Food and beverage is a key element that factors into the success of any event, be it a business conference or a wedding. This is why clients favor catering service providers that are well-known in the community or highly reputable. Before, generating word-of-mouth was the most effective marketing strategy, but now online marketing weighs more in a potential client’s decision to engage a catering service.
Online marketing is not only useful in elevating a caterer’s brand, but also in providing social proof and in increasing customer satisfaction, which is important for any catering business. Here are four online marketing ideas that your catering business can benefit from:
An Informative and User-Friendly Website
The first thing that a potential customer will do when they hear about your food service is to visit your website to find more information, whether it be a restaurant menu or learning how to order fish online. The basics that they are looking for would be company history staff and chef information, the packages you offer, pricing, contact information, and testimonials or your portfolio of clients. You can be sure that they will compare your website to your competitors, so make sure it is well-designed, mobile responsive, and it’s easy for customers to find what they are looking for.
You may also want to include online ordering and payment applications in your website to make it even more convenient for customers. To complement this, an online catering software could be integrated to help you manage your orders, inventory, customers, and reports on the go.
Search Engine Optimization
Clicks from search engine results will form most of your total website traffic, which is why you have to maintain SEO efforts as long as your catering business is active. Over time, these efforts will help your website rank in the first few pages of the search engine results. SEO includes researching most-searched keywords for the catering industry and frequently answered questions asked by potential customers, in order to incorporate them into your website content. This requires a bit of brainstorming, as well as usage of keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner or Moz’s Keyword Explorer.
For catering companies that only serve one or a few cities, it’s recommended to focus your efforts on local searches and more localized long-tailed keywords. You will also have to work on backlinks, which is getting another source or website to mention or link to your site.
Be Active on Social Media
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest are powerful marketing platforms. They have a broad reach and can prove to potential customers how credible your brand is. Use social media to document great F&B ideas that your catering service executed and events that you catered for. Also, food is a highly relatable subject, so don’t be afraid to use social media to converse with your audience, whether it’s through a contest or through votes and polls.
Keep a Blog
Other than social media, a blog is a great channel for caterers to connect and engage with your potential customers. By sharing recipes, décor ideas, hosting tips and documenting recent events your business catered for, you are keeping your brand relevant and establishing your company as a reputable caterer. Incorporating keywords into your blog posts also helps to boost SEO. However, make sure you blog consistently and keep the content fresh and relevant. No one wants to read about recipes or décor ideas that are overdone.