Food for Thought: How Digital Marketing is Transforming the Food Industry

You don’t need to do much digging on Google or Facebook to realize how important the food and beverage sector of the economy is. Your decision to immediately investigate restaurant digital marketing avenues as part of your food brand strategy is brilliant. 

This article will educate you on the many forms of restaurant digital marketing and recommend those with the highest return on investment.

Who Makes Use of Digital Marketing in the Food Sector?

There is a wide variety of brands and companies in the beverage and food industry, making it one of the most digitally active industries, from the most significant global companies to the most popular restaurant and fast food chains to the manufacturers and suppliers themselves. 

It’s hardly shocking as their work is crucial on a global scale and a local one. However, consumers’ attention is finite, and if you’re in the food sector and need to use digital advertising to draw customers in, you will stay caught up in the competition. A recent survey found that 57% of consumers ordered food online the previous year. Why? You should join in the discussion happening online.

A Look at the Impact of Food and Restaurant Digital Marketing

Like many other industries, the influence of digital technology on food and beverage industry is spectacular. Over forty percent of the population has discovered new foods thanks to the internet. They are several review sites, booking sites, and delivery services out there. But we are referring to the fact that social media platforms, Instagram, are flooded with promotional posts and reviews about food and drink. 

The ripples go everywhere. Because of this change, digital marketing has become the most important method for promoting a product or service. It’s essential for companies in the food and drink industry. You may feel like an outsider in restaurant digital marketing if you represent a food brand or run a food and beverage industry firm. Don’t fret; we’ve got your back. 

In this piece, we’ll look at the digital food marketing techniques of several successful companies and brands and offer advice on how you might implement similar tactics for your own product.

The Impact of Digital Marketing on the Food Industry

In this piece, we’ll focus on what’s impact and coming in the future of marketing in this industry.

New Trend in Keywords

The vocabulary for food has evolved during the past few years. The general public’s opinion has shifted, and brand strategies around manufacturing and advertising have changed. Two significant developments are here to stay. There is a renewed focus on environmental sustainability, which has gone from being a fringe concern to a widespread one, especially among the younger generations. 

Not just the consumables themselves, but the containers they come in, are at issue here. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is comprised of dozens of major corporations that have pledged to phase out the use of plastic in favor of more environmentally friendly alternatives. Nicola Neri, CEO of Ipso, emphasized the importance of packaging by noting that consumers’ growing concern over environmental pollution and waste influences business decisions. 

Another crucial concept is health, which must be noticed. The influence of food on our life is receiving more and more attention, along with related themes like organics, food intolerances, slow food, and physical fitness. 

Once again, there are illustrations all around us. Consider how the identities of various brands, national rules, television ads, and social media trends can shift, either on their own or with the help of influential people (on whom we will touch base again).

To Put It Simply, SEO Is Essential

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to improving a website’s visibility in unpaid search engine results. Knowing how to optimize your website for search engines will become increasingly crucial in restaurant digital marketing in this fiercely competitive industry. 

Some businesses disappear from consumers’ minds if they aren’t found on Google. Producers, distributors, and eateries all have a stake in this discussion in the food industry.

As much as 56% of traffic for Food Industry sites comes from organic search; it’s no surprise that SEO maintenance is the top restaurant digital marketing tactic, as reported by Finances Online.

The Importance Of Social Networks

Some have even referred to food as “the king of social.” Let’s look at some numbers to see how serious this reality is. According to the data collected on Instagram, users find content related to food and drink to be the most engaging. And how big is this social cosmos, exactly? Huge. Do you know How to market a restaurant on social media? 

Well, it is the primary concern of any restaurant owner. It is easy to do marketing for restaurants on social media. You just have to brand your restaurant and food point and sell it on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Your post will help you in engaging more customers, and it will help you to improve your online marketing for restaurants.

There are currently 3.48 billion social media users in the world, a rise of 9% from 2018. In detail, 3.26 billion people, or 10% of the world’s population, now use their mobile phones to access social media. This demonstrates why mobile-first approaches are so crucial.

Finally, which social network has experienced the most rapid expansion? Without question, Instagram is a platform built around visual content like photos and movies, which are vastly superior to text when conveying ideas in the Food Industry (wearesocial.com). 

he “holy grail” of social media storytelling is user-generated content, or UGC, which users create ” spontaneously. ” These are the ones people believe most since they seem more genuine and authentic.

Micro-influencers are becoming increasingly popular to reach niche yet “authentic” audiences. Seventy percent of consumers, according to Harvard Business Review research, favor “authentic” content (but also “informative”) over classic brand advertising. The significance of these “influencers” fits neatly into this notch.

Targeting And Personalization

In the previous section, we began discussing the responsibility and leadership role that digital gives individuals. Large and small businesses must have a firm grasp on who makes up their market regarding demographics, geography, lifestyle habits, interests, and wants. 

Thanks to digital, this is becoming increasingly feasible, even for massive audiences. How? Because of the dynamics of data-driven marketing, which were made possible by data analysis.

Consider the enormous potential for competitive advantage afforded by the analysis of “sentiment,” which enables manufacturers to see trends even before they become widely known. 

Or, consider consumers’ influence when recommending restaurants to one another based on their own research, geolocation data, and preferences expressed across several platforms. 

The “reputation” and overall impression of a business, restaurant chain, delivery service, or even a single restaurant can all benefit from increased customer loyalty.

In short, predicting and influencing your audience’s future actions requires correct and functional analysis of Big Data, leading to a deeper understanding of your audience, current and potential.

The initial stage is to segment the target into smaller pieces with similar and consistent properties. However, this is not all. The online reviews and ratings will help you to implore your taste and products.

The final frontier is customization, reaching out to an individual with an engaging, personalized conversation. Companies like Doxee, which focuses on targeted advertising, face this challenge daily.

Future Technologies: Voice Recognition, VR/AR, and More

We foresee three significant developments shaping the future. There are voice-activated digital assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa. Like the recent acquisition of a startup focused on voice technology for drive-through orders by McDonald’s.

Virtual reality (number two) and augmented reality (number three) are two additional components. These two technologies will be massive in all fields, but even more so in this one. 

Think of new ways to tell stories, starting with the packaging (if we’re talking about food and drinks), of Customer Service for stores and restaurants, and expanding the consumer experience. 

As we mentioned, the food and beverage industry is primarily concerned with the ecosystem it has spawned.

Conclusion

Choosing one or two of these approaches (depending on your budget) and mastering them before moving on to another is a terrific way to start your new digital enterprise. 

There’s no shame in doubling down on what’s shown to be the most successful tactic in promoting your goods. Restaurant digital marketing, will help you to convert you huge audience into your customers. On the other hand, pay attention to the other methods. Keeping digital eggs in one basket is risky, as the landscape evolves as rapidly as the British weather.

If you are short on time and want to get the best out of digital marketing platforms for your restaurant business, then outsource your marketing to Integrated IT Solutions.