How people discover, order and eat today is vastly different than it was just a few years ago. While previously, consumers were accustomed to either dine-in or take-out, they now order online, request contactless delivery, build loyalty points in apps and even redeem gamified offers via virtual reality.
It’s a new era of connected dining where people expect digital capabilities to add convenience and value. In fact, according to a January 2022 Restaurants Consumer Journey Study by Kantar Profiles, 57% of respondents use mobile for restaurant discovery and 33% of orders come from third-party delivery apps and other digital sources. Personalization is now the expectation, not the exception. With that, the time is right to reinvent your restaurant’s brand messaging strategy to meet customers where they are today.
Leverage multi-surface storytelling
Multi-surface storytelling is a key differentiator for smart marketers. Audience attention isn’t completely dominated by one surface, like TV, but collectively, by many surfaces.
The opportunity for restaurants, specifically, is massive given the unmatched scale and engagement of diners across Meta technologies. Approximately 78% of restaurant patrons surveyed in the same study by Kantar Profiles use Facebook and Instagram for restaurant-related activities i.e. “following” restaurant pages, watching Stories about restaurants or making plans to eat out with friends or family. Across Meta apps, diners are joining food communities in Facebook Groups, communicating with their favorite restaurants in Messenger, or interacting with spokespeople in Reels. By harnessing the power of multi-surface storytelling, you can move diners down the restaurant funnel from awareness to long-term loyalty.
Here are three ways restaurant brands can move outcomes with multi-surface storytelling:
Amplify other voices. Culture across technologies is built by creators. A 2021 analysis of about 7,000 Meta brand lift studies across all verticals showed that campaigns that supercharge creator activity with Branded Content Ads see on average a 112% greater lift on deeper brand outcomes for the same spend.
Create immersive experiences. Reels drives culture in the food and beverage space, earning almost 140 billion plays across Facebook and Instagram daily. In-Stream ads, which over two billion people watch each month globally, allow brands to tell longer stories amongst brand-safe publisher video content. Finally, augmented reality ads continue to be a growing medium for expression and connection, with more than 700 million people use AR effects monthly across Meta technologies. Restaurant brands can experiment with AR-enabled games, interactive menus and more.
Increase relevance with dynamic creative. Meta Business Partners can help develop relevant creative assets by optimizing for both brand and performance. This may mean converting national messaging to local markets and building for each phase of the funnel.
Measure the success of your multi-surface brand strategy
According to 2021 internal data, campaigns that distribute media across a blend of channels are 139% more effective at driving key brand outcomes than campaigns that use feed and Stories only. By leveraging scientific test and control with multi-cell brand lift studies and MMM, you’ll drive sales in addition to brand outcomes.
Remember, different brand outcomes require different approaches. Brand building is a long-term, full-funnel marketing opportunity with Meta. Get started today.
