Whether you’re opening a brand new restaurant or you’ve been an owner of an established one, successful restaurant branding can set your place apart. So, even if you use the freshest of ingredients or prepare the best of dishes and have exceptional service and a beautiful ambience, you would be missing out on opportunities if you do not capitalise on what’s so far been a quiet success.
If you are a restaurateur, branding your space can help you showcase your restaurant’s identity, expand your customer base and increase loyalty. Building a successful restaurant brand isn’t just having catchy colours and a cute logo – it is more than that.
Let’s take a look at 5 restaurant branding rules you need to know.
Rule 1 – A mission statement
A clear mission statement will help your branding efforts to move in the right direction. Start by asking yourself a few important questions.
- Who are you as a restaurant?
- What are you doing?
- Why are you doing it?
- How are you going to do it?
Develop your restaurant’s story – the primary purpose, the passion behind it, the fundamental principles that hold your restaurant together and what your restaurant hopes to achieve.
Rule 2 – Understand your customers
Without your customers, your restaurant is nothing.
To attract a loyal following, what you need to do is to impress your customers. And to impress them, first, you will need to understand them.
One of the most effective branding strategies for understanding your customers and getting repeat customers is incorporating a loyalty program. You can build a dedicated customer base based on what customers have ordered in the past and offering other incentives for them to take advantage of.
Rule 3 – Aesthetics
When it comes to restaurant branding, aesthetics plays an important part. How does your restaurant appeal to your customers from outside?
Adding a new, attractive sign that makes your restaurant noticeable or ramping up the interiors or redesigning the menu cards or even making your staff wear smart uniforms can make a lot of value addition to your restaurant brand.
Branding has a lot to do with colour palettes. The colour palette you choose should match across the restaurant – the logo, the decor, the menu design, the social media accounts and website, the staff attire, and everything else related to your brand.
Rule 4 – The digital presence
What do you do when you are told about a new restaurant? The first instinct is to check out their website or social media pages.
Your restaurant’s website should provide all information that a potential guest would need. This includes easily navigable pages, a searchable menu, a gallery of the popular dishes and decor, and provisions to make online reservations. Create social media accounts and link the website to them.
Rule 5 – Hire the best talent
Hiring staff that’s effective and productive is vital for your restaurant branding. Your team is the ears and eyes of your restaurant and are responsible for the reputation of your brand.
So hire the best talent in the industry and teach them how to act in accordance with its values.
Effective restaurant branding is all about creating a connection with your customers and getting noticed.