How to Leverage Word of Mouth as a Marketing Strategy
By: ServingIntel
Read Time: 2 min 52 sec
Word-of-mouth has been by far the most effective and the oldest way of marketing a restaurant business. According to research, 92% of customers say recommendations from family and friends are what they trust the most.
Online reviews greatly influence our choices when it comes to food and/or destinations. One should not take word-of-mouth for granted as an effective marketing strategy. To better understand this concept, let’s look at some information below.
Interact with Customers:
One of the best and smartest moves for restaurant marketing is engaging with your customers. Start talking and listening to what they want to maintain good customer relations. Assuring your customers that their opinions matter is an excellent tool for effective marketing.
Utilize Social Media:
Social media platforms make it easier to engage with your customers. Be sure to reach out on all social media platforms. You need to respond to their questions in a timely manner. Be keen enough to respond to negative reviews and make sure to handle criticisms professionally and smartly. Provide compensations when needed.
Provide Regular Updates:
Always provide regular updates like sending monthly or weekly newsletters to your clients. Create a pleasing tone with a bit of a personal touch. You can also send out updates via SMS for your customers to know the latest trends and updates you offer in your restaurant.
Encourage Your Customers:
Make sure to make your restaurant something customers will talk about. Feedbacks and social media engagement are some of the things that encourage people to keep talking about your business.
Generate Feedbacks:
If there is any negative feedback, it should be dealt with immediately. Your POS may apps that allow you to ask for customer's feedback based on the food or item they bought, the location, the service, etc. It enables you to set real-time notifications for poor comments so that you can resolve any issues promptly. Sharing updates on different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram can leverage your business by enhancing your customer engagement and marketing strategies.
Inspire Customers:
Inspiring customers to talk about your business is indeed an empowering move. To build up a great word-of-mouth marketing of your restaurant, you need to have ways your customers can be your brand campaigners. Referral programs, social media campaigns, and promotions are great platforms to promote awareness of your brand.
Have Referral Programs:
Make exciting marketing campaigns to let your customers know to sign up and refer their friends. You can entice customers to share your content and in return provide an offer. Definitely a win-win situation for you and your customers.
Takeaway:
Ultimately, for the word-of-mouth to fulfill its job and work effectively, your restaurant service should speak for itself. This type of marketing strategy is very much dependent on how much effort you put into providing high-quality service to your customers. Always keep in mind that customer reviews highly influence on how other people see your brand. It can either make or break it.
About ServingIntel:
ServingIntel is an international hospitality technology company that creates cloud-based enterprise and point-of-sale solutions serving a variety of hospitality industries, including restaurants, country clubs, hospitals, and senior living communities — providing complete software, mobile hardware, and business intelligence software through its ServingIntel platform. ServingIntel increases revenue and profit in foodservice operations while enhancing service and quality levels for the guests.
Reference: https://www.posist.com/restaurant-times/restro-gyaan/get-customers-talking-word-mouth-marketing-restaurants.html