Omar Al-Massalkhi, CEO of Talk about tacos.
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Scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, it’s not hard to deny that visuals have become a popular means of personal and mass communication. Many marketers have flocked to these platforms with photos and videos intended to help drive decision making on everything from food to medical procedures.
Marketers, especially in the food industry, use the media to influence consumer decisions. For those of us who sell food, a popular tactic is to post artful photos of our best-selling dishes on our social media channels. However, words still matter when it comes to guiding consumer behavior. It is words that give those images something very important: context. The carefully crafted text alongside those photos can tap into the cultural, psychological, social and personal triggers that entice customers to visit restaurants.
Mom knows best
From a purely academic point of view, consumer behaviour is the study of how people make buying decisions – or, simply put, why and where people spend their money. And words have the power to drive consumer behavior.
Restaurateurs can take a cue from the mothers of the world, who have made an art form of getting kids to eat foods they don’t want, like their vegetables. Psychology graduate students at Stanford University took the “mother” approach in a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, who correctly predicted that “vegetables labeled with indulgent descriptors would be chosen more than the same vegetables labeled with basic or healthy descriptors.” In a less scientific and more delightful example, I’ve found in my own business that the words chosen to describe dishes can drive more sales; words like “authentic,” “crispy,” and “fresh” tend to resonate more with customers.
Likewise, there are words that should not be used when promoting certain dishes. Take a look at the popularity of plant-based menus: Over the past 15 years, the number of Americans who identify as vegan with more than 3,000%, and “9.7 million people in the US are now transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle.” Those stats make meatless options mandatory on restaurant menus. But the meatless lexicon is a marketing conundrum for restaurant owners. For example, it’s a mistake to call vegan dishes “meat-free” because “meat-free” suggests less of what the population of carnivorous customers likes. As with vegetables, diners prefer “indulgent” terms about “healthy” when it comes to describing vegan and vegetarian options.
Collect conversations for data
With online platforms – especially social media – a restaurant’s conversation with its customers is a two-way street, but there’s quite a bit of additional traffic in the form of family and friends, acquaintances and even complete strangers. Pretty much all of that “traffic” is generated by words, even though many of them are accompanied by pictures. Social influences on consumer behavior can come from many sources, including:
• Online recommendations.
• Online comments on social forums.
• Recommendations from family and friends.
• Private conversations.
• Casual comments or overheard conversations.
• Behavior and choices of celebrities or influencers.
Note what they all have in common: words. Well-placed words drive sales and sharing on social media. Perhaps one of the most important business uses of these words is the data that can be gleaned from customers’ conversations, especially online. With this data, the agile restaurant owner can pivot to match consumer preferences in the data.
The next three data collection methods offer opportunities to mine data, in the own words of customers. When aggregated, they provide a step-by-step plan for marketing and business operations.
• Customer feedback: Customer comments reveal issues and requests. Read and respond to customers’ social posts and consider going the old-fashioned way by placing comment cards on every table in your restaurant.
• Reviews and opinions: Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Google are three popular sites that allow customers to express their opinions. Some third-party websites hire people to review brands and give their unbiased opinions. These can be helpful in collecting data about what people really think about the company.
• Surveys: Consider creating online surveys to gather consumer opinion in a light-hearted way. Facebook polls are a simple tool for measuring consumer interest; for example, when planning a menu upgrade, ask which dishes would like followers on the menu. There may be some surprises.
Always use words to tell your brand story when it comes to building a successful marketing campaign. And remember to take your customers’ words to heart and use them when making business decisions. The adage may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but words provide context that helps you and your customers get the most out of every picture.
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Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.