How restaurants can increase their online brand reputation

Nowadays a good online reputation is extremely important for restaurants because very often customers make their own decisions about which venue to choose depending on information found on the internet. This information could contain photos or videos of the restaurant or its menu shared by other customers in forums, social media, or restaurant booking search engines. As a restaurant owner, do you have the habit to monitor regularly the content that appears online related to your brand and services? This represents a very important marketing approach that can help you manage your online brand reputation. The online reputation can have a significant impact on your business results.

Online reputation monitoring and analysis

One of the main ways to follow what online users tell about your restaurant is to search for content on social media published under hashtags related to your brand and location tags. Be aware, as well,  when somebody tags your brand on Instagram stories. Pay special attention and analyze what exactly the users have chosen to highlight. For example, this could be the interior, some particular dishes, the general restaurant ambiance, waiters, the bar area, etc. This could be very precious information for you that you should highlight in your next communication or when you make decisions introducing new menu items, promotions, etc. 

On the contrary, when there are any tags or shared photos related to the restaurant, this could also be an important sign telling you that perhaps you should improve your marketing efforts and communication or that the quality of the services and the food you offer aren’t good enough. Nowadays when people are impressed or satisfied by something, they are always ready to share it on social media.

Another way to monitor online feedback about your restaurant is to use the Google search engine by using keywords related to your brand name. Check all the links that appear and the content they are forwarding to.

How to manage online the positive and negative feedback and reviews

If you find negative comments that don’t correspond to reality, answer them publicly online explaining your point of view. Try to maintain the communication polite and civil, showing a professional attitude without including emotions even if the comments are aggressive and arrogant. The main objective is not to leave users spreading negative rumors about your business, especially when this is not the truth. 

If you find that the complaining users are right in their negative evaluation, you can offer them some discount for future visits. It is almost certain that in this case, such people won’t be so negative anymore regarding your brand. Moreover, they can change their opinion about you. When people see that the representatives of the specific business brand put the clients and their satisfaction first level, they are much more likely not to be so aggressive in their negative evaluation.  

As for the positive comments or tags in social media you found by hashtags related to your brand, for example, it is a good practice to thank the user for sharing them which will be a great motivation for them to do it again.

Competitors monitoring/Benchmarking

It could be very useful to check what online users tell about your competitors, as well as to confront the volume of online reviews and share content between your brand and the ones of your competitors. Such analysis can give you important information about where you stand in terms of reputation and brand awareness vs. other restaurants. If you are behind them, try to study their marketing strategy and communication and find how to improve yours.

Collaborations with bloggers and influencers

One of the most powerful ways to increase your online reputation is to collaborate with bloggers and social media influencers who can share content related to your brand by recommending you to their followers. Of course, in most cases, such marketing activities require a budget but an investment like this one could bring you many benefits. The reason is that most of your actual and potential customers use social media and follow different influencers. So, these collaborations are an effective way to reach your customers through someone they trust. You can organize together with the influencer some kind of promotions, and distribute giveaways or discounts. The main objective is to increase your brand awareness, attract new customers, and make them loyal.

Regular monitoring of the shared online content about your brаnd can be very helpful for your online communication and if necessary to gather ideas on how you can improve your services. In this regard, we recommend you to include online reputation monitoring as an integral part of your marketing strategy.