’re taking some fantastic shots of your amazing dishes and share on your social channels. Instagram and Facebook are great for foodie places. With Instagram it’s all about the look and there’s nothing more appealing than a plate of tasty food.
Make sure you tell people in your posts that you are part of the scheme. Give them an insight into your menu, anything new, your most popular dishes and your specials. Be descriptive with your post though. While a good image does say a thousand words, there’s no point posting a picture of a burger on your ‘specials’ menu that day which gives no indication of what’s in it. While you want engagement with people, try and make it a little easier for them to understand what’s in the picture in the first instance. This will help prevent you answering unnecessary questions – which can be time consuming and if not replied to in a timely manner could affect how people perceive you.
Re-confirm your opening times and update your profile with any new details.
Extend reach of your post by adding hashtags. Here’s some general Croydon foodie hashtags you might want to consider as well as some standard ones you should always think about:
#Croydon #EastCroydonCool #Croydonbar #Croydonpub #Croydonrestaurants #Croydonfoodies #Croydonfood #Croydonrestaurantquarter #Instafood #lovefood #foodstagram #foodpic #foodie
Note: don’t forget to hashtag what your food is! So, if it’s burgers or pasta – well, I think you get the picture!
What’s the story?
Don’t forget to utilise the Story function on Instagram and Facebook. This is another way to be seen by your followers as it stands out at the top of the feed.
Encourage diners to share their visit on social media and take pictures of food. If you’re on social media have your social handle visible in your restaurant and tell diners about it.
When someone shares a post and tags you in, you can use the little arrow function just below the image. This allows you to share this to your stories and you can thank the customer for their visit.
To create a story from scratch just click on ‘your story’ upload an image, then use the text function ‘Aa’ and write a brief message. For this campaign you could say ‘Eat Out to Help Out. Book Now.’ Or perhaps describe what mouthwatering food is in your image.
Or a simple way to create a story is once you have added a post to your Instagram feed, just click that arrow below your post and you can share to you story.
You can also search for the Eat Out to Help Out gif to liven up your story post. When you’re in story mode just click the square face and explore.
Website updates
If you have a website, make sure that all your contact details and menus are up to date.
On the homepage make an update to say that you are part of the scheme and encourage people to make a booking with a bold call to action button.
If you have a blog, make sure you add content to that and do so regularly. This really helps with search engine optimisation and your business being found in search engines. Fresh content is great for ongoing organic rankings.
Google My Business
Do you have a Google My Business page? If not, get one set up – it’s free! If you do have a page already then make sure all details are up to date. The last thing you want is an incorrect telephone number.
You can also add offers and updates to this page. So, tell people you are part of the discount scheme.
Remember to add imagery to your business page, this is a great resource for restaurants to showcase their dishes.
Remind diners to leave a review. Testimonials are a great way to encourage potential and returning customers.
Our blog, ‘have you told search engines you exist’ has tips about setting up your Google My Business page.
Email marketing
If you have an email distribution list, then now is a great time to start an email marketing campaign and distribute to potential customers on your database. Remember to be clear in your message, include a call to action to book now and ensure you have contact details visible.
Look at our blog on what to check before you send your next email marketing campaign – this has a checklist of what to run through before you send your email including you have a visible unsubscribe link. You must make sure you are GDPR compliant.
Digital marketing Croydon
We’re a digital marketing agency in Croydon. We know the stomping ground and we’re here to support you. We’ve got some additional marketing resources you might want to take a look at which cover the different types of digital platforms and online advertising to help you form a digital marketing plan.
Contact us for a free consultation if you want to chat further about the different digital options.