9 min read
Every catering business owner should be implementing a proper digital marketing strategy that can elevate their catering business. Having a sound digital marketing strategy in place can allow you to better connect with your intended audience and build a foundation of trust amongst returning customers and potential customers alike. This helpful guide will outline just what digital marketing strategy is, why it is important, and why every catering business should recognize it as an essential element for a successful marketing strategy.
Why is Digital Marketing Important?
Developing a digital marketing strategy is an essential aspect for the success of any business. Although often overlooked when considering marketing, digital marketing can provide your catering business with more connection to your audience, trust in your brand, and increase brand awareness. Without a solid digital marketing strategy, your catering business may struggle to take advantage of the digital world and reach its true potential by taking advantage of all the tools available to you. Below, we will discuss why digital marketing is so important and how you can develop a proper plan with a few helpful tips.
You Will Stand Out From The Competition
A great majority of businesses have begun implementing digital marketing strategies. This means that if your business fails to set one up, then you risk falling behind the competition. So, your competition may potentially get customers that would otherwise go to your catering business. Instead, implementing a strategy can help you keep pace and even pull ahead of your competition, if you take into account specific strategies along the way that could help you get there.
It Enhances The Visibility of Your Business
The world has switched to digital. Many individuals now have access to the internet at the touch of their fingers. This includes cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Whenever someone has a question or wants to find a service, it is easier than ever for that person to find the information they need. So, putting your business in front of these eyes will only benefit your business. Increasing your visibility means that you will be able to expand the reach of your brand and connect with people who will be looking for your catering services who might not have otherwise known that your business exists.
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Identify Your Target Market
Every business has a target market or a demographic that they want to reach. Truth be told, not everyone is going to be attracted to your business and that is okay. Learning how to market catering services means recognizing that there will be a target audience that you will be wanting to appeal to, as part of your catering marketing plan. However, knowing what your target audience will be can sometimes be a challenge. Keep in mind that you will not necessarily identify your target audience overnight and it can sometimes take a great deal of time, as well as trial and error.
In order to better find your audience, as part of your restaurant catering marketing plan, you will first want to examine your competition. This does not mean that you should copy your competition. Directly copying the competition can actually do more harm than good. However, researching who interacts with your competition’s audience can help you figure out who may interact with your business. You will also want to ask yourself a few questions, such as, “who will benefit most from my catering business?” and “what problems will my catering business solve for the ideal customer?”. The answers to these questions will help you to shape your ideal demographic, as well as their needs as a customer.
Utilize Social Media
Social media can be a powerful tool when utilized properly. There are many different social media platforms for a business to choose from. Which platforms a business chooses to use depends on what they think will best benefit them, as well as be the best for connecting with their ideal audience. So, keep that in mind when you are trying to decide which social media platforms your business should be part of. A good rule of thumb to remember is that less is typically more when it comes to social media platforms. So, picking a few strong ones may be your best bet at connection. Take a look at the image below to help determine which social media platform would be best for your business:
(Image Credit: SocialPilot)
One of your biggest questions surrounding the growth of your catering business may center around how to advertise catering business. A great way to advertise your business with both free and paid avenues is with social media, as this helps to get your business in front of more eyes. This is because social media platforms are able to be accessed through a mobile phone, as well as desktop computers and tablets. Without social media, you may have difficulty connecting to your ideal audience as they may not find your business to be trustworthy if they cannot find it on popular platforms.
Did you know? Facebook is the primary content distribution channel for marketers today. What’s more, over 1.6 billion people around the world are connected to a small business on Facebook. (Hubspot)
Social Media Insights
A popular feature for business profiles on social media platforms is a way for business owners to view how well their posts do, which can be referred to as insights. When a post is made, it can be found and seen by really anyone. However, there are typically only certain people who will stumble upon your post, as well as interact with it. A business owner can learn a lot by how many people are seeing their posts, as well as who is interacting with their posts. This is one of the most vital catering marketing ideas, as it can completely help you mold your social media strategy as you navigate what your audience interacts with versus what they ignore. These insights are also a great tool for viewing how well a particular ad campaign may have done and how many conversions you may have received from that particular campaign. Here is an example of Diib’s social media insights tool:
Google My Business
When trying to find the answer to how to market my catering business, you may not really be thinking too much about Google. However, Google is a very important tool that is utilized by the masses to find information, locations, and services. It is the most popular search engine because it is the place someone will go to if they want to have a question answered. The most common reason for this is convenience. A user may want to find an answer and they can get that answer within seconds at the click of a button.
A Google My Business profile allows a catering business owner to create a profile that outlines their business. This often includes the hours of operation, address, and a phone number. This allows users who are searching for your catering business to find the information they need with ease and without having to search endlessly for it. When users search for your business, if you have a Google My Business profile, then your business profile will show up at the top of the search results page. For example:
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Be Wary of Social Media Trends
It is tempting to want to utilize the top trending hashtags or to jump on the bandwagon on certain topics, especially if it is trending. Everyone is doing it, so why can’t your catering business? The most important thing to remember about trends is that they will burn hot and go out fast. If you are always trying to keep up with the latest trends, you may start burning yourself out. Even worse, you could actually confuse your audience. Following some trends that may align with your catering business is up to your decision. However, instead, it is important to stick to your brand and your values. Although something may be fun, that does not necessarily mean it fits with your catering brand and you will always want to put that above all else.
Interact With Your Audience
Simply posting, as part of your catering marketing ideas plan, is often not enough. The goal is to not only identify your audience, but also to connect with them. A connection with your audience is one of the best things you can do for your restaurant catering marketing plan. This is because your audience is the heart of your catering business. Connecting with your ideal audience allows you to form a level of trust and respectability in the catering community. While this could lead to repeat customers, it can also help people lean towards your business and try it for the first time as a new customer.
Interacting with your audience may feel challenging at first. But, it is vital. For instance, if you provide your customers with an email to contact you with inquiries, then you will want to make sure that you are responsive. Not responding appropriately means that the customer who reached out may not see your business as trustworthy. Similarly, if customers reach out to you with questions, you will also want to provide them with answers. However, you can also interact with your audience via social media. This may come in the form of responding to comments or running giveaways for your audience on your social media platforms. For example:
Share Positive Reviews
When your catering company receives a positive review, it is only natural to pat yourself on the back. However, many companies keep these reviews to themselves. It is important that these reviews of your catering business are visible to the public. Often, before an individual decides between different catering businesses they will check the reviews of each and do a comparison. Reviews can be made available on Google, as well as multiple social media platforms. You can also add reviews and testimonials of your service to your website. For instance:
(Image Credit: Templatic)
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Implement SEO Tactics
When you ask yourself how to market my catering business, you may have never thought of SEO as being the answer. One of the most powerful tools when it comes to digital marketing is SEO. However, SEO is one of the most commonly overlooked aspects of a marketing strategy, especially for those who are not familiar with proper SEO practices. However, SEO has many businesses for businesses, both small and large. SEO can allow a business to expand its reach, enhance their conversion rate, and have a well developed website that helps to build up their reputation. Below, we have outlined what SEO is and good SEO practices that can help you elevate your digital marketing strategy.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Search engine optimization means that a website or webpage has been optimized to better appear on search engines. Search engines, specifically Google, have certain algorithms that tell them what needs to appear in the search results. A user will enter in a search query into the search engine and pages of results will appear and be ordered for how well they satisfy that query. The goal is to reach the first page of these search results, as those are the results that are most often clicked on. While this sounds pretty self-explanatory, search engine optimization is actually not very cut and dry. There are many different aspects that make up search engine optimization, some of which is outlined below.
Website Usability
One of the key aspects that go into how well your catering business website ranks is how well your website can be used when a user lands on your website or web page. This is referred to as the website usability. If aspects of your website are not working properly, it can cause your website to take a long time to load or not load elements. This could lead to the user not staying on your website to wait for it to load or not being able to click-through to get certain information they may need.
A lack in usability can also hurt your brand’s reputation and may make it so users are hesitant to trust your website, as well as your brand. Keep in mind that users will form an opinion of your website within seconds of landing on the page. So, you will want to make sure that you make a good first impression. In order to help usability, make sure that your website appears correctly on a mobile phone and a desktop. You will also want to make sure that every button that is available to click works properly. There are tools available to help you test your website usability, for example:
(Image Credit: Crazy Egg)
Quality Content
When it comes to content, quality is always better than quantity. Content is typically in the form of service pages and blogs. Content is a great way to advertise catering business. Content on your website and web pages can rank for different topics and queries on Google. This can help put your website in front of more eyes and expand your reach, depending on how diverse your topics are and how much they resonate with your brand.
It is sometimes assumed that more content will be better for a website owner to have. However, this is a common misconception. Too much content that is of little value to readers will leave your website looking like spam and can actually hurt your rankings. Instead, you will want to make sure that your content provides value to your readers to help your business website gain trust with users. You can do this by asking questions, such as, “what do my potential customers need to know?”. So, the focus should always remain on quality content.
FACTS: 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. In fact, 78% of companies have a team of one-to-three content specialists. (Hubspot)
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Digital marketing can feel overwhelming at first, but once you know the basics you will become more aware of why it is so important to properly implement a digital marketing strategy to help take your catering marketing to the next level. Digital marketing does more than just connect you to potential customers, it also expands your reach and helps you build trust with your audience. It is the ultimate means of genuine connection with your audience that will help you convert users into paying customers for your business.
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FAQ’s
- Create a well designed and well written website.
- Make sure your website is mobile and desktop friendly.
- Integrate Ecommerce into your website.
- Display testimonials and reviews that can help boost your business.
- Utilize great photos of your food.
- Style your food.
Here are a few ways to attract catering customers:
- You should first try to use word of mouth to spread your business.
- Create a blog of your own and try to guest blog on others.
- Create social media accounts and post regularly.
- Get onto “Preferred Vendor” lists at venues around your area.
- Give small and local businesses samples of your food.
To promote your food truck you first need to come up with a solid concept. Then you need to create social media accounts and post frequently and consistently. Another idea is to make a blog or website and post great content. Make sure you also post any seasonal changes to your menu. Finally, consider creating a mobile app that lets customers order online and pick up their food.
If you have a catering business there seven components of marketing. These are, price, product, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence. When marketing for your catering business make sure to look at all of these components and appeal to each one of them.
To connect with potential customers here are a few tips:
- Create a customer survey and figure out what worked well.
- Do research on your competitors to find out what they are doing.
- Use targeted advertising.
- Have a strong social media presence.
- Respond to everything. This includes social media comments, reviews, emails, and phone calls.
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