10 Tips on How to Use AI in Restaurant Marketing

According to a National Restaurant Association survey, 16% of restaurant operators plan to invest in artificial intelligence over the coming year. Although machine learning solutions can help food and beverage businesses in everything from food prep to inventory management, its impact on marketing strategy is especially significant.

If you’re not sure how to leverage this new technology, our article explains how to use AI in restaurant marketing by outlining the top 10 benefits. Once you have a better understanding of the possibilities, you’ll be better equipped to use it for your business’s needs.

Personalize Marketing & Remarketing

An EMarketer.com article cites recent restaurant survey data revealing that 33% of operators are using artificial intelligence for personalized marketing and remarketing efforts. By customizing menu suggestions based on past orders, sending abandoned cart emails for would-be customers or even minimizing customer churn by placating diners who seem frustrated, artificial intelligence makes customized marketing faster and more effective.

Utilize AI Chatbots 

No article on how to use AI in restaurant marketing would be complete without mentioning chatbots. From processing orders and taking reservations to giving suggestions and addressing complaints, these chatbots can improve the customer experience by solving problems efficiently with human-like interactions. This is sure to make a good impression with your guests, increasing the likelihood that they’ll visit your restaurant again in the future.

Conduct Market Research

Artificial intelligence can also gather and analyze information on market conditions. Whether you need to evaluate your closest competitors in the area or identify customer segments within your own clientele, AI makes the job of finding and analyzing data a lot faster and easier, giving you the information you need to craft more effective marketing strategies.

Perform Competitive Analysis

Although carrying out restaurant competitive analysis can be difficult, AI makes the job a lot easier. By scanning competitors’ websites, social media and online reviews, machine learning programs can create a report that benchmarks your establishment to others based on menu offerings, food costs, customer feedback and other standards. In fact, the algorithm may even be able to identify specific weaknesses, such as your main competitor’s overpriced desserts, so that you can develop marketing strategies to take advantage of their vulnerability.

Monitor Online Reviews

According to a Lomain.ai article, AI-powered online feedback analysis uses tools like natural language processing (NLP) and topic modeling to analyze reviews on sites such as Yelp, Google and social media in order to identify issues such as unpopular dishes, cleanliness concerns and service complaints quickly and easily. In addition, the algorithm can even pick up on changes in customer sentiment in the reviews, altering you to new competitor weaknesses that you can use to your advantage.

Write Menu Descriptions

In addition to providing analysis, you can also use AI for more creative purposes, such as when writing menu descriptions. For example, if you’re having trouble thinking of attention-getting adjectives for your signature burger or homemade cake, programs such as ChatGPT can help you overcome writers’ block and find the right words to describe your food. AI can also find small typos and grammar mistakes in your copy, helping you polish the descriptions before publishing them.

Create Engaging Content

If you’re looking for more ways to use AI in restaurant marketing, know that it can make creating content faster and easier. With the right prompt, it can write promotional emails, photo captions and even video scripts. Although this copy will require human review before use, leveraging machine learning to do the bulk of the work will save you and your staff a ton of time.

Manage Social Media

In order to lighten your workload even more, consider using AI social media tools to manage your restaurant’s social media. Programs such as ContentStudio, Vista Social and others allow you to schedule posts and view analytics all in one place so that you don’t have to waste time on clicking through various accounts, freeing up time and energy for other tasks.

Leverage Predictive Analytics

AI can also help with marketing efforts by using predictive analytics to make your restaurant’s operations more efficient. From regression models that predict sales of certain dishes to time series models that estimate demand during peak periods, artificial intelligence can help restaurants eliminate unpopular dishes and allocate staff appropriately, making the business more streamlined and profitable.

Optimize Food Delivery

Artificial intelligence can also make a big impact in food delivery. Besides taking online orders and providing customer service, using AI in food delivery can allow your restaurant to optimize driver routes, implement dynamic pricing and even ensure food safety, all of which not only improve business operations but also enhance customer satisfaction.