Whether online or in person, fostering positive word-of-mouth is the best way to increase restaurant sales without advertising. Ninety-two percent of customers trust word-of-mouth and personal recommendations — so it’s no surprise that this is the most effective tool available to you as a restaurateur.

At the digital age, online reputation and reviews bring a new dimension to word-of-mouth marketing: we must focus on consistent engagement and responding to our customers across all channels, both online and in person. With 79% of people trusting online reviews as much as personal recommendations from someone they know, focusing on word-of-mouth can boost restaurant sales, brand reputation, customer loyalty, and more.

How to Increase Restaurant Sales Through Word-of-Mouth

When business owners ask us how to increase restaurant sales without relying on short-sighted advertising, we can offer many different recommendations — all of which boil down to harnessing the power of word-of-mouth.

Kimberly Whitler breaks down word-of-mouth marketing strategies into three aspects: Engage, Encourage, and Empower. Let’s take these three E’s and see how we can apply them to answer the question of how to increase restaurant sales.

1. Engage: Create a Better Customer Experience

If you’re looking for ways to increase your restaurant sales and encourage positive word-of-mouth, start by engaging your customers and creating a better experience for them.

To create a better customer experience, it’s not enough just to talk to and listen to your customers — you need to make them feel their opinions matter. Ask for customer feedback and find out what they expect from your restaurant, your staff, and your menu. This conversation must be two-way.

Years ago, the only way restaurateurs could do this was by distributing comment cards and asking customers how things were going and what could be improved. While these in-person interactions remain important, we also need to enhance the online experience.

We can do this by interacting with customers online via our restaurant’s social media pages and review sites like Tripadvisor, Google, etc. Whether it’s answering questions about your restaurant’s opening hours, thanking a customer for positive feedback, or responding to negative reviews, these engagements help attract both regular and new customers.

2. Encourage: Build Customer Loyalty

Now let’s look at how to increase restaurant sales by fostering loyalty through encouragement. You need to give your customers reasons to talk about your restaurant and encourage them to introduce your brand to their friends and family and leave positive reviews about their experience.

Show your passion for the atmosphere and food you offer. Show potential customers what sets your restaurant apart from the one down the street. Give them reasons to choose you and come back.

This is about creating a sense of uniqueness for your restaurant. When you offer a unique menu, atmosphere, and overall experience, you can not only increase your restaurant sales without spending on advertising but also build customer loyalty without even trying.

Give diners a reason to show up and an even stronger reason to share their experience with their friends, family, and community. Hosting special events like prix fixe dinners or shows is a great way to attract potential customers and encourage them to spread the word about your restaurant.

3. Empower: Maintain a Strong Brand Reputation

Finally, Empower shows us how to increase restaurant sales without advertising by providing your loyal customers with different channels to share their opinions. Now that you’re interacting with your customers and encouraging them, it’s time to focus on strengthening your online presence and enabling your customers to share their feedback.

The key is to communicate with your customers using a consistent brand voice and to respond to requests across all channels — whether in person at your restaurant or online via social media platforms and review sites.

Once you’ve created an environment that offers a better customer experience and fosters brand loyalty, your customers will already be talking about your restaurant and spreading their experiences by word-of-mouth.

All that’s left to do to increase restaurant sales and maintain your online reputation is to keep encouraging them to leave online reviews, give them reasons to talk about your establishment, and regularly respond to their questions and comments.

How to Increase Restaurant Sales with Localyser

Our final advice for increasing restaurant sales is to find ways to make it easier to engage, encourage, and empower your customers. Word-of-mouth, customer reviews, and your online reputation are more important than ever: a one-star increase on the popular review site Yelp can increase restaurant sales by 5 to 9% alone. Not to mention, online reviews positively impact your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), helping your restaurant rank higher on popular search engines like Google.

That’s where Localyser comes in. We help restaurateurs like you increase sales by enabling you to generate and track reviews and respond better to your customers. Schedule your free demo today and discover how to increase restaurant sales without advertising.

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