So true… Restaurant owners, keep in mind traditional marketing while implementing Online Marketing in your efforts. It pays off!
Is Traditional Marketing Dying? (via The MarCom Network’s Blog By Manal richa)
June 4, 2010 — mealclick
I had multiple coffee and lunch meetings with multiple professionals from different industries. And since I live and breath marketing, the topic came up; and most specifically, one question: “Is t … Create Interaction with Your Online Menu
May 13, 2010 — mealclick
MealClick - Online Food Ordering Solution
Hundreds and hundreds of restaurants are realizing on a daily basis the importance of building an online presence; Simply having a “business card” website does not mean much anymore. As a matter of fact, we live in an era where we are witnessing a major shift in the whole marketing process for every single business and industry.
With the presence of social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and more, clients are expecting from your website nothing less but a fully-interactive experience!
If you haven’t yet, you should start venturing into adding an interactive online food ordering solution to your operation; in order to allow your clients to:
- browse your menu, learning about the choices you offer, AT THEIR CONVENIENCE
- go through the succulent images of your dishes
- Add-on sides and customize their orders
- place advanced and group orders
- re-order from history
- apply coupons and discount codes
- fill out surveys and voice their opinion
While social networks are a two-way communication between businesses and followers/fans, your online menu should offer similar interactive features giving your clients the power to browse, select, order, and more… while allowing you to listen, monitor and analyze your clients’ preferences, needs, and demands.
The MealClick Team
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Efficiency Through Online Food Ordering
April 4, 2010 — mealclick
While it is still important to implement print advertising and material in your marketing strategy, it is crucial to get on board and use the Internet to progress faster and spread the word quicker while generating a 2-way communication with your target market.
Consumers are at a point where they are using the Internet as a main resource for information, reviews, feedback and more… Also the Internet is amazing when it comes to tracking and measuring hits and interactions.
Once you implement Online Food Ordering in your strategy, you can use the back-end of the system to generate and broadcast email messages to all of your customers at once keeping them up-to-date with your latest, offering them special discounts, announcing a new menu, and more…
Also, the right Online Food Ordering System would give you control over your customers’ contact information – name, address, phone, email address… and maybe more! How powerful is that! Building a database is very essential for every business, regardless of size, in order to keep in touch with customers and stay connected with them. Don’t you agree?
One of our favorite Marketing Blogs, The MarCom Network by Manal Richa, does an amazing job
discussing having a Strategy for Your Newsletter! Read this blog for excellent tips and ideas on how to implement a powerful strategy in order to connect with your customers through your Online Food Ordering System!
The MealClick Team
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Who is Using Online Food Ordering?
March 31, 2010 — mealclick
The following is a break-down of different categories and group who are already benefiting from Online Food Ordering:
Busy Parents
Clubs/Sports Teams
Businesses
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Schools/Churches/Colleges
High-school/College Students
Busy People!
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Does your target market fall under one or more of the mentioned categories? If so, why holding off? Get on board today and offer your Online Menu to your clients, for additional convenience and satisfaction.
The MealClick Team
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Your Website and Online Menu
March 18, 2010 — mealclick
Building an online presence has become very crucial. Consumers are using the Internet more frequently than ever. If you are not online yet, you are missing out on a big share of the market.
All you need is a basic website with few pages including: a Home page, About Us, Contact Us, and Online Menu.
While building your website, make sure that you are consistent with your marketing messages and branding as well. Make it easy and simple to navigate. Remember the purpose of being online is for consumers to find out and learn more about you. That does not mean though that you should over-load your pages with information. Include enough content to make it appealing enough to get your clients to browse more through your menu and order from you.
As for your online menu, it needs to be simple and easy to navigate as well. Make sure to include succulant images of your plates. Detail the items into categories and groups. Upsell by including additional items such as drinks, chips, and cookies as options within each item. Keep the customer updated throughout the ordering process by providing a summary of their order on each page. As for the check out process, make it quick and easy by providing multiple payment options.
Although Flash is nice to look at, keep in mind that loading pages with Flash could be a problem which would prohibit users from accessing your website.
In addition, while working on your website coding, make sure that you keep in mind all the elements for Search Engine Optimization. You need to include titles, keywords… all to help with your SEO efforts. Although having a website is great, but what is the purpose of having one if no one can find you? Correct?
The MealClick Team
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Reaching out to Customers through E-mail Marketing
March 7, 2010 — mealclick
While direct marketing efforts had proven to be a focused and trackable way to connect with consumers, e-mail marketing brought the advantage of being less expensive while providing an instantaneous message delivery to your prospects and clients. Straight-forward and affordable, e-mail marketing is a tool allowing you to connect and contact your customers directly and with a purpose.
Reach out to your customers by emailing them valuable promotions with special discounts on ordering online for example. This is a great way to introduce them and encourage them to use your online food ordering system while offering them an incentive. Always concentrate on What’s in It for Them and keep them in mind while crafting your message.
Make sure that you allow them to unsubscribe from your list though. Otherwise, your email will be considered spam and you don’t want to be labeled as a spammer, correct?
Allow customers to sign up for your mailing list through different resources including your website, feedback form, POS system, dropping their card. And don’t forget that your Online Ordering System is another tool for you to collect contact information as well.
Now, while putting your email together, make it appealing. Plain test emails aren’t exciting and will probably get deleted immediately. Put together a branded appealing template. Be consistent to your brand but flexible with the content.
Plan ahead of time your message in a way where you are not bombarding your customers with emails, but at the same time, a reminder here and there, always helps. Choose a campaign schedule and stick to it so your customers know what and when to expect from you.
And when talking schedule, since you will be appealing to the hungry crowds, the best time to send your email is right before lunch or dinner. Also avoid Mondays because you don’t want your message to get lost amongst the weekend overflow.
The MealClick Team
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A High Tech Solution for Your Restaurant
February 17, 2010 — mealclick
Technology is improving by the day. Over the past few years, the online ordering market has improved drastically. At first, it used to cost an arm and a leg to set up an online ordering system. In addition, the whole process required a lot of time and tons of efforts. Now, regardless if you are a one-location or a large chain, this is your opportunity to affordably take advantage of Online Food Ordering Solutions.
• high returns with minimum investment
Obviously, online ordering systems require some kind of an investment. Keep in mind though that you will receive a significant return on your investment - Simply put a quick payback.
• pricing structure
Each online ordering company has a different pricing model: a yearly fee (all inclusive,) a monthly licensing fee, a per-transaction cost, or a mixture of the two. Although a per-transaction pricing model may be attractive , keep in mind that the restaurant may experience a significant and quick use of the system, a flat yearly fee pricing model is usually a better option.
• flow of operation
Online Ordering Systems are set up quickly with no much time invested in them. Orders are streamlined through fax machines, IP printers, or POS systems. Make sure you gear your marketing efforts to spread the word. Also, prepare your staff to be ready to fulfill incoming orders.
Online ordering is undergoing an incredible state of growth where more restaurants will integrate this technology into their operations. Make sure you do your research so you can mak an informed decision. The more thoughtfully you invest into online ordering, the more you will be rewarded.
The MealClick Team
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Making the Best out of Your Online Ordering System
February 15, 2010 — mealclick
You have your online ordering system set up… Now what! If you treat you online ordering system as a stand alone entity, it will definitely not lead to successful online results. In order to make the best out of it and turn it into a profit source, you must combine your online ordering system along with your other marketing efforts. Keep in mind that how well this system will work mainly depends on the efforts and time you put into spreading the word out notifying your customers of this new service you are offering them.
The following are some tips on how to make the best out of your online ordering system:
1. Spread the word
What good is an online ordering system if no one knows about it? Having a system such as this is a proof of your constant efforts to bring the best services to your customers. Spread the word through traditional media. Make sure you have a clear simple message inviting your customers to ORDER ONLINE TODAY all over your stores, mailers, TV ads, takeout boxes, e-mail newsletters, and even your employees.
2. Online Order – Easy and Convenient
Customers shop online for two reasons; convenience and price. Make sure you offer an easy and convenient solution to your customers. Make it very simple to view latest store menus and specials. Also make sure that the check out process if easy and quick. If customers are trying to order online, chances are they hate to wait in lines or on hold and want to know what the day’s deals. They simply want their online ordering experience to be fast, easy, and convenient.
Make sure that your online ordering system allows easy reordering and saves your customer’s information so they do not have to re-enter it every time they want to place an order.
3. Offer Incentives to Your Online Customers
Your online customers save you and your employees time and effort. An excellent approach would be to reward them with coupons or special promotions. Simple offers make a big difference. For example, customers who order online do not have to stand in line to checkout. Instead they go directly to the cashier to pick up their order and pay, cutting in front of those who did not preorder.
The MealClick Team
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Encouraging Customers to Buy More
February 10, 2010 — mealclick
By offering online ordering to your customers, you are only at advantage. With online ordering, customers browse at their own pace from their homes or offices’ convenience. There is no need to worry about being rush through the ordering process like what usually happens during rush hours or if they call in an order. Customers spend the time browsing through the online menu, making decisions at their pace, and ordering at their convenience. You, as a restaurant, are basically offering them a convenience, making their life easy!
Some of the best features offered by online ordering is up-selling where the online menu gets customized in a way to give customers the options to easily add more to their order, therefore increasing ticket size by at least 35% on an average.
Furthermore, having your menu online and offering the convenience of online ordering, gives you the opportunity to share enticing photos of your dishes with your customers. Presenting them with the right imagery, helps customers visualize what their food will look/taste like. This will simply support the ordering process, as customers are provided with the opportunity to visualize how enjoyable their meal will be.
The MealClick Team
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