7 Successful Restaurant Marketing Strategies in Kenya
The restaurant industry in Kenya is highly competitive, with new eateries opening up regularly.
As a restaurant owner, implementing the right marketing strategies is crucial for standing out and attracting customers consistently.
This blog post will provide an overview of key marketing tactics and recommendations tailored to the Kenyan restaurant market.
Table of Contents
Understand Your Target Audience
The foundation of any marketing strategy is understanding exactly who you want to reach with your messaging. As a restaurant, consider questions such as:
- Demographics – Age, income level, family status, etc
- Psychographics – Lifestyle, values, interests of target customers
- Behavior – How often they dine out, what motivates their decisions, spending habits
Conduct market research through surveys, interviews, and online listening to determine your ideal customer profile.
This will allow you to craft content and offers tailored to their preferences.
Some common target groups for restaurants include:
- Young professionals
- Families
- University students
- Tourists
Knowing the characteristics and motivations of your best customers will enable you to make smarter decisions across your marketing channels to maximize relevance and engagement.
Utilize Social Media
In today’s digital era, social media platforms present invaluable opportunities to build awareness, interact with customers, and drive traffic to your restaurant.
As the most used platform in Kenya, Facebook should be central to your social media approach:
- Create a Facebook Business Page to represent your brand
- Share photos of dishes, the restaurant interior, and special events
- Highlight promotions and new menu items
- Respond to all customer reviews and messages
The visually-focused nature of Instagram also provides engaging marketing potential:
- Post attractive photos of food, decor, and ambiance using relevant hashtags
- Partner with local influencers to create sponsored content
- Run contests and encourage user-generated content featuring your brand
- Leverage Instagram Stories to give behind-the-scenes looks at daily operations
Using a strategic combination of organic content and paid promotions on social can significantly boost your restaurant’s visibility and following in Kenya.
Focus on Search Engine Optimization
One of the most cost-effective strategies to boost organic visibility is search engine optimization (SEO). The goal of SEO is to have your website pages and content appear higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant queries.
As a restaurant owner, essential areas to optimize include:
Website Content
- Target important keywords (e.g. “Nairobi restaurants”, “affordable buffet”) in title tags, headers, content
- Create location pages tailored to suburbs and regions
- Publish blog articles focused on popular food topics
Reviews
- Actively request and monitor reviews on Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor
- Respond professionally to any negative feedback
Google Business Profile
- Completely fill out your business profile on Google including images, menus, contact details
- Enable direct ordering, reservations, or table booking if applicable
Investing in SEO as an ongoing strategy can hugely expand your discoverability both online and in local searches.
Loyalty Programs
Offering loyalty programs or rewards can increase customer retention and repeat visits. Some options include:
- Punch cards – Customers earn a stamp with each order. After X number, they get a free meal, dessert, or discount
- Referral rewards – Encourage customers to invite friends by offering a free dish or bonus for both parties
- Birthday specials – Give a complimentary dessert, extra side, or special discount to celebrate birthdays
- Tiered programs – Big spenders can achieve “Gold” or “Platinum” status for expanded benefits
The specific program can be tailored based on your restaurant format and budget. The key is providing incentives that resonate with your patrons.
Menu & Pricing Strategies
Your menu and pricing model also represent opportunities to drive traffic and calibrate to demand:
Limited-Time Offers
Create buzz and urgency by offering seasonal, monthly, or rotating special dishes. This can attract both new and returning diners excited to try the latest offerings.
Happy Hours
Offer discounts on select appetizers and drinks during slower periods to generate traffic. Adjust hours and selections based on periods with lower occupancy.
Budget-Friendly Options
Be sure to have some wallet-friendly dishes under a certain price point like student specials. Catering to a wide range of budgets makes your restaurant accessible to more customers.
Continually experiment with these strategies to gather data on customer response based on your location, concept, and target demographic. Adapting intelligently over time is key.
Partner with Delivery Services
On-demand delivery platforms like Glovo, Uber Eats, and Jumia Food are enormously popular in the Kenya market.
Getting your restaurant featured on these sites makes your menu items instantly shoppable to a huge customer base.
If you have the operations to support delivery, aggressively focusing on this channel can become a significant revenue stream. Ensure menus are up-to-date across all platforms. Run occasional discounts or bundles exclusive to delivery orders as well.
The convenience and reach of these services make them a customer acquisition strategy well worth investing in.
Key Takeaways
- Conduct market research to define your target demographic and fine-tune your positioning
- Build your presence on key social platforms like Facebook and Instagram
- Optimize website content for search visibility with SEO best practices
- Loyalty programs encourage repeat business and higher customer lifetime value
- Feature limited-time offers and budget meals to attract diverse diners
- Partner with delivery apps like Glovo and Jumia to make ordering seamless
