Kettle boiled? Check.
Ready to learn? Check.
Biscuits at the ready? Check.
Then you’re ready for our NEW monthly feature: Tea & Trends.
We’re bringing together some of the most impactful trends and updates in digital each month so you don’t have to, putting a focus on one of our sector specialties: pubs and restaurants.
Of course, these trends and tips could apply to any brand, really, so stay open-minded and creative!
Now let’s get into it before your brew goes cold.
1. 27% of teens & young adults shop through social media.
That’s over 1 in 4 teens and young adults who are expected to shop directly through their social media feeds and in-app functionalities. In case you’re too shocked to crunch the numbers, that’s a big deal. So, how do you keep up?
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
The truth is, this functionality may not work for all types of brands, especially those in a more service-led industry, but sometimes you just need to get a little creative..
Make sure you have a business account set up on Instagram and then think of ways you could build up a product catalogue that might interest your guests.
For example, you could try:
- Takeaway: It might take some logistical trial and error, but if you offer takeaway, you might be able to create a product catalogue of your menu!
- Merchandise: If you have any brand merchandise that your regulars might want to be, such as coasters, pint glasses, aprons and more, see if people might want to buy it directly from you via your social channels.
2. Voice Search Optimisation.
Every day, more people are searching for information and answers with their voice, whether through Siri, Alexa, or Google Home. With 1 billion voice searches carried out every month, you’re missing out if your brand website isn’t keeping these in mind.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
Preparing for voice searches is no different to optimising your website for typed queries on search engines. All that changes is the language.
Make sure your website is including long-tailed keywords and conversational language that people would use when talking.
For example:
Typing: “restaurants near me”
Speaking: “Are there any restaurants near me?”
Little changes to your pub or restaurant content could see you appearing higher in the rankings of voice-driven searches and prepare you for the future of website behaviour.
3. Instagram releases “Profile Status”
The profile status feature allows you to choose a particular mood or status, including:
- Working
- Celebrating
- Busy
- Happy
Once you do this, anyone who follows you will be able to see this status for 24 hours.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
Although its uses seem somewhat limited with their being only four options to choose from, there are already a few ways you could think about using these statuses to excite your followers:
- Working: Teasing the launch of a new menu or event.
- Celebrating: Creating buzz around a new menu, event, or special day.
- Busy: Could be used to show when community management team are out of office, but as a new feature, followers may not notice or realise what it means.
- Happy: Might work for more people-focused celebrations! Team birthdays, promotions, good news etc.
We’ll keep an eye on these to see if any more options are added, or whether any brands are using them in interesting ways. Consider us “Working!”
4. Is it time for you to be on TikTok?
87% of influencers say that they get the best engagement on TikTok compared to other social media channels, which is big news.
In fact, the average TikTok user is believed to watch around 89 minutes of bite-sized content per day—a tea-spitting fact when you this is the accumulation of many videos with a length of between 15 seconds and 3 minutes.
Put simply, there’s so much potential here for brands and content creators alike.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
Starting up a new social media channel is no quick decision. Here are a few things to consider before you jump into TikTok to make sure you do it properly:
- Does this channel fit your audience?
- Is your brand suited to short-form content?
- Is creating TikTok content sustainable for your brand and team?
If you answered yes to all of the above, give it a try! Find your angle, be consistent, and see whether the latest social platform can increase your audience and engagement.
You could start with ideas such as:
- Behind-the-scenes at a pub or restaurant
- How to make our specialties
- Secret tricks of the trade
- Overhead today…
- Dog of the day!
5. Local SEO continues to thrive!
According to a study by HubSpot, 46% of Google searches are driven by location, with people searching for things “near me” or “close by.”
With this in mind, it’s important to work these phrases into your website content as naturally as possible, especially for brick-and-mortar businesses with a physical location.
How to make it work for your pub or restaurant:
For location-specific businesses such as restaurants, pubs, and local shops, remember to include the phrases above for certain occasions, events, or popular products.
For example:
“Valentine’s menu near me”
“Valentine’s Day in [location]”
“Valentine’s Day date ideas in [location]”
As long as they’re included in a way that isn’t jarring to your reader, such phrases could see you ranking highly for location-based searches.
Dates to keep in mind for February marketing!
5th: Six Nations Kicks Off – Scotland v England
6th: Yorkshire Pudding Day
8th: International Women’s Day
13th: Superbowl
14th: Valentine’s Day
17th: Random Acts of Kindness Day
20th: Love Your Pet Day
26th: Six Nations – England v Wales
27th: Carabao Cup Final
28th: Mother’s Day in less than a month!
Planning your 2022 marketing: What should you focus on now?
Effective marketing is all about planning ahead, so where should your mind be as we head into February? Well, here’s what we’re starting to think about now:
- Valentine’s Day: We’ve been discussing Valentine’s campaigns since December, but if you’re only just getting to it now, think about some easy campaigns or marketing ideas that you can get together in the next two weeks.
- Mother’s Day: Again, we’ve had this one on the radar since the start of 2022, but you’ve still got a bit of time to think of ways to build buzz around Mother’s Day at your pub or restaurant. Is there a special menu, dish, or drink available? If not, what experience can you offer that your competitors can’t?
- Spring & Easter: This is the sweet spot! We’re already coming up with campaign proposals for our clients with March and early April launch estimates. With forward thinking like that, we can really consider ideas that’ll drive engagement, conversions, and pull it all together in plenty of time to avoid the panic of a last-minute launch.
Finish your brew…
That’s all for this month, but we’ll be back again next month for another Tea & Trends, keeping you at the forefront of digital, from brand websites to social media innovation.
Seen something you want to try? We’ll get the kettle on…