Use the Digital World to Draw More Customers to Your Restaurant

What are your customers and all of those potential customers doing when they aren’t enjoying a meal at your restaurant? Well, when they aren’t at work most people spend oodles of time on the web. Of course, quite a few of them are probably on the net even when they are at work, but that’s beside the point! Once you realize how much time people spend on the web, you can see what a powerful tool it can be. If you have only a limited web presence right now, beef it up.

You need to have a website for your restaurant for starters. It doesn’t have to be full of bells and whistles, and you don’t have to spend a fortune to get it set up. However, you want to try to set the right tone with your site. It should match the ambience that you are trying to create inside your eatery.

Make sure that you have your menu up on your site so people know what they are going to find in terms of eats. You also want to have some photos of your restaurant. Have a gallery of shots of the exterior and the interior to show your restaurant furniture and seating arrangement. Highlight the best parts of your restaurant. You can hire a professional to take the photos or you can do it on your own. Just be sure to put up clean and clear photos. That means the snapshots you take with your cell phone probably aren’t going to cut it.

If you aren’t already familiar with all of the different social networking tools out there, it is now time to get started. People flock to the social networking sites, and they can give your restaurant a much needed boost. You will want to check into Twitter and Facebook, where you can post about specials that you are having. Once your regular customers find you online, they will start telling others about you. Offer some coupons for anyone who “likes” your Facebook page. If one of your customers checks into Foursquare 5 times while they are at your restaurant, offer them a free dessert or drink with their meal.

The digital world is a great way to interact with your customers even when they are sitting at home or in a cubicle wishing they were somewhere else. Take advantage of this new age!