Restaurant Branding – How to Create a Successful Brand
Restaurant branding is the art of people remembering your restaurant and restaurant’s name.
Brands are everywhere and they reign the industry.
Every brand narrates a story and that’s what mesmerizes the customers, turning them into its loyalists.
That said, a lot goes into creating a successful brand.
Great brands aren’t built overnight.
It’s 100% true that you must invest a lot of your valuable time and relentless effort into creating a successful brand.
And that holds good for restaurant branding as well.
Read on to delve into the key elements you must focus on to cut through the noise and pave your way for carving the best-ever restaurant brand.
Guide to creating a successful restaurant brand:
1. Logos and restaurant names
2. Social media presence
3. Reputation and reviews
4. Customer service – an important element of restaurant branding
5. Culture of the restaurant
6. Boost your brand – nurture it
1. Logos and restaurant names
Restaurant names and logos create a marked difference when it comes to brands.
These names ring a bell when your customer wants to dine out or order a pizza for an on-demand party.
Agree or not, brands are “recognized” by logos and names.
If people remember your name or logo then you truly have a brand.
That’s why names and logos must align with the brand.
It makes more sense to craft a logo that portrays your restaurant branding.
Names must associate with the kind of eatery you belong to, as that makes your brands easily relatable and remembered.
Keep names and logos simple yet distinct; they are iconic and could go a long way in creating an ever-lasting impression.
2. Social media presence
Restaurant branding needs a lot of promotion and advertising on social media channels.
This is especially imperative if you are a new entrant or cater to a specific category, such as vegetarians.
With a plethora of restaurants out there, you must grab your target customers’ attention to increase your sales.
You may be a relatively new, mid-sized, restaurant with vegan and vegetarian being your forte.
For starters, launch a social media page on Facebook, Pinterest, etc., with your menu, address, map, and such. Include as many details as possible.
Talk about offers, special discounts, and events, and try to post consistently on stuff like “What’s new today?”, etc.
This will help you build your following and increase your reach to help secure organic customers.
You can further increase your account’s engagement by responding to the comments.
You could also conduct contests and always offer coupons with QR codes for lucky winners.
Use platforms like Instagram to post the best pictures of any celebrations, engagement parties, or such events in your outlet.
Additionally, you could take a snapshot of the new item to be included in the vegetarian menu and upload it on Instagram.
Get suggestions or ideas from your potential and existing customers for a veggie-sounding name!
3. Reputation and reviews
Businesses and brands thrive only if their reputation is good, if not great.
With everything online, there are instant updates on survey platforms and review tools on the customer experience.
Believe it or not, people check these reviews before selecting a restaurant.
That implies a lot of your restaurant branding is at stake when reviews are in question.
Make sure you offer a hassle-free and rewarding service to your customers in every possible way.
Do seek their suggestions and feedback before they leave the restaurant. With cut-throat competition in this niche, you can outperform your competitors by creating a gratifying customer experience and gaining an A++ review!
4. Customer service – an important element of restaurant branding
In today’s fierce competition in food business, you must not just retain but also expand your customer base.
So, how do you do that?
Exceptional customer service is the mantra.
Attract your customers and make them visit and revisit your restaurant for the ultra-quality supreme experience they receive.
Chalk out ways to make your customer service stand-out.
Receive each customer at the entrance, keep a note of their taste buds and preferences, try assigning the same waiter each time, and try to seek feedback as much as possible.
Great customer service could not just retain customers but even attract your competitor’s customers and turn them to you.
Restaurant branding finds its real meaning only when your customers enjoy an enriching experience.
5. Culture of the restaurant
Last but not least, your restaurant’s culture is a major contributor to the kind of brand you want to create.
Quite often, people relate the brand to its culture and vice-versa. Great brands are characterized by great cultures.
Culture is an umbrella term encompassing multiple elements. To get started, you could make sure all your employees have a uniform.
Train them in customer handling etiquette and ensure they all align in their gestures and deportment.
All your employees must imbibe the culture and values so that there’s consistency across the brand.
In addition, treat your employees humbly and respectfully.
Seek their opinion and suggestions to understand what they feel can be made better.
Happy employees will lead to efficient service resulting in happy and long-standing customers.
6. Boost your brand – nurture it
Social media, word-of-mouth, and customer feedback surveys are all great ways to enhance restaurant branding.
Besides, you could promote your brand with other ad campaigns or digital marketing techniques.
Posts on social media or your website blogs can create a lot of brand awareness and bring in traffic.
Keep your employees motivated by including schemes like employee awards programs.
Additionally, participate in charitable initiatives and philanthropic activities which reinforce your restaurant’s brand while letting you avail of tax benefits.
Wrapping up
Restaurant branding requires you to run pillar to post to make it successful.
With numerous restaurants in the world, you need to be different to stand out.
Incorporate the elements outlined in the article to create an amazing brand.
