Bringing new customers into your restaurant is nice, but keeping them coming back this summer could be the difference between planning your holiday events this coming winter, or closing your doors. But how can you keep your customers engaged in a hyper-competitive market, like our hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY? Try providing interesting, engaging and useful content online, on social media, and trough third party vendors.
Here are a few options:
1. Be responsive 
– It may sound obvious, but if you want to engage with your customers online, allow them to engage with you. If they ask a question, answer it. Respond to good reviews by thanking them, and to bad reviews by trying to make the situation better. Like posts that you are tagged in. Give them the information they need, when they need it.
2. Special Events
– Create special events, like tasting parties for new menu items, beer or wine paring dinners, cooking classes, or theme menus. Show your appreciation for your customers by offering them tickets before they are publicly available. Then create the corresponding Facebook Event and promote it.
3. Customer Polls – Seek input via social media and in-house from your customers. Trying to pick a new menu item or decide on a theme for a special event? Ask your customers what they think, and they’ll provide valuable input, and they’ll appreciate the opportunity to share their thoughts.
4. Demo Videos – Do you have a menu item that your customers just love? Something you are known for? Show them how to make it! Did you know: “Videos are shared 1,200 percent more than links and text posts combined.”
5. Directories Listings – Make sure your restaurant is listed, and your listing is updated, in all of your local directories, as well as national and restaurant-only directories like Yelp, TripAdvisor and AllMenus.
6. Photo Contests – Add some visually engaging content to your social media by asking your users to share images of their favorite meals at your restaurant. And find a way to reward them!
7. Recipe Contests – Feeling even more adventurous? Try a recipe contest! Have your users share a recipe they’d like added to your menu. The winner gets their dish featured for a night, named after them, gets one free, and receives everlasting glory!
8. Feature your staff – You’re more than just a restaurant. You are a group of hard working professionals that put love into every dish. Show your customers who makes the magic happen by featuring your own staff in posts and videos.
9. Feature your vendors – Do you use local ingredients or locally made products? Tell your customers where the food they are eating came from by featuring the local farmers that grow your ingredients, or the local business that make the products that go into your dishes.
10. Make it easy for your customers to make reservations – Accept online reservations. If you can’t do that on your own, use a third party service like OpenTable.
11. Deliver – If you don’t deliver locally, you should. And there are plenty of third party services around to help you out, like GrubHub, Mealeo and Uber Eats.
12. Giveaways – Offer your customers the chance to win something compelling online. It doesn’t have to be much – even a small gift card will do!
An inside look – Show your customers what goes into an evening of fine dining with a photo or brief video as you prepare before opening for the night.
Bonus: Thank them. Yes, that’s right. If you want to engage your customers, the best, easiest, most effective way is a simple “Thank you” at the end of great night.
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