Sales funnel in a restaurant: digital version

For business owners and newbies

Statistics say that 90% of restaurant guests study different resources before visiting. 57% of them visit the institution s website, and 33% browse other communication channels (from social media accounts to reviews).

I, Anton Udodov, based on the experience of my agency KURAGA with various gastronomic projects, will tell you how to build an integrated promotion of a restaurant in digital.

Sales funnel

The basis of promotion is a sales funnel, along which your potential (and then real) guest moves. I share the main points along which the customer journey is built.

1. Advertising… The first touch of a user happens most often through advertising: he read an article, saw an institution in a selection of breakfast restaurants, noticed a banner near the university. There can be many ways. Your goal at this stage is to concisely convey your concept to the guest. A family pizzeria in the area? New generation Italian cuisine? A burger with references to Berlin s street food? Show the user who you are and let them continue down the funnel.
2. Reputation… The user remembered that you exist, perhaps even remembered how you differ from competitors. Now the guest will look for an answer to the question: “Is it worth going there at all?” To do this, it will go to review sites, maps, or your social networks. Make sure that all of your restaurant s reputation resources look decent and give the right impression of you and your attitude towards guests. If there are negative reviews, do not clean them up (this, on the contrary, will raise suspicion), but handle them correctly and carefully.
3. Target… Now you have to literally “bring” the guest to the door. Remind him that you exist and that you are cool. Targeted advertising is great for this. Make different creatives and test them with the same audience.
4. Promo and news feeds… Invite underground DJs or bard music performers – it all depends on your concept. Offer a free dessert to all diners on Fridays, or set a flat price for all glasses of wine on Sundays. Let the guest try your service on pleasant terms. It is always easier to decide on such “shares”.

Here we draw a certain line in the funnel – the guest has already arrived and you were able to get the first achievement “initial visit”.

What should be done next so that the guest comes again and again?

1. CRM… It s cool if your waiter will remember the guest in person and will say hello when he meets him in Mutabor. But you need to know at least the phone number and email in order to continue to “communicate” with the guest. There is a loyalty system for this. Offer the guest to accumulate bonus points (and then exchange them for free cocktails) in exchange for contact information. So you can send out special offers or at least personally ask for feedback about visits and rare visits.
2. SMM… The guest does not want to lose your place, so they subscribe to your social networks. It is important for you to always maintain them at the proper level and constantly gain interest. Contests, collecting feedback, special offers, getting to know the team and internal cuisine – you need to create a strategy and adhere to it so that the guest not only continues to visit the institution, but also generates UGC, thereby spreading knowledge about your institution and becoming “point 1” from the article for other new users.

Instead of a conclusion

You can supplement the funnel with some specific points that seem close to you in spirit or in usefulness and efficiency. I have outlined above the base that helps our agency to create an integrated promotion of restaurants.

Relying on this system, you will be able to build the attraction of the first guests to your establishment and be sure that nothing has been forgotten.

And yes, remember that constant hypothesis testing is the key to success. Have you decided to start TikTok instead of Instagram? Great, try it! Don t want to do targeted advertising, but go to influencers? Super, this is also a working story. Don t be afraid to take risks and find your own path! After all, everyone s progress also follows its own path. Perhaps I will end with this great metaphor.