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Restaurant industry upbeat for 2017; big year for digital marketing

April 24, 2017

This year promises to be a lucrative one for the restaurant industry, according to the Toast Restaurant POS "Restaurant Success in 2017 Industry Report," which takes an inside look at restaurant owners' strategies for this year. Toast compiled data from a cross section of 450 fast casual, fine dining, diners, pizzerias, cafes/bakeries/delis and bars/nightclubs to understand how they view 2017, including key points of optimism, concern and strategic opportunity.   

This year's optimism contrasts with less than stellar performances in recent years.

The good news: 92 percent of restaurant owners are optimistic about 2017, and 87 percent believe the success of their restaurant is in their control.

Only 6 percent of fast casual restaurants indicated any level of pessimism about their success this year. About 12 percent of fine dining restaurants are pessimistic about restaurant success in 2017 —more than any other kind of restaurant.

Most restaurants, regardless of concept, are optimistic for their success, specifically bars and pizzerias. 43 percent of respondents in both categories reported being "very optimistic" for their sales this year. 2017 is proving to be a "recovery year" for independent pizzerias after regaining some traction against the bigger players in the business.

With menu integrations on Facebook, food pics on Instagram and the timeliness of Snapchat, mastering social media is key to interacting with current customers and reaching new ones in 2017.

With 74 percent, Facebook takes the lead as the most-used social networking site by restaurants. Instagram is a distant second with 18 percent.

The social media channel that has the most growth potential for the industry is YouTube. 28 percent of restaurants reported their intention to start using this platform in 2017. While YouTube still isn't used by most restaurants, more stated their intention to start using it in 2017 than any other channel.

Year of digital marketing

2017 will be the year of digital marketing for restaurants. Social media ads will see an increase of 20 percent while search engine ads will see a 36 increase percent compared to historical ad spend. Areas of decreased spend will be direct mail (6 percent decrease) and TV ads (34 percent decrease).

The following technologies will be making their way into restaurants across the country, as restaurateurs admitted that they plan on adopting these technologies in 2017: loyalty, 24 percent; online ordering, 24 percent; mobile payment, 23 percent; restaurant apps, 23 percent; and text messaging/SMS database, 22 percent.

The results show a disconnect between restaurant owners' and restaurant goers' outlook towards newer restaurant technology. Restaurateurs bridging this disconnect are positioning themselves to gain a steady advantage over those who are slower to adopt these features.

• 41 percent of restaurants have (or will soon have) server handheld tablets, while 68 percent of diners agree they improve their experience.

• 19 percent of restaurants have (or will soon have) tabletop tablets, while 52 percent of diners agree they improve their experience.

• 13 percent have (or will soon have) self-order kiosks, while 65 percent of diners will use them sometimes or every time they are available.

Photo: iStock