If you accept online orders, creating a mobile app for your restaurant is likely the next logical step. Aside from thinking about and communicating the app’s design to an app developer, you’ll also need to figure out how to promote it once it’s built.
Luckily, there are easily implementable tips you can rely on to promote a restaurant app. Keep reading to learn these app-promotion best practices today.
1. Optimize App Store Presence
Optimize your app for maximum visibility on major mobile app platforms like Google Play Store.
Start by doing keyword research. Your app details, description, and more should use the same words your customers will use when searching for restaurant apps like yours. With good app SEO practices, you can ensure the platform’s algorithm displays your restaurant application among its search results.
Examples of keywords you should include in your description are the primary cuisine you serve and your restaurant location (“pasta” and “Chicago”). You can also include keywords that describe the services you offer, like “home delivery” and “drive through.”
Aside from keywords, you’ll need visual elements to show your potential app users what they’ll be downloading. For example, you can include a video that previews the app and screenshots of its user interface.
2. Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms offer multiple ways to promote a restaurant app. A social media presence is a must since promotional efforts on these platforms won’t be limited to your existing customer base or followers. That means you can bring in new app users as well.
To leverage the reach social media provides:
- post video and image content around your app
- create an app-specific hashtag that other content creators can use when they post about your app
- repost app-related content and brand mentions
- set up countdowns to generate buzz around your application
Also, if you’ve got the budget for it, you can create promotional ads that target audiences who reside in the same geographical area as your restaurant. When the app is live, don’t forget to include a link to it in the bio section of your restaurant’s social media pages.
3. Promote on Your Website
Your restaurant’s website is an excellent place to promote your new mobile app. You can perform your restaurant app promotion in multiple ways.
The most conspicuous way is to include a banner at the top of the home page. That way, it’ll be the first thing your customers see when they land on your restaurant’s website. Other ways to promote a restaurant app through your website include:
- using a popup banner that displays when visitors scroll down the page; and
- placing a link to your mobile app in the website’s footer
Finally, you can incorporate an email form into your site to encourage visitors to sign up for your email list and get more information about your application.
Don’t forget to leverage Google Analytics 4 to understand and analyze your website’s traffic. With the valuable insights you gain, you can make tweaks to your site to ensure you’re getting visitors in the first place. That’s the only way they’ll see your restaurant app promotional content and your sign-up form in the first place.
4. Utilize Email Marketing
If you manage to build an email list through your site, you can promote your app to the people on your email list.
There are multiple email formats you can use when marketing your app. You can send long newsletters that highlight the app’s features and the convenience it’ll provide and short reminder emails of the launch date. You can even send primarily image-based emails showing your happy app users and their excellent feedback. That can help you attract more app users and, ultimately, more customers.
Use a QR code generator so when the app goes live, you can incorporate your QR code that leads to your Play Store and App Store pages into your emails. With this strategy, you can easily increase app downloads. After all, subscribers only need to scan your code to access the restaurant mobile app.
5. Implement Referral Programs
Why not encourage customers who’ve downloaded your restaurant app to promote it for you? Simply set up a referral program with an appealing reward that motivates them to refer others. This app promotion method can be effective because of social proof. In other words, it lets you indirectly leverage the trust and goodwill your customers have built with their familial and social circles.
That said, you’ll need to make it easier for customers to facilitate and track referrals. A common way is to create a dedicated “Refer a Friend” section in your app.
As to the reward you can offer to referring customers, consider providing promotional codes and discounts for each referral. You could also let customers rack up redeemable loyalty points or coupons.
6. Opt for Promotion In-Store and in Food Events
We’ve so far talked about how you can promote your app online. Now let’s talk about how you can promote it offline.
Your physical store is among the best places to market locally to regular patrons, of course.
One way to promote your app in-store is by updating your packaging to include download information for the app. You can also create promotional flyers and place them in conspicuous locations for your customers to pick up and read.
To facilitate instant downloads in-store, consider creating a QR code that links to your downloadable app. You can place the QR code on tables, at the checkout counter, and other conspicuous locations in your restaurant.
You should also take advantage of food events to spread the word about your restaurant app. Why not attend a food festival and talk about its excellent features to attendees while showcasing your own dishes? Or participate in food competitions? Even if you don’t win, it’s still a great opportunity to expand your restaurant app reach.
Conclusion
Promoting your restaurant app is easy if you know how to do it. Just follow the tips we shared in this article.
Optimize your app store presence to help your customers find and download it. Leverage social media to promote to a wider audience. Use email marketing to inform customers on your list about your upcoming app. Motivate loyal customers to spread the word about your app through referral programs. Also, promote it on your website. Another excellent tip is to let people know about your app in food events like food festivals and competitions.
Implement one or more of the best practices above and you should experience an upsurge in new app downloads. Good luck!
Author Bio
David Pagotto is the Founder and Managing Director of SIXGUN, a digital marketing agency based in Melbourne. He has been involved in digital marketing for over 10 years, helping organizations get more customers, more reach, and more impact.
