10 Actionable Marketing Strategies for Food Delivery Businesses Online

Today, the internet makes it easier for people, to find and order food from restaurants near them. Last year alone, people ordered over 60 billion dollars worth of food.

If you own a restaurant, your goal is to get as many new customers in the door as possible, to beat your rivals. But how do you reach these potential diners?

In this guide, we will walk you through some easy steps on how to promote your restaurant delivery business online. We will also show you why this marketing strategy for food businesses online can be a great way to reach more customers without spending a ton of money on marketing or advertising.

Let’s explore how you can market your online food delivery business with these strategies.

1. Optimize your site for local search
2. Place an order button on your website's homepage
3. Offer online ordering on your restaurant's site
4. Optimize your online food business sites for search engines
5. Develop a social media strategy to market your food business
6. Post on local review sites
7. Consider how much to charge for delivery
8. Promote your discounts and deals
9. Make sure to have a high-quality website
10. Email Marketing is a MUST!

Top 10 Marketing Strategies for Food Delivery Businesses Online

1.     Optimize your Site for Local Search

Restaurant owners need to optimize their websites for both Google and Yelp! That will help their food delivery business rank higher in the search engines, making it easier for potential diners to find them easily.

Every restaurant should also have a section for online orders, on their menu, especially when offering delivery or takeout. That will save significant time and allow customers to find all options easily.

2.     Place an Order Button on Your Website's Homepage

Now you can easily accept delivery orders from your website. Using an in-house online ordering system, you get complete control over the entire process, thereby keeping all profits for yourself. Not to mention, accepting orders via phone is risky because there is a chance human error could occur. But with a simple order button on this page, it will be easy as pie!

3.     Offer Online Ordering on Your Restaurant's Site

Customers are always on the lookout for easy ways to order online. Let’s face it, the entire process is convenient, and most people don't feel like picking up the phone when they know exactly what they want.

Many smartphone users won’t bother calling your restaurant to have that initial conversation about your menu. Instead, they would go to your website to look for an online menu.

Fortunately, you've got plenty of options to accept online orders from your website!

Here’s how.

In-house Online Ordering

You want to make sure your online food delivery business is set up for success. That means offering an in-house system so you can keep all those delicious profits for yourself! An in-house online ordering system takes the costs out of the process. There's no need to pay a 3rd party if you have the skills to build it yourself.

Delivery Aggregators

Delivery aggregators are services for handling all the complicated tasks of your restaurant business. For example, payment processing and delivery coordination. Basically, you are just an online food business with a menu, listed on their platform. The only downside is that they will take a cut of your profits on all orders.

Mobile Apps

You don't have to go crazy with your online food delivery business, trying to do everything yourself. Sometimes it's better to focus on the part you're best at and let others handle the rest! A popular way for restaurants to do this is by using mobile apps such as GrubHub, Eat24, UberEATS, etc.

4.     Optimize your Online Food Business Sites for Search Engines

Restaurant owners should optimize their online food business site for search engines to help people find their location and menu. If someone is searching for a restaurant in your area, you want them to be able to find yours!

A major goal for any business owner is to increase their page ranking on search engines. This goal can be achieved by creating engaging and valuable content, to gain natural backlinks and improve your page ranking.

Typically, people who look for a great place to eat, search for the best options online. The restaurants that are ranking on the top of SERPs will naturally get more traffic.

Since people want to find information quickly and easily, restaurant businesses should employ proper SEO techniques. Search Engine Optimization can help you stand out against your competitors who aren't using SEO tactics. Ranking high in search engines for popular keywords will help drive traffic to your site.

5.     Develop a Social Media Strategy to Market Your Food Business

Using social media as part of a marketing strategy is no longer an option for businesses. It's a necessity.

For your business to be successful, you need a social media marketing plan!

When it comes to online food delivery services, you must create a strategy for each platform (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok) that is right for your restaurant.

For example, you wouldn't use Instagram and Facebook in the same way because they have different demographics and content that's best for each platform.

Here are three things you should keep in mind when developing a social media strategy:

Know your Audience

This is important because it helps you determine which platforms to focus on and how to engage with customers via social media, appropriately. For example, if most of your target market falls in the 35-45 age bracket, it's best to focus on LinkedIn.

Keep your Posts Interesting

People don't want to see a sales pitch, every time they visit your social media pages. Mix up your content so that it's appealing and easy for users to skim through when they are scrolling through their feed! A great way of doing this is by posting an image, a link to your website, a video, or a GIF.

By doing so, you will a variety of content to your users and increased the likelihood that they will read your entire posts.

Post at Optimal Times

Conduct research to find out when your target market is most active on social media! For example, you may find that your audience tends to check Instagram in the morning, before work or during their lunch break. Make sure to post links or images when they're most likely to see them! A couple of free tools can help you determine when it's best to post. For instance, Social Report and MavSocia can provide useful insights.

6.     Post on Local Review Sites

Once you launch your online food delivery service, you want to get the word out there so more people can know about it. Since more than half of all online consumers trust customer reviews, encourage your customers to rate your business on TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc.

When writing a description for your food delivery business, remember to be as descriptive as possible and add your menu option. People like short, sweet, and concise company profiles. Offer them some interesting tidbits about your business or your daily specials and entice them to place an order!

Read Also: How to Respond to Negative Restaurant Reviews - The Ultimate Guide

7.     Choose the Right Delivery Pricing Strategy

Another way to attract customers is by setting a price point that works with their budgets. If you are starting out, prepare your favorite dishes and figure out how much you'd like to earn from each dish. As your business flourishes with time, you can start adding a little bit of extra profits to each item. Factor in the cost of delivery when deciding on your menu prices.

Once everything has been accounted for, you should have a pretty good idea of how much to charge for each dish on your online food delivery menu. Make sure that the prices are competitive with nearby restaurants!

8.     Promote your Discounts and Deals

If people know about all the great deals, they can place an order with your restaurant and continue to come back for more! That means you need to be proactive and promote unique restaurant ideas on all popular social media platforms.

For example, if you're offering a special deal like free delivery on orders over $20, make sure to let people know about it! You can even produce short videos for creating a hype about a special order and make people aware of your current deals.

9.     Create a High-Quality Website

If you want to attract more customers, then you must have a good website! Consumers are impressionable, so if your website is outdated and clunky, that will reflect poorly on your restaurant. You don't want to lose customers because you have a bad website, so make sure it's in tip-top shape before launching one of the best food delivery services in town.

You should also invest in professional photography for your website. Having high-quality and mouthwatering photos of your dishes will convince potential diners that your food is worth every cent.

10.  Email Marketing is a MUST!

One of the most effective ways to market your online food delivery service is by using email marketing. Sending out special offers, discounts, and reminders to customers via email can help you ensure that they know you exist and are reminded about what makes your restaurant so great. You should also make it easier for customers to contact you if they need anything or have any questions.

Read Also: 10+ Restaurant Newsletter Ideas for a More Engaged Customer Base

Bottom Line

As you can see, there are many ways to market your online food delivery service effectively. You need to be aware of the different strategies and then find what is best suited for your business. Once you’ve done this, all you have left to do is implement them to achieve success! An effective marketing strategy for a food delivery business will help grow revenue and customer base, which means more money coming in with less work on your part.