The menu is the focal point of your restaurant, the best sales tool in your arsenal. Since guests already pay attention to it, why not take the opportunity to optimize your menu descriptions and pull customers’ interests one way or another?
Make the menu sound enticing without getting too wordy. People don’t want to read paragraphs about a simple spaghetti in tomato sauce. Find small ways to indicate dishes’ quality in a way that customers can still quickly scan to find what they want, and profits will increase up to 15%. You just need to strike the right balance.
Menu Descriptions Matter More Than You Think
Considering what an important role the menu plays in guest decisions, of course it affects how people view your brand. Each menu description should emphasize what makes it unique and better than similar choices at a competitor. Give customers a satisfactory first experience; then they feel more encouraged to return again for the same great time.
Nevertheless, authenticity and transparency matters; don’t oversell what you can’t deliver. Incorporating photos can help. By including high-resolution pictures of certain dishes, you’ll get their mouths watering without ever taking a bite.
Good menu descriptions increase revenue, too. Just a few extra words can encourage customers to try sides or add drinks that they didn’t consider. It doesn’t cost too much time to update a menu once in exchange for long-term profit growth.
Improving Your Menu Descriptions
Considering the importance of good menu descriptions to the overall health of the business, you need to know how to accurately market your dishes to sway guests without overwhelming them. Maybe try…
References to where you got the ingredients, particularly if you bought them locally. Seafood, for example, sounds better if it’s been imported off the coast of Maine rather than just saying, “crab legs in garlic butter.”
Cross-promoting with your suppliers. Get their names out in exchange for them passing your restaurant along to other people they do business with.
Relying on the senses. Provoke interest by exciting customers’ taste and smell with your descriptors.
This is another place where pictures come in handy. High quality photos with appealing plating and a nice backdrop will set your dishes up for a nice shoot, as long as you use your actual food for accurate advertising.
Smart Business Decisions
Now you’re ready to reengineer your menu for optimized efficiency. Remember to use simple, straightforward language to convey what’s unique about each item.
For the finishing touch, make sure your menu works across all ordering channels. Pay close attention to the ones your loyal audience rely on the most: Mobile and online ordering has blown up in recent years and will continue to play a huge role in takeout and delivery moving forward. To provide the best service, you need superior restaurant technology.
