30 Sep Why All In One Website Platforms Can Cost Restaurant Owners

All in one websites seem like a great idea on the surface. After all, having everything in one place is ideal for efficiency’s sake, right? Not necessarily – read on for 3 reasons why all in one platforms may not be the best option for your restaurant or bar.

What Are You Paying For?

All in one website platforms offer everything from review management to email marketing to online ordering to social media planning in addition to their websites. While this may seem like the best option, you are paying a premium for this convenience. Many of these platforms require a percentage of online sales in addition to their subscription costs of over $100 or more a month. Additionally, many restaurant owners that we have worked with are already paying for several of these services via their POS systems.

For things such as customer journey tracking (read more about that in our previous blog here) the right POS system will be able to track all customers, not just ones that order online or interact with your website. This is the better option as it follows your customers from the first time they order, through the ordering process, & beyond. The main difference is that they never have to touch your digital presence in order for this tracking to occur and a POS can track habits such as frequency of order, most ordered menu items, etc. to give you the best profile of the individual customer as well as general trends.

Too Robust?

When a restaurant is just starting out, owners have to juggle a million balls in the air to just get the doors open, not to mention the start up cost, employee acquisition, menu creation, & general operations. Many do not have the funds to shell out thousands of dollars for marketing aspects that they may not be ready for.

For instance, if you own a restaurant that just opened then you probably do not have a large database of customers for email marketing. So why pay for a robust tracking and management system? This is also true for aspects such as reputation management. Yes, it is nice to be able to answer reviews in one place, but is it really that bad to log in to Yelp or Google a few times a week?

While both of these examples are very important in terms of long-term growth and marketing strategy, many newer or single operation eateries simply do not have the volume or budget to justify the expense of having these systems aggregated.

From our experience, the better route is to invest in a POS system that has these marketing aspects as add on options that can grow with your business, instead of buying the full package up front and underutilizing the features provided with all in one sites.

Proprietary Features

Another reason to not choose an all in one website platform is that you are beholden to their proprietary systems. You cannot transfer a website that has been built through them and in some cases, you cannot access or take with you aspects such as reviews or customer journey funnels.

We have seen this time and again with restaurants looking to consolidate their marketing expenses and have to break the news that they basically have to start from scratch in order to eliminate this large expense or continue to pay hundreds of dollars a month.

What is the Better Option for Small Restaurants?

While every restaurant, owner, & situation is different, we generally recommend those who are just starting out or run a smaller operation to piecemeal their marketing. Again, there is no need for aspects such as email marketing if you have no customer database nor is there a need for a robust social media planner if you are just going to post from your phone.

Generally speaking, it is recommended for any business to spend 3-6% of its sales budget on marketing ventures in order to achieve growth. These funds could be better spent on aspects such as paid advertising (read our blog on Yelp Advertising ROI here) or content creation to showcase what makes your business unique & drive followers to your business via social media.

By placing funds into marketing campaigns instead of software that you may not be using or be ready to invest in, you are focusing on building up that customer base of regulars & followers that will be your ‘bread and butter’. Once this has been achieved, then an updated marketing plan can be discussed and executed to reach more patrons & add ons such as email marketing, loyalty programs, etc. can be incorporated.

Overwhelmed With the Digital Side of Running a Restaurant?

Long gone are the days where mom & pop’s can survive or thrive without some kind of online presence. In the post pandemic era, it is expected that conveniences such as online ordering will be available from even the smallest of eateries. Consumers expect to be able to find your menu, read reviews about your restaurant, & follow you on social media and many of this generation will simply skip over an establishment if they cannot find any information about them.

So how do you compete with the big guys? By hiring a digital marketing company to manage all aspects of your digital presence. Embark Marketing has 14 years of experience with clients exclusively in the food and beverage industry. We have seen every situation, from brands stuck in the past and needing to update their presence in order to stay competitive to start up food trucks and everything in between.

We offer several marketing packages & website options that can work with any budget or situation and offer tailored solutions to each of our clients. Contact us today for more information on our services and a complimentary assessment of your restaurant.