How to cook up some attention for your restaurant!
It drives me crazy when restaurants don’t use cooking videos on their social media—it’s such a missed opportunity.
Restaurant owners, you have a unique advantage, but many of you aren’t taking full advantage of it. Posting videos of your chef preparing dishes is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to grab attention online. Sure, you’re likely posting beautiful shots of your food, but there’s something captivating about the process of making it.
There’s a psychological appeal here—watching someone cook allows viewers to imagine how the food tastes. It creates an emotional connection that makes them want to experience it for themselves. Just look at the numbers: 70 million people watch the Food Network because they love seeing how food is made. Whether you run a fine dining restaurant and want to showcase your chef’s mastery, a pizza place with a great dough-twirling technique, or a bagel shop with the satisfying crunch of slicing into a freshly baked bagel, you can make people crave your food simply by sharing the process.
Start making cooking videos! Share them on your social media, post them on your website, and even offer recipes in exchange for email addresses to build your marketing list. Invite people to watch, imagine, and then come in to taste for themselves.
You’ve already got the food—now use it to sell your restaurant!
And hey, if something about running your business is frustrating you, drop it in the comments. We’ll help you find the answers you need!
Two Ways to Transform Your Loyalty Program into an Effective Marketing Tool this Holiday Season
Here are two ideas for turning your loyalty program into a powerful sales driver this holiday season!
Create some bonafide good will and excitement for your business by inviting your loyalty program members to donate their points to charity. This not only gets those points off your books but also builds incredible goodwill with your community. Here's how to set it up:
1️⃣ Determine Point Value: First, decide how much your loyalty points are worth. Pro tip: It doesn’t have to be dollar-for-point! Think bigger—like “100 points = a Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 4” or “a bag of pet food for the local shelter.” 🦃🐾
2️⃣ Partner with a Local Charity: Team up with a local nonprofit to make it tangible and heartfelt. ❤️
3️⃣ Set the Promo Duration: Run it for a day, week, or the whole holiday season! 🎄
4️⃣ Train Your Team: Make sure your POS system and staff are ready to promote and process donations with ease. 🛍️
5️⃣ Promote, Promote, Promote! Use your website, social media, email blasts, and in-store signage to spread the word. 📲 Don’t forget to ask your charity partner to help promote too!
The second idea is to invite members to use their points to enter a contest. For example, they receive one entry for every 100 points redeemed.
Now, the key here is the prize has to be significant and buzz worthy!
It can be merchandise from your store, or you can work with your retail/restaurant neighbors to create a package of prizes that will appeal to your target market. For example, if you own a women’s boutique, create a makeover package that include clothes, hair, nails, spa, etc. worth $1000. Think about your customer avatar and what’s important to them. A vacation? A room makeover? A luxury car rental for a week? Don’t be ordinary!
Get creative this holiday season with your loyalty program and give back while boosting customer loyalty!