Showcasing Your Restaurant’s Story and Brand on Your Website

A restaurant is not just a place where people dine in. It is a destination providing people with varied dining experiences. It is also a reflection of your vision and values. Having your restaurant’s story and brand on the website helps you establish a personal connect with the customers and make them loyal fans of the brand. This blog explains how a restaurant can craft a unique and compelling story and brand on its website to attract and retain customers.

Restaurant storytelling is all about narrating brand stories to communicate a powerful and consistent message for creating remarkable customer experiences.

1. Storytelling can be executed through:
2. Captivating images
3. Stunning videos
4. Powerful words
5. Enticing visuals

Before narrating your story to the audience, you need to know the reason behind your existence.

It is necessary to be clear of:

1. Your mission
2. Your passion
3. Your purpose
4. The value that one is creating
5. The problem that one is solving
6. The difference that one is making in the industry

The core of your brand identity and the foundation of your story can be sketched easily if you are able to answer all the why’s of your existence. This will automatically guide your decisions, actions and marketing communications.

Include the age-old art of storytelling in your marketing strategy if you are looking for an engaging way to promote the restaurant and build customer loyalty.

The restaurant website must not only contain a unique menu but also have and helps beat competition.

1. Storytelling is important because it:
2. Enhances your marketing activities
3. Leaves a lasting impression
4. Helps restaurants build a unique story
5. Helps convey the brand message
6. Brings unique value to the customer
7. Identifies and establishes an emotional connect with customers
8. Builds customer loyalty

Restaurant owners can create a more memorable, personal dining experience for their customer engagement by sharing the story behind the restaurant, the menu and its atmosphere. By enabling customers to share the story from the website to popular social media sites, the restaurant can attract greater traction and achieve customer engagement.

Storytelling is not just a customer engagement tool, but also a great way to stand out amidst heavy competition. This is because customers get to know the history behind the restaurant, the struggles or hardships that the restaurant owner had faced to start, run and build the outlet, its unique menu offerings and its special features. A compelling narrative persuades the customer to choose your restaurant over others.

Several restaurants have a great history and heritage that they can share proudly with their online visitors. This can be done through food, décor or atmosphere. If you are a restaurant that is several decades old, use old photos of the place on your website at visible spots. This will help the visitors understand your founding and the way you have evolved over the years. On the online menu, feature dishes passed down through generations of the family members.

A restaurant can also tell the story of the owner, its chefs and other kitchen staff. The narration can be done through food and personal touches such as adding photos of the owner or chef on the homepage of the restaurant website. The online menu can include items that are the chef’s signature dishes, their culinary inventions or the owner’s personal favorites.

Some restaurants source ingredients from local farmers or indigenous local businesses. A few others also support local artisans. Such efforts on behalf of the restaurant can be highlighted through stories on the website. One can also  tell stories of the local community in which they are located. Elements that are unique to the local artwork can be used to design the restaurant website. Also, dishes traditional to the area can be highlighted on the online menu.

Practicing sustainability is seen as a mark of business professionalism. If you are a restaurant following sustainable and ethical food practices (like sourcing ingredients from sustainable farms, following environment-friendly cooking methods and donating surplus food to needy people), highlight it adequately on the restaurant website as customers will look at you as a modern and responsible brand that upholds ethical business values.

Narrating stories of creative cuisine can be done through highlighting experimental dishes that push boundaries on the website, creating Instagram-worthy presentations and publishing them on the website too or by offering unique versions of classic dishes and uploading them on the website.

A brand story must have a compelling and authentic narrative that connects with customers. Start by identifying the unique aspects of the business. Work on telling people about your history, menu offerings and atmosphere.

Highlight your values and personality in the process. Ensure that you reflect the genuine identity of your business – keep your narration authentic instead of fabricating a false narrative.

Integrate the brand mission into various aspects of the business including menu design, atmosphere and staff interactions to create a consistent customer experience and reinforcement of the brand story.

Social media campaigns and conventional promotional materials can also be used to share the brand identity.

Authenticity is an essential component of storytelling and aids in building an effective brand. If you are looking to engage your target audience, present content that differentiates your restaurant from the competitors.

Use actual experiences, values and beliefs to achieve authenticity and success in storytelling

There always is a unique history behind every business and its owner. It is, therefore, essential to find the human connection in that content and create an authentic voice in the process of storytelling.

Aspects of the business to consider:

1. Items of the menu
2. Materials used
3. Features that speak to customers

Ways to weave human experiences into each element:

1. Incorporate personal values
2. Narrate stories surrounding menu items
3. Tell visitors about your connections with local farmers
4. Explain the steps you take towards sustainability
5. Provide information about your philanthropic activities

Share the restaurant stories across the social media pages, on the website, through your blogs and if possible, even in local community publications. Make sure that all the stories stay true to the brand.

All stories should be cohesive and convey a universal message about why your restaurant is unique

Storytelling is always evolving, making it a valuable tool for a restaurant’s marketing efforts. There are several topics on which your stories can be based – right from reasons that make your staff amazing to the inspiration behind the new item on the menu. Stories need not necessarily be elaborate all the time. Even short and sweet stories are a hit on social media.

Restaurants can leverage the power of stories when engaging in marketing activities. A great story can convince even potential guests to walk into your restaurant. Want help in telling a moving story? Get in touch.