Online Restaurant Directories Marketing
Even if you don't have a restaurant website, your resturant has already an online presence.
Like it or not, different online directories are already including your restaurant as part of their offering. People, your potential customers, are going online to check your restaurant and what other people think and wrote about your business.
If you haven't done so yet, I would suggest that you go right away to the some popular restaurant online directories and search for your restaurant. Read what people have said about your place and see if you can find a common theme. If your restaurant is in the US or Canada, I would suggest that you start with the following ones:
Like it or not, different online directories are already including your restaurant as part of their offering. People, your potential customers, are going online to check your restaurant and what other people think and wrote about your business.
If you haven't done so yet, I would suggest that you go right away to the some popular restaurant online directories and search for your restaurant. Read what people have said about your place and see if you can find a common theme. If your restaurant is in the US or Canada, I would suggest that you start with the following ones:
I know that by now many of you would feel depressed. Many people only bother to write comments when they had a bad experience, so many comments about your restaurant would be negative or critical.
However, do not get mad at them. Restaurant business is a people's business like any other service industry, and people make mistakes. When you read the reviews, take the opportunity to see if you can find common themes about your restaurant. Do people consistently complain about your service? About your food? About consistency?
This is great feedback for you to improve your business. Take advantage of it. If you see that your service gets poor reviews, think if your people are up to the task. Have you trained them? Do you think if you do they can improve their skills? Or are they hopless and you need to get rid of them?
If you have problems with your service, I would recommend you to check the "How to Improve Restaurant Dinning Room Service" ebook. I think that it would be very helpful for you.
Samething with your food. Do people complain about your food? Your ingredients? If so perhaps you should reconsider your menu or change your food providers...
There are some very inexpensive ebooks that show you the menus from top restaurants and famous chains. Perhaps they can serve you as an inspiration to create new dishes or to improve your existing ones. You may want to check one or more of the following ebooks (most of them very inexpensive):
However, do not get mad at them. Restaurant business is a people's business like any other service industry, and people make mistakes. When you read the reviews, take the opportunity to see if you can find common themes about your restaurant. Do people consistently complain about your service? About your food? About consistency?
This is great feedback for you to improve your business. Take advantage of it. If you see that your service gets poor reviews, think if your people are up to the task. Have you trained them? Do you think if you do they can improve their skills? Or are they hopless and you need to get rid of them?
If you have problems with your service, I would recommend you to check the "How to Improve Restaurant Dinning Room Service" ebook. I think that it would be very helpful for you.
Samething with your food. Do people complain about your food? Your ingredients? If so perhaps you should reconsider your menu or change your food providers...
There are some very inexpensive ebooks that show you the menus from top restaurants and famous chains. Perhaps they can serve you as an inspiration to create new dishes or to improve your existing ones. You may want to check one or more of the following ebooks (most of them very inexpensive):
How about your ambience? Do people complain about noise? Light? Cold or Hot?, etc. Perhaps you should address these issues as well.
At the end, it doesn't matter what you think about your place. It matters what people, your potential customers, think about it. If people don't like it, they won't come and leave you their money. Period. It is as simple as this.
By monitoring your restaurant in the online directories, you can get a good feeling about how other people perceive your place. Many people chose restaurants bases on the oppinions of other people. Restaurants with consistently poor reviews will be avoided and restaurant with excellent reviews will be frequented. It is as simple as this and yet many restaurateurs never bother to check what people are saying about their restaurants.
I know that sometimes it is hard to take criticism, but this is a very important marketing tool that you have available. Use it.
At the end, it doesn't matter what you think about your place. It matters what people, your potential customers, think about it. If people don't like it, they won't come and leave you their money. Period. It is as simple as this.
By monitoring your restaurant in the online directories, you can get a good feeling about how other people perceive your place. Many people chose restaurants bases on the oppinions of other people. Restaurants with consistently poor reviews will be avoided and restaurant with excellent reviews will be frequented. It is as simple as this and yet many restaurateurs never bother to check what people are saying about their restaurants.
I know that sometimes it is hard to take criticism, but this is a very important marketing tool that you have available. Use it.
Directories with Online Restaurant Menus
There are two online directories: MenusNearU and Metaflavor that have added a spin to the online restaurant directories. People can search for restaurants based on menu items or dishes. This is a great idea and you should take advantage of the opportunity of making your menus searchable. This could attract additional customers to your restaurant.
I will examine here the two most popular of these online directories with online menus: MenusNearU and Metaflavor. In both of them, you will have to do some homework to upload your menus and ideally some photos of your dishes and restaurant. This upfront work will pay you nicely since your prospects and potential customers will be able to find your menus online and discover your restaurant because of the menus that you have.
I will examine here the two most popular of these online directories with online menus: MenusNearU and Metaflavor. In both of them, you will have to do some homework to upload your menus and ideally some photos of your dishes and restaurant. This upfront work will pay you nicely since your prospects and potential customers will be able to find your menus online and discover your restaurant because of the menus that you have.
Menus Near You (or MenusNearU) is a newcomer to the online restaurant directories. Although it is still a very young company, MenusNearU is growing very fast. These are some of this company's offerings and features:
FOR CUSTOMERS:
FOR CUSTOMERS:
A One-Stop-Shop for hungry customers in search for a place to eat based on distance from their HOME location. [ address, phone number, full menu, map with exact location and directions, images, coupons, online ordering, social networking, online reservations.]
FOR RESTAURANT OWNERS AND MANAGERS:
Your Menus will be visible and searchable to your local customer base
Complete control over any and all changes to your menus online at anytime with prices, description, images, and nutritional information
Unlimited menus per restaurant
View customer reviews/comments
Built in Menu Design Center for your in-house menu needs
Printable flyers available to owners for distribution
Fully searchable menus by restaurant, location, cuisine, and even specific dishes
Offer coupons and target specific customers in your local area
FREE Online Ordering available to you and your customers if you turn it on... (They don't charge you any comission for this service!)
PRICING: Only $20 a month (flat fee). If you are interested on signing up with them, I have good news for you. The folks at MenusNearU gave me a special offer to pass to my readers: You will get $40 off (this equals two free months or 16% discount for a whole year!).
This is how it works:
You will get credited with $40. You may want to give them them a try!
This is how it works:
- Sign up here as a restaurant: http://www.menusnearu.com/owners/signup/ and enter your information to register
- Once registered, go to your Control Panel and enter JLRIESCO as your Referral Agent Username and RIESCO in the Discount Coupon Code field
You will get credited with $40. You may want to give them them a try!
www.MetaFlavor.com is another company with online searcheable menus. One of the strenghts of MetaFlavor is the beautiful photos of the dishes that many restaurants offer. Eating is a sensorial experience and when people see the photos, they feel like booking a dinner at your restaurant.
When people make a search by their favorite dishes, MetaFlavor will display the results organized by proximity to their houses. In this way, it makes easier for people to find their favorite dish and restaurant.
Also, MetaFlavor has ratings so that customers can check what other people think about the restaurants.
MetaFlavor is still a new company and needs to get more traffic. Also, most of its restaurants seem to be big chains (I guess that it is easier to get them aboard). However, because MetaFlavor is a free resource for your restaurant (it only will cost you some time to scan and upload your menu), you should give it a try. Also they just released an iPhone application so that users can find (and rate) restaurants from their iPhones.
The more places you promote your restaurant, the more chances that you'll get people getting to know it. Specially if these places are free. You may want to give MetaFlavor a try.
When people make a search by their favorite dishes, MetaFlavor will display the results organized by proximity to their houses. In this way, it makes easier for people to find their favorite dish and restaurant.
Also, MetaFlavor has ratings so that customers can check what other people think about the restaurants.
MetaFlavor is still a new company and needs to get more traffic. Also, most of its restaurants seem to be big chains (I guess that it is easier to get them aboard). However, because MetaFlavor is a free resource for your restaurant (it only will cost you some time to scan and upload your menu), you should give it a try. Also they just released an iPhone application so that users can find (and rate) restaurants from their iPhones.
The more places you promote your restaurant, the more chances that you'll get people getting to know it. Specially if these places are free. You may want to give MetaFlavor a try.