7 Ideas to Jump-start Your Restaurant's Content Marketing Strategy

Many businesses struggle with the idea of content marketing, which refers to when a company creates content (articles, blogs, videos, social media content, or research papers) as a way of attracting new customers to their business. Content marketing helps the company’s website generate new viewers, and it gives people more incentive to keep returning to the site. It also gives the business a chance to give these viewers more information about the company and the products or services they have to sell. If the content marketing strategy is successful, some of these viewers will turn into paying customers because they like the content they see online. Remember that 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

As a restaurant owner or manager, you have a lot of content at your disposal, whether you realise it or not. People love talking and reading about food because it plays such an essential role in all our lives. If you want to win over new audiences and attract new business to your restaurant, you need to create compelling content that hooks the viewer in. You can use this content to:

• Highlight your catering services
• Position your restaurant as a leading venue for special events
• Boost the number of online reservations
• Help people discover new dishes and recipes
• Encourage people to stop in for a meal

Regardless of how you want to grow your restaurant, learn about some of the best ways you can jump-start your marketing content strategy. Use the ideas listed below to fill your website and social media channels with all kinds of delicious content.

Interviewing Suppliers and Local Farmers

Your restaurant has to get its ingredients from somewhere, so why not give your viewers more information about the food you’re putting on the table? People are always curious about where their food comes from, especially now that our culture is experiencing a renaissance of healthy eating. Knowing where the food comes from helps people develop a more meaningful relationship with a local restaurant because they know more about how the business works.

Hopefully, your restaurant has partnered with a range of interesting suppliers and farmers over the years, giving you plenty to write about in blog posts, social media posts, or even in a video. You can try using the following ideas in your content marketing strategy:

• Interviewing the farmers or food supply companies that help your restaurant stay in business including questions on their passion for food, how they harvest the food or raise the animals, and how long they’ve been in business.
• How the food gets from the farm or food supply company to your restaurant, including how often your employees go out in search of fresh ingredients.
• How the ingredients are used in the kitchen to make the dishes that so many of your customers love.

Wine Pairing and Other Dining Tips

Many people love the idea of enjoying a bottle of fine wine with their meal, but a lot of people aren’t sure what to look for in a bottle of wine when they’re going through the menu. You can use this as an opportunity to educate your readers on how to go about choosing the right bottle for their meal, including:

• Which wines go with certain types of food
• How different wines can bring out different flavours
• When to distinguish between different bottles of wine

Recipe Tips

Everyone loves learning about new and exciting recipes, and your restaurant should be the leader in all things food in your neighbourhood. With a chef cooking up all kinds of exciting dishes, you can turn some of this knowledge into an effective blog strategy or even a series of videos. People love to see what other people cook, especially now that cooking shows are their own genre of television. You don’t have to copy and paste recipes from your restaurant’s kitchen, as people might not want to come in for a meal if they can cook the same food at home. But you can try the following alternatives:

• Recipes that are similar to the dishes on your menu
• Simple recipes for a fast, delicious dinner
• Recipes for healthy living or losing weight
• Unique ways to prepare popular dishes

Healthy Eating and Dieting

The world is going crazy for healthy eating. From gluten-free to the Paleo craze, people are trying to stay lean by any means necessary. That’s where your restaurant’s marketing strategy can lend a hand. You and your staff members are the experts in food, so it’s time to bestow a bit of your knowledge onto your neighbours. You can talk about the best ways to go about helping people achieve their dieting goals by offering information on how to stay healthy and avoid unnecessary calories.

You can post or write about:

• Healthy dishes and how to make them
• What a proper diet should look like and certain mistakes to avoid
• How to find healthy restaurants and how to make good decisions when placing an order

Upcoming Events and Special Performances

If your restaurant has a large area that can be used for special events, you can also incorporate some event planning topics into your content marketing strategy. Many people may not be aware of the fact that your restaurant is available to host special events. You can try attracting more local events to your restaurant and then write about how the event went.

These events might include:

• Wedding events and bachelorette parties
• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Graduations
• Corporate lunches and conferences
• Company launch parties
• Live music
• Food and culinary events or festivals

Reach out to some local businesses and try to bring in more events that you can use as fodder for your content marketing needs. You can also have your restaurant participate in some local events and write about your experiences.

Event Planning and Hosting Tips

If your guests have the option of renting out space for a special event, you can try enticing them with some helpful information about how to plan or host an event. You can include information about the event planning resources available at your restaurant and how the hosting process usually works.

You can include tips on:

• How to find the right venue
• How to keep all your guests informed
• How to choose a menu
• How to work with the staff or caterer

Videos, Memes, and Other Visual Content

Video is quickly becoming the name of the game when it comes to developing content for the internet. It’s easier for people to watch a video or a graphic than it is for them to read a lengthy article. In fact, 4X as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than reading about it. You can try creating different kinds of visual content using the following ideas:

• Filming your chef at work in the kitchen
• Interviewing farmers and food suppliers
• Shooting special events and their hosts

There are so many ways to make your restaurant stand out online. Food is an endlessly interesting subject that’s full of surprises. You should tailor your content marketing strategy to the kind of food and dishes your restaurant is known for. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to focus on healthy eating if your restaurant is all about cheeseburgers. Talk to your chef and other collaborators to see how you can come up with an effective content marketing strategy.

If you need help creating content for your website, contact the professionals at Blue Beetle for more information. And if you're looking to revolutionise the way you do your restaurant menu, have a look at Redro.