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Page 1: themes-zd2014-downloads-restaurant-digital-marketing-toolkit

ZOG Digital, Inc.www.zogdigital.com

+1 480 281 7579

Learn More at www.zogdigital.com/learn

RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

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In 2013, 92 percent of people searched for a restaurant on a web browser, while 81 percent searched for a restaurant on a mobile app. A comprehensive digital marketing effort that utilizes a responsive

website design, paid advertising and local search engine optimization (SEO) strategies can have a dramatic and direct impact on sales by influencing potential consumers at multiple critical moments in the purchasing

decision funnel. Learn how the strategic use of digital marketing can increase sales and ROI for restaurants. We’ll break down what every marketer needs to focus on:

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

1. Why local SEO impacts in-store sales2. How to get started with local link building3. Targeting tips for paid search4. What options are available for paid social 5. Which website design updates restaurants should focus on

RESTAURANT DIGITALMARKETING TOOLKIT

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RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

Today, consumers are turning to digital channels more than ever before making choices about where to eat, making a digital marketing strategy a must for every restaurant brand. Visibility through search engine rankings and social media are particularly essential for customer acquisition and to increase sales.

Building online visibility for a restaurant requires using all of the available digital marketing tools together as part of one comprehensive

strategy. When combined, digital marketing tactics have the ability to increase visibility on search engines, create engagement and drive in-store sales by reaching consumers at critical times during the decision making process. In this report we’ll break down the five strategies every restaurant marketer should utilize:

ZOG Digital, Inc.WWW.ZOGDIGITAL.COM

RESPONSIVE AND SEO-READY

WEBSITE DESIGN LOCAL SEO

LOCAL LINKBUILDING

PAID SEARCHADVERTISING

PAID SOCIALMEDIA ADVERTISING

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RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

RESPONSIVE, SEO-READY WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENTA restaurant’s website is its most valuable digital asset because it is the epicenter of the business’ branding and works as the foundation for all of its other digital efforts. It’s essential that a restaurant’s website is designed to be search engine friendly and to provide an optimized user experience. Regardless of entry point, a user’s experience must be seamless on desktop and mobile devices.

1. USE A RESPONSIVE DESIGN: Because local SEO is inherently tied to mobile search, restaurants should utilize responsive design, which allows a website to adapt to any size screen without losing functionality. Google specifically recommends responsive design for businesses looking to improve their ranking in local searches. In addition to improved search rankings, responsive design also allows restaurants to keep a consistent brand image on almost any device.

2. CREATE LOCAL FOCUSED USER EXPERIENCES:Restaurants need to think like a consumer when creating a content strategy. Restaurants should prominently feature content that addresses local searchers’ questions, which includes directions, pricing, menus, phone numbers, reservation information and hours of operation.

3. UTILIZE INDIVIDUAL LANDING PAGES: On-page SEO accounts for almost 20 percent of the factors that influence local search rankings. Many businesses underestimate the power of on-page optimization as part of their local and overall digital marketing strategy. The most effective way to use on-page SEO for local search purposes is to give each location its own, dedicated landing page. By adding dedicated local pages — each with a unique geo-targeted URL — search engines can crawl the content, which raises a brand’s search ranking and visibility to get customers in the door more often.

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RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

LOCAL SEOLocal SEO helps drive in-store sales by putting restaurants in front of local customers who are actively searching for places to eat. Restaurants are the most searched industry on mobile apps and mobile browsers. SinglePlatform found that 81 percent of people looked for restaurants using a mobile app, while more than 90 percent searched for a place to eat using a web browser. Mobile searchers usually turn into customers according to Nielson. Its research found that 90 percent of mobile searchers convert within the day and 64 percent within one hour.

Local SEO is directly tied to mobile marketing because consumers searching on their mobile devices are more likely to search for local

businesses. According to Google’s “Our Mobile Planet”, 94 percent of people use smartphones to search local businesses. Local SEO has a high return on investment compared to other marketing investments, with 54 percent of marketers observing that local search optimization positively impacted their businesses.

To get started with local SEO, restaurants should follow some basic introductory steps. By investing in these strategies, restaurants allow themselves to be discovered by local searchers.

1. CLAIM SEARCH ENGINE LISTINGS: The three biggest search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Bing, all have their own, unique local listing opportunity for businesses. Restaurants should make sure to claim every listing possible, fill out the profiles fully and keep all information consistent from one search engine listing to the next.

2. EMPLOY DIRECTORY SYNDICATION: Each directory is a mention of a business, and the more mentions each specific location has, the more credibility it is given by search engines. Like search engine listings, it is vitally important that each citation is accurate and consistent down to abbreviations, because slight changes will make the information seem less than credible to search engines.

3. CREATE DIGITAL CONTENT FOR MOBILE ANDLOCAL CONSUMERS:Local search is directly tied to mobile users; therefore restaurants investing in local SEO should adapt digital content to appeal to mobile users. Local searchers want different information, so businesses investing in local SEO should adapt digital content, such as location and contact information, to appeal specifically to those consumers. Menu information is also a must for restaurants because Google is now providing menu information in search results. Google is not saying how it collects menu information, so restaurants should provide it in a variety of places including OpenTable, Yelp, UrbanSpoon and TripAdvisor.

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RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

LOCALIZED OFF-PAGE SEOBuilding links with credible, authoritative websites helps improve search rankings for restaurants because search engines use links to calculate the authority of websites and determine rankings for various keywords. But, according to search engines like Google, not all links are created equal when it comes to local SEO.

Local links are especially important for restaurants because of Google’s desire to try and predict what people are looking for. When it comes

to restaurants, Google knows that people aren’t normally searching for places 50 miles way; they want something nearby, so it looks for the most credible results in the vicinity. Therefore, when people search for local restaurants, search engines will give more weight to websites with location tagged links, through both the content and link anchor text.

There are several strategies restaurants can use as part of their local link building campaign including:

1. ENCOURAGING REVIEWS FROM LOCAL BLOGGERS: Being reviewed by newspapers has been a goal for restaurants for decades because of the publicity. Cultivating reviews from local bloggers can have the same effect by creating honest and authentic feedback that potential customers will read that increases the visibility of the restaurant. Local bloggers will usually also link to a restaurant’s local landing pages, creating an inbound link that Google sees as someone vouching for a restaurant, which can increase its local search ranking.

2. UTILIZE LOCAL DEAL SITES: Websites like Groupon and LivingSocial are primarily used to create visibility and draw new customers because of a great deal at the cost of a discount. But these sites could also be part of a larger off-page SEO link building strategy. Local deal sites will usually link to a restaurant’s home page or menu as part of the coupon posting and syndicate those deals to other websites, which can help with a link profile. Businesses that decide to engage in deal sites should calculate the cost of the deal and compare it to any potential local

SEO benefits. Specifically, deal sites not only require a discount that will get a shopper’s attention, but they also take a percentage of each sale, potentially reducing profit margins. If the future SEO benefits don’t outweigh the cost of the promotion, then this strategy may not be ideal.

3. SPONSORING LOCAL EVENTS/CHARITIES: Sponsorships are different than the other options when it comes to local link building because they require an up-front financial commitment. But, local sponsorships get a lot of visibility and can be very successful at creating inbound links from reputable and authoritative websites. Restaurants can also use grand openings to garner links by actively inviting writers and asking them to either write about their experience or spread the word about it on social media.

Local off-page SEO, while time consuming, is a vital part of any digital marketing strategy because it can be directly tied to search engine results. Businesses that invest in local link building should focus not only on the number of links created, but also the quality of those links, the anchor text that is connected to the links and the value those links provide to local consumers.

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A paid search advertising campaign is an effective way for restaurants to increase visibility on digital offerings, connect with local customers and increase sales.

Paid search provides the ability to target consumers using a variety of criteria, including keywords and location. For instance, instead of pushing ads toward people who search “Thai food,” they can target searching looking for “Thai food in Phoenix.” Paid search has the ability to get even more specific for restaurants hoping to capture local and mobile searchers, promoting ads to people in a small geographic radius or even those who are near a competitor.

The ads themselves can, and should, be customized as well using these best practices:

1. KEYWORD RESEARCH COMES FIRST: Pricing for paid search is based off of keyword centric bidding. Therefore, restaurants should research into how potential customers are searching before starting a paid search campaign. For instance, are they searching for “burger restaurant” or “burger grill?” While the difference might seem small, it can make a big difference in the visibility and effectiveness of an ad.

2. CHOOSE WORDING AND CALL-TO-ACTIONS CAREFULLY: Searchers will read the ad just like what they see in a newspaper or magazine. So, just because an advertisement is presented digitally doesn’t mean that the basic rules of ad copy should be discarded. The wording should be easy to understand, succinct, informative and include a call to action.

3. UTILIZE AD EXTENSIONS: Search engines allow businesses to customize their search ads using extensions. For businesses looking to capitalize on moment of interest, local and mobile searchers, extensions that include ratings and reviews, links to maps and click to call options can provide tremendous value.

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RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

PAID SEARCH

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RESTAURANT DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLKIT

Creating social media profiles and actively engaging with fans is an important strategy for businesses investing in creating a local presence. Paid social advertising is one way to increase followers quickly, promote restaurants to existing fans and create a buzz about upcoming openings and announcements.

Advertisements on social media, much like paid search ads, can target potential customers by location. What makes them unique is the ability to target specific groups of people that a company knows is already interested or has similar interests to current community members. The two most popular and effective channels to advertise on social media are Facebook and Twitter, but both come with unique challenges and opportunities.

Facebook: There are two main options for restaurants looking to advertise on Facebook. There are right hand side ads that go on the side of the page and promoted posts that are pushed into newsfeeds. Businesses have several options when it comes to targeting who sees each ad. For example, restaurants can opt to target based on location, such as city, state or zip code, or people with specific likes such as food, eating out or fine dining. Restaurants can also use their fan page to find target audiences. Marketers can opt to choose to promote ads to fans only, or use Facebook’s data to find other people who are similar in tastes to current fans and target them.

Twitter: Twitter allows businesses to promote posts in three main arenas, hashtags, people to follow and in the feed. Generally businesses like restaurants use promoted accounts to gather additional followers, which can be helpful in identifying target audiences. Promoted hashtags have the ability to tie in a company’s Twitter account to a traditional media advertisement that mentions a hashtag or help steer the general conversation. Ads that are pushed into feeds can be targeted much like Facebook ads, by interests, followers or even location. Restaurants should make sure to look into every targeting option before starting a Twitter advertising campaign to avoid clicks from people who aren’t potential customers.

Social media advertising allows restaurants to put themselves in front of potential customers in a very specified way, allowing marketers to target qualified users.

Facebook Advertising Examples. Source: Insidefacebook.com

PAID SOCIAL

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08 | Learn more at www.zogdigital.com/learnZOG Digital, Inc.

WWW.ZOGDIGITAL.COM

DIGITAL MARKETING IN 2014In 2014, a successful digital marketing strategy can help a restaurant gain a competitive edge and build an impressive list of regular customers. Any restaurant’s digital marketing strategy should include a heavy emphasis on local on-page and off-page SEO, paid advertising that targets searchers and social media users, and a responsive website design, which is favored by search engine spiders because of its ability to adapt to any size device. By combining these basic digital marketing techniques, restaurants have the ability to capture consumers early in the decision making cycle, influence their actions and drive sales.

www.zogdigital.com | +1 480 281 7579