The restaurant business experiences a lot of competition, and to remain at the top you have to be strategic and creative with how you run your business.
One of the most crucial elements in a successful restaurant is the menu. A menu speaks a lot about your restaurant as it creates a certain impression of your business in the minds of your customers. It’s a powerful marketing tool, and if well invested in, it can positively impact your sales. How do you turn a e-menu into a marketing tool for your restaurant?
Have A Well-Designed Layout.
Ever looked at a menu, and you couldn’t easily locate the drinks and beverages section? The items, that is food, snacks, beverages, and drinks have to be placed strategically. Drinks and beverages at the top of the menu, somewhere they are visible. Most customers would first order a drink before they decide on the food they will take. The layout of your menu should be eye-capturing.
Pictures Communicate A Lot.
A restaurant menu shouldn’t be too wordy. Instead, use pictures of food and drinks that your venture provides. They create an illustrative image of the kind of food you sell. The tip is to use photos of food you sell such that the consumer will feel confident in your hotel when they get served what they saw on the menu.
Choice Of Colors And F onts.
Having a menu that matches the theme of your restaurant is key. Are you running a Mexican, Chinese, or casual restaurant? Incorporate the themes and colors of your hotel into your menu design. It enriches the appearance of your hotel. In the eyes of customers, your business looks organized and well-planned. The fonts used should be visible and appealing.
Be descriptive.
One way a menu can be a marketing tool is how you describe the food items. Well known and established csgo betting sites for example, have shown the importance of describing your products. Capture the attention of customers by the way you have described the items on the menu. Especially for highly-priced foods, have a well-detailed description of the food. Arouse the interest of a customer to try out that meal. Describe the drinks, appetizers, and even soup. Use words that will intrigue, words that will convince the customers. Good meal descriptions can increase your sales by 20%
Focus on profitable meals.
Capitalize your attention on meals that you know will bring your restaurant a bigger profit margin. Give these meals a larger share of the menu, and you can even use a different font or colors on these meals. You want more and more customers, especially new customers, to try out these meals, have the best photos and descriptions about these food items. It is recommendable to place these meals somewhere in the menu where they are visible and instantly when a person takes a look at your menu.
Embrace technology.
Technology has evolved, and things have become simpler and more efficient. Online menus are now common for most restaurants. Incorporate technology by having tablets on the tables where customers can scroll through and place their orders. It’s fast and eliminates issues of misplaced orders. Online menus enhance services such as reservations, pre-ordering of meals, and home delivery. With such services, you can capture more and more customers, leading to increased sales.
Don’t display the dollar signs.
According to research by Cornell University, most customers tend to purchase food that doesn't have the dollar sign against the prices indicated on the menu. It’s all about the psychological impact you have on your customers. You can write the cost of the meal without including the dollar sign. Most restaurants are adopting this practice. It matters how your price list is displayed. Writing the price numerically, as in $5, or writing in words, as in five dollars have different impacts. The former looks simple and straight-forward in the eyes of a customer.
Keep your menu authentic.
Customers want to identify with authenticity and realness. Your menu should have a personal touch to it, the photos and description should seem real. Also, avoid cluttering your menu by including a lot of unnecessary things. Keep it simple and attractive. The items should be well spaced.
Creative menu presentation.
Restaurants are moving away from laminated or paper menus. There are other creative methods such as tablets menus, printed menus, or postcards. These are unique ways of presenting your menus. Customers enjoy new and unique things. It creates a lasting impression on their minds. Come up with a creative way of menu presentation, but remember to stick to your restaurant theme to maintain originality.
Hand-drawn menus.
It is a unique and creative way to design your menus. Most customers, especially the younger generation, hugely identify with creativity and authenticity. Hand-drawn menus imply that you care about having a personal touch for your restaurant. You have pride in the services that your restaurant offers such that you took your time to handcraft a menu. Such menus are works of art, and customers who appreciate art will identify with your restaurant.
Length of the menu.
Presenting many food choices to the customer gives them a variety, however it makes their decision-making process lengthy. A customer should take a few seconds to decide what they will take from the menu. Having a lengthy menu will bore them, and most likely they won’t get to view your special meals or the high-profitable meals that you want to sell. Make your menu short, brief, and detailed.
Incorporate your seasonal offers.
Seasonal offers on a certain type of meal increase traffic to your restaurant. Even your regular customers can get influenced to try the special meals that you have on offer. The trick of selling these meals is the placement. Have these meals featured somewhere that they are highly visible, precisely at the top-right corner of the menu. If you are using tablets or smartphones, let these meals be on the first screen where customers will first see them.
Don’t forget your logo.
Your restaurant logo is like your brand ambassador. It has to be incorporated everywhere, in your business card, merchandise, staff uniforms, and most importantly on your menu. Have it placed at the top of the menu. It communicates with customers as they can know more about your business. If they are shown that logo, they can know to which restaurants it belongs. Let the logo match the colors of your restaurant.
When marketing your restaurant, the menu is a key pillar that you need to invest in with might. Involve creativity when designing your menu. Also, after every six months or you so, your menu will guide you to know which food items are ordered the most and which aren’t. It will help you identify where you need to invest to keep increasing revenue.
About the Writer:
Theresa Cofield is a freelance writer who has a love for creativity and a passion for helping others. She works as a blogger at csgobettingg.com where she covers the topics of esports and the gaming industry.
