Before starting to spend money for a high position in Google search, make sure you've nailed the basics for the free and organic listings on Google:
Verifying Google My Business (GMB) for your restaurant
Optimize your website for search engine keywords (contact your webmaster if you need more information)
Basics are done? ✅
Great. So, keep on reading. Below is a detailed guide on what needs to be done to promote your restaurant with Google Ads.
1. Set up your tracking system
The mistake many restaurants are making is setting up Google Ads without a proper tracking and measurement system. This has two major downsides.
You cannot measure properly the conversion of your ads. You don't want to know how many clicks you got from the ads but you want to know how many purchases, what is your cost per purchase, and return on investment. Simply put we will make sure you get the answer to the question below:
"When I invest 1$ on Google how many $ do I get back in sales?"
This is often forgotten but it's maybe the most important part of a proper tracking system: Learn from your best customers. Google and Facebook have created advertising systems that are learning from the data you send them. This means, that the more information about your perfect customer you share with them, the better they will be at finding new people who can become your customers. With that in mind, it's no surprise that implementing a proper tracking system is a must, as over time your ads performance gets better, your cost per order decreases and your return on investment goes up.
To make sure your tracking is properly implemented you will need to use a combination of the three main Google tools: Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Google Ads.
2. Set up must-have ads
As a restaurant, your marketing budget is likely limited so you want to make sure you spend your money on the type of ads with the highest chance of success. We have managed thousands of campaigns for restaurants and boiled down your must-have campaigns to three types.
Your brand name keywords: You want to make sure that when people search for your restaurant's name they find you first. How frustrating it is when they end up on a third-party website where you would pay a commission for a customer who already loves your restaurant.
Keywords related to your restaurant: the volume of searches is usually not high but very qualified. People searching for "Best sushi for delivery" or "Great pizza for takeaway" are ready to buy. That said, they have not yet decided from whom. You want to make sure they come to you.
Retargeting ads: It happened to all of us. We discover a nice brand. We visit their website. We like their products. But we suddenly get interrupted or we're not ready to buy now and we leave the website without letting any information that would let the business reach back to us. In that scenario, retargeting ads are a very powerful tool. They let you reach back to your visitors and remind them you exist so next time they can order from you.
Make sure your must-have ads are implemented properly before exploring any additional ad formats (display, YouTube, etc.).
3. Optimization
Your ads are live. You start to get good results. What's next? This is where optimization comes into play.
Out of the keywords you decided to bet on, which one is driving most of the results? Which is costing you money but doesn't convert? Are there any new trends or keywords you should bet on?
Optimization is a weekly if not daily work that needs to be managed to make sure your money is always spent wisely.