Author: Adam Leff

It’s no secret that technology connects us more than ever in today’s online world. We communicate at lightning speed with friends, family and businesses using our favorite sites — Google, Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor, etc.

It’s also no secret that brands use these sites to engage with their guests. In today’s connected world, guest engagement plays a crucial role in the success of a brand. Research shows that up to 2/3 of a brand’s profits may rely on effective guest engagement.

Restaurant brands understand this and are engaging with their guests at an increasing rate.

Graph3bars_Restaurants-Responding

There are two main reasons restaurants engage with their guests online:

  1. Guests are reaching out to restaurants online at an increasing rate
    •  Graph1_Online-Reviews
  2. Guest engagement drives sales

As intuitive as it may seem, it’s important to understand how guest engagement drives sales. Because, like it or not, online guest engagement impacts your sales, one way or another. Yet, if your restaurant is focused on guest engagement, you will drive sales in the right direction.

Here are the top 5 ways guest engagement can drives sales for your restaurant:

  1. Insights Lead to Smart Actions
    • Reading and replying to reviews means you are listening to guests. It also means that valuable feedback is influencing how you operate. The insights you glean from listening to your guests improves your operations.
  2. Relationships Get Stronger
    • Replying to guests lets those guests, and your prospects reading your reviews, know that you care and are paying attention. This extends your brand experience beyond your physical location and also encourages on-lookers to start a relationship with your brand. The result is stronger relationships, more reviews and more positive reviews. Also note that canned responses are easily spotted and can send just the opposite message and make your brand appear disingenuous.
  3. Loyalty Increases
    • When you engage your guests, they feel valued and return more often. Appreciation leads to greater guest retention.
  4. You Get Selected More Often
    • Prospects considering your restaurant, see your positive ratings and guest engagement. This makes it easy for them to select you over your competitors.
  5. Marketing ROI Increases
    • Marketing leads to guests searching for you online, where they see your positive ratings and guest engagement. This leads them to choose you, thereby increasing the conversion and ROI of your advertising and marketing efforts. Don’t wast ad dollars driving prospects to find out online that nobody likes you!

If you’re not using online guests engagement to drive sales, the time to start is now. With the right tools, best practices and team in your corner, the sky’s the limit.

If you have any questions, contact Connie Shelton at 818-665-7865 or connie@merchancentric.com.