No matter what business you are running, finding new customers at the lowest cost possible is extremely important – especially for restaurants.
The competition is high, and consumers are unpredictable. So, you need to find low-cost ways to get your brand in front of those consumers as much as possible.
Now, more than ever, consumers are turning to the internet to help them make their dining decisions. Perhaps the most visited sites for this purpose are Google and Facebook.
They give you an amazing opportunity to show local consumers what others are saying about your restaurant, providing valuable social proof. And the better your ratings and reviews, the more likely people are to give you their business.
Using Google to Find New Customers
Have you ever been searching for something on Google and come across a result that is displaying a star rating and the number of votes? This is great social proof because the ratings come directly from customers who have left a rating on Google. 
This is called rating schema, or structured data. It is a standardized format for providing search engines information about a web page and classifying the page content. If you’re new to structured data, you can learn more about how structured data works here.
It calls attention to your search result, leading to more visibility and clicks to your website.
It can be complicated for most restaurateurs. So, Bloom Intelligence has made it very easy for restaurant owners and webmasters to display rating schema on their search engine results.
Attracting New Customers Using Google My Business
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool offered by Google that helps businesses manage their online presence in Google Search Results and Google Maps. It also makes it easier to communicate and interact with your customers.
According to a recent article from Hootsuite:
A Google My Business profile lends credibility to your company. Need proof? Customers are 70% more likely to visit businesses with a Google My Business listing.
Another study found that businesses with complete listings on Google are twice as likely to earn trust from customers.
Trust is a crucial factor when it comes to making purchase decisions. The more confident a consumer feels, the more likely they are to buy. Credibility gained from Google is enough to sway people to be 38% more likely to visit your store and 29% more likely to buy something.
Google My Business reviews help build trust, too. Research by Think With Google finds that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
When someone searches for your business or terms related to your business, Google My Business will present them with extra information. This info includes your address and contact information, hours of operation, customer ratings and reviews, and more.
For example, if you do a Google search for Subway, you will see a local map of Subways near your location and a section on the right side of the main search results with more information.
In the image below, you can see:
- a description of the company
- other company information (phone, headquarters, etc.)
- nutrition information of menu items
- company motto
- information about sandwich sizes
- information about “sandwich artists”
- social media links
Take Advantage of Free Tools
This search result can make your search result in Google much more attractive and informational for potential customers.
Likewise, it can be a great local marketing tool for your business.
When people search for companies near them, Google almost always displays GMB information for businesses nearby. That is why it is essential to create, configure, and maintain a search-friendly GMB account for your company.
Imagine owning a small seafood restaurant and popping up at the top of local search results for “seafood restaurants near me” – a great example of free marketing, which is vital in today’s challenging and competitive marketplace.
As you can see, learning what Google My Business is for your business can make a big difference when used and configured correctly.
Attracting New Customers Using Facebook Business Listings
Facebook is essential for business for good reasons. Facebook is by far the most popular and most used social media site, with over 2.7 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2020.
It is the largest social network in the world.
Years ago, restaurants began to experiment with Facebook to attract new customers and provide customer service.
However, today, it’s no longer an option. Unarguably, social media engagement is a necessity in 2021.
Increasing customer activity on Facebook can increase influencers’ visibility, therefore gaining more new customers.
At the same time, over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. The social media platform has grown immensely over the last few years and is now one of the most powerful social media channels in the world.
Consider these statistics (as of January 2021):
- Instagram is the sixth-most visited website in the world
- It is the 9th most popular Google query
- It has the 4th most users of any mobile app
- 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile daily
- 81% of people use Instagram to help research products and services
- 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month
Indeed, with these kinds of numbers, it only makes sense for businesses to use Instagram for customer engagement and marketing.
Bloom Intelligence can help you manage your Google My Business and Facebook business listings easily – all in one place.
How Bloom Intelligence Makes It Easy
Bloom Intelligence can save you time by helping you manage your business listings all in one place.
Bloom services now include the ability to create your restaurant’s business profile in your Bloom dashboard and connect your Google My Business & Facebook business accounts.
This means that moving forward, you only need to update your Bloom business listings, push save, and it will then sync your restaurant’s locations business information to both Google & Facebook.
Discover Bloom Intelligence
Bloom Intelligence has multiple powerful restaurant marketing tools to help grow your restaurant business. Quickly grow a large clean customer database, improve ratings and reviews, create social proof, increase foot traffic and customer lifetime values, identify, and bring back lost customers, and so much more.
To see everything Bloom Intelligence has to offer, call us to schedule a demo at 727-877-8181 or click here to schedule a demo online and we’ll show you exactly how it’s done!
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