Review of Inbound Marketing approaches for restaurants

It is a fact that the internet has become fundamental to answer most of the consumers’ queries and concerns. Among all, Hospitality is one of the industries that has been more affected by the evolution of the internet. It did not just change the way people choose where to dine but it also transformed the concept of eating out to a dining experience.

Nowadays consumers rely more and more on the web, as looking for a restaurant online is faster and more convenient: it is possible to filter them out by distance, price, type of food, view, best deal, best review … and the competition out there is ruthless.

For the above reasons and many more, it is vital to implement an inbound marketing strategy in order to attract and generate new leads, turn them into opportunities close the sale, and delight the loyal consumers.  

Not convinced yet?

Let have a look to some stats...

Restaurant Digital Marketing Statistics, Resendes, S. 2020, Upserve statistics

Restaurant Consumers journey  behaviour Srinivasan, L. 2015 OpenTable survey

Consumers where they asked their survey respondents how often if at all they do various things online prior to eating out.

Now that we have more data at hand,

Let’s focus on the two websites’ auditing.

Plateau Restaurant, London vs. La Locanda del Cardinale, Assisi

These two restaurants can take advantage of a stunning location and they could potentially target a similar audience, even if they are situated in different countries.

* Each organisation's approach to inbound marketing

Plateau Restaurant uses a good Inbound Marketing strategy, covering all the aspects of the buyer’s journey. It is also eye-catching and engaging, there are several calls to actions and customers’ forms.  Plateau uses customers’ details to delight them, providing tailored offers, newsletters, blog articles etc…   

There are pictures, a Restaurant virtual tour, a Blog with recipes, social media toolbox in every page, menu prices, offers and informative content. The Website is mobile friendly.

La Locanda del Cardinale uses a basic Inbound Marketing strategy. The website is clear and easy to navigate. La Locanda del Cardinale has an active social media presence and breaking news with upcoming events and new menus’ launches to attract new potential customers and delight the loyal ones.  

* Strengths and weaknesses of the inbound marketing approach used by each organisation

Plateau has a sales and customers orientated website.

The clear interface, the price transparency, the mix of high-quality pictures and the 360° virtual tour make this website a useful tool for the team and the potential customer.

Already by the first glance, it emerges that Plateau has a restaurant, a grill and a bar.

It is possible to click and be re-directed on Plateau social media on every page. On Tripadvisor, there are many customers reviews and the General Manager replies to all of the positive and negative feedback; asking the customers who are not completely satisfied to call him directly.  

On the website, you can also register for the newsletters and filter them out according to your interests. Although, it does not stand out that they have a loyalty program.

The website contents are a good value for its audience and answer most of the questions in terms of prices, type of food, menus and directions.

It is also possible to look-up private rooms via a virtual restaurant tour, as well as multiple pictures and brochures.

It is also clear that Plateau Marketing Team aims to build trust on the users by providing press reviews and recommendations for other restaurants in the company or external catering.

Plateau adds contents quite regularly and there is a blog-style page with recipes for dishes and cocktails. 

It is possible to find useful information on events and current promotions.

Brochures and PDF events' packs are available for users to download.

Although, some of the design such as the brochures could be more attractive.

The website mimics the tone of the potential customer. It is mobile-friendly and contains blog recipes. 

It includes informative content, links to social media, call to actions and uses SEO.

Plateau website is within the first links on Google when filtering the research by area. 

Nonetheless, Plateau marketing team could improve the performance of the website in terms of speed.

A very handy the tool is online reservation box, where the guests can add comments or information. It is also possible to book via phone, email or filling an online form.

La Locanda del Cardinale uses a basic inbound marketing strategy.

The website presents a clear layout and it is easy to understand that the venue has two different floors with different styles.

However, it is not explicit if guests can dine on the Roman and Renaissance floor according to their preferences.

A Breaking News section is available on almost every page. Yet, it shows old news: Valentine’s menus and a festival happened in January.

La Locanda del Cardinale offers the opportunity to download the gourmand and à la carte menus but not the events and wines ones. 

The venue is well described, with many historical references but information about capacity and set up is missing.

It is possible to make email and telephone reservations, while it is not possible to reserve a seat online.

The Marketing team never asks for users details.

La Locanda del Cardinale has a social media presence. Even so, there is only one social media toolbox hidden on the Info & Reservation section and only the Facebook icon, despite the restaurant posts on Instagram too.

It is possible to find La Locanda’s reviews on TripAdvisor and the owner replies to the negative comments. However, this could be done more diplomatically.

Given the fact that 52 per cent of all worldwide online traffic is generated through mobile phones, the most critical point of the website is that it is not mobile-friendly.

The internet site can be navigated in two languages; even though this is usually a strength, the English version presents a quite few spelling mistakes.

There are some pictures online to display the venue. Tough, it is not possible to click and wide them. Most of all, the website is missing food photos and video content.

The webpage does not have security and if information about customers is vital, it is even more important protecting that data at all costs.

Having a human touch on the website is quite important, while on the website there is no mention to the staff, especially to the Head Chef.  

*Which organisation was best at inbound marketing & why

Plateau has the best inbound marketing for several reasons.

The website is mobile-friendly, provides value to the customers with good and fresh content. Moreover, it answers their questions and it is easy to navigate and to find online.

Plateau marketing team uses content campaigns, blogs and page with appropriate keywords and metatag. Their social media presence is strong on Instagram and Facebook.

Plateau creates a connection with the online users by educating, informing, engaging and converting them into a business opportunity. 

However, both venues should focus more on their team members to build trust with the audience and humanize their brands.

*Give examples of how each organisation could improve its inbound marketing

Plateau ➮Add video content to the website. It has been proved that video is easier to consume than other content and even more engaging. ➮Add the most significant customers’ feedback, close to the press ones. The vast majority of consumers prefer to check peers reviews. ➮Implement the blog with calls to action and video content; have the Head Chef recorded while making dishes. In addition, this will increase engagement and will allow you to collect user’s information by offering something in return like the secret recipe of the month.   ➮Add FAQ or Chatbot to provide more information. ➮Make sure the site page size is set correctly. In order to improve the speediness of the website. From the website grader, is emerged that Plateau page speed is 8.5 second, while the “Best-in-class webpages should become interactive within 5.3 seconds. Any slower and visitors will abandon your site, reducing conversions and sales”. ➮Give more emphasis to the loyalty program.   ➮Talk about your staff to humanize your brand. La Locanda del Cardinale. ➮Make the website mobile-friendly. ➮Set up site security. Use SSL certificates to protect your customers’ information and also   ➮Improve website design ➮Use a simpler language: reproduce the tone of the users who are looking for a restaurant in the area. Use words like “amazing venue” or “outstanding service”, “fine dining”, etc... ➮Increase information for venue capacity and set up, opening times and direction. Specify if customers can decide to be accommodated in the Roman or Renascence floor as they prefer or if one of this space is used as event space only. ➮It would be more productive to have a “what’s on section” to list all the events in a timeline. In this way, the Breaking News session will only show upcoming events. ➮Wine list section: make it more interactive. Create a blog and provides valued information for clients passionate about wines in return of users’ details (Use CTA). ➮Be more engaging: share recipes on the blog, publish of the Head Chef designing the new menu, or choosing the local materials. ➮Provide easy access to your services, like offering online booking. The more traffic you have, the higher number of online booking you are going to receive. ➮Talk about your staff, especially the Head Chef. ➮Add food pictures, even if the venue is stunning, the main reason why someone selects the restaurant should still be the food. ➮Social media: share only high-quality pictures, avoid filters on food. Organize cooking workshops.

Click here for your Inbound Marketing Audit Template

Reference list Resendes, S. 2020 “50+ Restaurant Industry Statistics Restaurateurs Should Know in 2020” [Online] Available at: https://upserve.com/restaurant-insider/industry-statistics/ [Access 06.04.2020] Srinivasan, L. 2015 “Here’s What Diners Do Online Before They Eat Out. Are You Prepared?” [Online] Available at: https://restaurant.opentable.com/news/insider-information/heres-what-diners-do-online-before-they-eat-out-are-you-prepared/ [Access 06.04.2020] Park Lynn, L. 2017 “Inbound Marketing: How Will It Benefit Your Restaurant?” [Online] Available at: https://www.restoconnection.com/inbound-marketing-will-benefit-restaurant/ [Access 07.04.2020] A White Hat publication “ How Inbound Marketing For Restaurants Can Increase Sales”  [Online] https://info.whitehat-seo.co.uk/hubfs/InboundMarketingForRestaurants.pdf?hsLang=en-gb [Access 08.04.2020] Plateau Restaurant website: https://www.plateau-restaurant.co.uk/ La Locanda del Cardinale website: http://www.lalocandadelcardinale.com/index_en.html