Whether you own a five-star restaurant, the local bar or a cosy café, you got into business because you wanted to provide people with delicious food and a certain type of atmosphere to enjoy it in. When you market your business to hungry people, you need to deliver the same sort of thing, but instead of delicious food, you need to provide the right type of information and entertainment to catch their attention and convince them to eat at your establishment. One of the best ways to do this is by creating content using the same characteristics as you use when you create a great meal.
The content needs to be attractive and well laid out. It needs to entertain the senses. Just like you plate your food or present a cocktail, you need to structure marketing content properly to attract attention.
The content also need substance. You know if your food doesn’t satisfy, people won’t come back to eat it again. The same thing can be said for content marketing. If you fail to educate the reader about something new or at least provide sufficient entertainment, they will have no interest in reading more or clicking through to your website.
The content also needs to inspire people to take some action. In a restaurant setting, the food is intended to inspire people to order more and to come back again for another meal. When it comes to articles, graphics and videos, the intent is to convince people to sign up for something, make a purchase on your website, visit your establishment or share it with others.
When you create a new dish or cocktail, you do not stick little flags in it that say “Tell your friends!” or serve it with a pamphlet describing the origin and nutritional benefits of every ingredient. The meal should speak for itself. When people see it, smell it and eat it, they should learn something about the quality of your restaurant and decide that their friends would enjoy it as well.
In content marketing, you do not want these flags or pamphlets either. To put it another way, the articles or posts you write or the videos you produce are not advertisements. They should not be focused on how great your food is or how much you would like people to tell their friends, but instead focus on the three main characteristics outlined above: entertainment, information and inspiration.
How would you do this without sharing recipes for your signature dishes or teaching people how to cook at home? While some content about food or drinks is a great idea, other options include exploring reasons why people would want to come to your establishment. How to entertain business guests, booking restaurants for parties or even great first date cocktails that show how sophisticated you are.
Establishing a voice for your establishment’s brand can be a very effective way to build trust with your consumers and attract additional attention for your establishment. You can do this by choosing a spokesperson; but that person cannot just be the employee with the clearest diction or the most power who really wants to be on video. Instead, choose the person who can influence others most effectively to give your restaurant, café or bar a try.
This person should be personable, easy to understand, reflect the character of your restaurant or bar and also establish an extensive online presence. This can be done on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and especially graphic based sites like Pinterest or Instagram where pictures of food are quite popular.