You’ve followed our tips from prior blog posts. You’ve strategized, designed your website, and set up your social media accounts.
In short, you have decided to take advantage of the nearly unlimited marketing potential of the Internet.
But now comes the really hard part: actually writing about your restaurant.
We get it. Staring at a blank screen can be pretty intimidating, but writing about your restaurant doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, with the tips below, you might just find that maintaining your online presence can be one of the most rewarding — and fun — things you can do for your business.
Find Your Voice
Do you pride yourself on running a casual, low-key bar and grill that’s as comfortable, relaxing, and welcoming as home? Or is your restaurant a white-glove affair offering all the culinary bells and whistles?
Regardless of the ambience of your business, it’s important that no matter where you’re posting — whether it’s on social media, your website, or even in the local paper — your tone and word choice accurately reflect the experience your customers will have when they visit you.
Carefully evaluate the personality of your restaurant and determine how you can capture this in your writing. If you’re stuck, try writing down all of the adjectives you can think of to describe your restaurant. What do they have in common? How do they make you feel?
Then, use those same types of words and emotions in your writing.
A bar and grill, for example, would probably take a very informal, conversational, and inclusive tone, speaking to your readers as if they were close friends.
For the fine dining establishment, however, you would most likely use more complex, elevated, and formal language to highlight the “specialness” of the dining experience.
Consistency is Key
Your loyal customers know they’re going to have a great experience every time they walk through your door because you’ve proven it to them, time and time again. In short, you’ve earned their trust.
But it’s much more difficult to get that same level of trust with the hundreds, or even thousands, of uninitiated readers online. However, just as with your existing customers, the way to keep their confidence is consistency.
Be careful to maintain the same voice throughout all of your writing. Use similar language, maintain the same sense of humor, and keep the same mood and attitude that you’ve used in past posts.
If several different members of your staff will be writing on your website or updating your social media profiles, you may want to develop a “style guide” with some quick reminders about how you want posts written.
Include words describing the tone you want portrayed, the kinds of words typically used, and the people you anticipate will be reading it. You might even want to include a few examples of past posts that you feel perfectly captured the voice of your business.
You and your staff can then refer back to it to ensure each article, tweet, Facebook post, or press release captures the same personality — and provides your readers the experience they expect every time.
Share the Right Mix of Content
Just because you’re writing on your restaurant’s website or social media outlets doesn’t mean you always have to write about your restaurant. With all the content they have to choose from, your followers likely would stop reading if your entire feed or website was hard sells and daily specials.
Instead, offer your readers fun, engaging, and constantly changing content they can’t help but share, advertising your restaurant to even more people than you anticipated.
Try posting images of your staff having fun at work, or doing something special for a customer. Talk with people in the neighborhood and include their insights in your blog posts. Find funny or relevant articles on the Internet to share with your followers.
If they know they can find really great content on your website, readers will keep coming back for more — and will remember your business the next time they want to spend a special night out or are planning their next event.
