An impactful marketing strategy is crucial to building and growing your business. In a world where making a digital impact is harder than ever before, a defined marketing strategy will help build your brand, instill trust, attract customers and build long-standing loyalty.
Here are Cheeki's top tips for optimizing your hospitality marketing to connect with your customers and grow your community.
1. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
Understanding your audience and how you serve them will then inform how you look, feel and communicate. Knowing your customer; who they are, where they reside, what they value and what they want to see, is the first step to building a strategic marketing strategy that will help you reach more customers and keep them coming back for more.
2. BUILD A CLEAR BRAND IDENTITY
Having a clear brand identity will build trust in your target audience as they continue to recognise your brand. Instantly set yourself ahead in building brand awareness and consumer loyalty by ensuring your offering, visual style and tone of voice is all connected with your product or venue. This brand identity should be consistent across your website, socials and in-store throughout your signage/ menus.
3. CREATE A SEAMLESS WEBSITE EXPERIENCE
Your customer’s first stop will generally be your website. Consider this as your virtual shop window. Whether they’ve read an article that directs them to your venue’s website or come across an advert or social media post, typically your potential customers will discover you online. Ensuring that the digital journey reflects the experience in the venue (that is, seamless and efficient), is key to increasing sales/ bookings. Make sure your website is up to date, that important information is easily available and the booking process is simple. The quicker the customer can achieve their desired outcome without interruption, the more likely they are to convert and come back again. Furthermore, optimising your website with keywords relating to your industry and offering will make it that much easier for your target market to discover you organically.
4. CREATE ENGAGING CONTENT
Content is king. High-quality engaging content is truly at the core of impactful marketing and will work to instil brand trust and credibility. Having a clear content strategy that reflects the key pillars of your business (devised from your brand identity and understanding your target audience) will take the stress out of content creation. Content pillars provide a practical framework for your social media posting and help guide you with the type of content you will need to create. Quality content gives you the opportunity to highlight the experience of your venue, with professional food photography being proven to increase sales by 35%. Investing in quality photo and video content at the beginning of the month that covers all key areas of your business and promotional needs will ultimately take your customers' engagement to the next level and highlight your unique experience.
5. INVEST IN DIGITAL MARKETING
Not all social platforms will be right for your business, however, understanding your customers will help you decide where to funnel your efforts. In most circumstances, your chosen platforms will include Facebook and Instagram. Creating a clear strategy for these platforms will be instrumental in growing your online presence and attracting new customers. Putting ad spend behind the right content can offer huge results in reaching and engaging with your target audience. Highly targeted ads have made it possible for practically any brand to increase their reach tenfold and can significantly propel your business forward by increasing brand awareness and conversions.
Need help with your hospitality marketing? Our team of dedicated marketing professionals are here to help, book your FREE 30-minute strategy call with us here.