Be the Best at Marketing Your Ghost Kitchen
In the ever-evolving landscape of the food industry, ghost kitchens emerged a few years ago as a revolutionary concept, transforming the way food is prepared, marketed, and delivered. The pessimist argues that they’re not here to stay and the optimist believes it’s just the beginning of an entirely new model made possible through digital marketing, unique operations, commercial kitchens, and technology.
These virtual restaurants operate without the traditional brick-and-mortar setup, leveraging online platforms and delivery services to reach customers directly. However, in a market inundated with options, mastering the art of marketing your ghost kitchen is essential to stand out and thrive. The popular marketplaces like UberEats and DoorDash that so many of these ghost kitchens rely on are constantly changing their platforms and prioritizing the visibility of different concepts over another for a variety of reasons. We’ll get into it more later in this blog post, but the lesson lies in building traffic to your concept outside of what comes from third-party delivery marketplaces.
The fact that you’re here means you probably already know what a ghost kitchen is, but just in case we’ll use the term ‘ghost kitchen’ throughout this post, but it’s common to also refer to these restaurants as virtual kitchens, cloud kitchens, or even dark kitchens. The common feature throughout is that these are delivery-based models that do not have a dine-in space. The ability to quickly open a ghost kitchen through a rented space in a commercial kitchen drastically reduces launch time and expenses so that you can get your menu out there even faster. Additionally, a lack of dine-in space means less overhead costs overall.
But enough about that – let’s jump into how you can be the best at marketing your ghost kitchen.
Your Menu is Your Ghost Kitchen’s #1 Marketing Tool
A great ghost kitchen starts with a small but mighty menu. Don’t get bogged down (and in turn bog your customer down) with a ton of different choices. Start with a small menu that zeroes in on what you do best (and it better travel well!).
Since ghost kitchens don’t have dine-in spaces, you don’t have a captive audience that’s looking to peruse the menu and find what they like. Instead, you’re one menu on a 3rd party delivery marketplace next to hundreds and you’re trying to satisfy a craving! Show your audience why you’re unique.
The benefits of a simple menu will extend to your bottom line by minimizing waste and quality complaints. That means more dollars to spend on advertising (more on this later).
Last but not least, a unique menu is something people like to talk about and a perfect-looking entree is something people like to post on social media. You can get people talking about you by focusing on what you do best and not getting distracted by other less popular items. Remember that on all delivery platforms people have the ability to review and rate your items – by limiting the number of items to only what you do best you can watch the reviews and ratings pile up – making it only that more convincing to the customer that that’s what they want.
Create a Memorable Brand for Your Ghost Kitchen
Creating an amazing brand usually starts with asking yourself a lot of questions.
Questions like:
What audience am I targeting?
How do I set myself apart from competition targeting that same market?
What do I want my brand to value?
What commitments will we make as a brand? Or what lines would we never cross (in food quality, service, etc.)?
What’s our brand’s personality? Funny? Honest? Tongue and cheek?
The list goes on and on but they’re important questions to answer. From there you can start to craft your brand identity based on what it is that you want to be and what you value. You start to narrow in how you show up. For example, if you’re committed to only using sustainable products, you will probably not have a styrofoam container for your food. Or if you’re a brand that’s focused on only the freshest ingredients then you’re probably not going to have your website’s homepage showing off pre-packaged goods.
From the moment your brand is introduced to a new customer, every touchpoint thereafter has the opportunity to strengthen or dilute their opinion of the brand. That’s why it’s worth the time and effort to think it through because it will find its way into all of your marketing efforts and brand touchpoints.
Build a User-Friendly, Mobile-First Website
Your website serves as the digital storefront for your ghost kitchen – truly your digital (and only) real estate. While 3rd party delivery marketplaces will create awareness and bring in new customers, it also comes with a hit to your profitability because of commissions. The best way to counteract that is to make it easy for people to order directly from your website.
Make sure they know about the benefits of ordering directly from you after that first order. Use a bagstuffer. A sticker on your packaging. An offer. Give them a reason to go direct next time.
In building your website, remember that the number one action you want visitors to take is placing an order. It sounds simple, but it’s easy to get distracted with different pages and telling your story versus making it easy for the guest to order above all else. Tackle that first and then move on to larger storytelling where it makes sense.
Think mobile first. A larger majority of guests will be visiting your website on a mobile device even though you’re most likely building it on a computer. The wide display area can be misleading and create a mobile experience that feels like endless scrolling.
Harness the Power of Social Media for Your Ghost Kitchen
Social media platforms are invaluable tools for marketing your ghost kitchen and engaging with your target audience. Establish a presence on popular platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, and regularly post content that showcases your menu offerings, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your kitchen, and customer reviews.
People eat with their eyes – while quantity is good, don’t sacrifice quality for it. Take time to make a GIF of the burger instead of just a static image. Or getting the right lighting on a batch of loaded tots instead of the first dark and grainy photo you shoot. Overall, instead of thinking about quality and quantity, think about how you can maintain quality and consistency. Better to post an amazing photo every week versus 10 one week and none the next.
Quality content will result in engagement. After all – social media is meant to be social. Don’t miss the opportunity to engage with people engaging with you online in your brand voice. Far too often a comment or question goes left unanswered. If you truly want to make your social handles a part of your ghost kitchen’s digital strategy then you need to make sure you’re paying attention to it. Find the balance or carve out 15 minutes a day to check in on any comments or questions online.
Finally – especially as you’re just starting your ghost kitchen – it can be extremely valuable to spend a small budget on social media advertising. This opens you up to a wider audience based on the demographics you’d like to target. It can be as simple as boosting a post with a few targeting levers to pull or something much more in-depth in Meta Ads manager for example. It doesn’t take a massive budget to make an impact if you’re clear about your goals and what you hope to achieve.
Implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques
SEO will always feel more technical then it needs to. The gist is that you want your ghost kitchen to be easy for a search engine to find in response to a search/query by a user.
Here’s a simplified take:
Someone in your delivery area searches “ramen near me”
Google/Bing have crawled pages with word “ramen” and immediately share back results
You appear on or higher on the list based on your site’s relevancy
This thinking should be incorporated into your website creation so that you can integrate relevant keywords naturally into your website. Your menu is the greatest opportunity and it’s important not to overlook the value of product descriptions or having people review specific items directly on your website.
Another practical yet powerful way to implement SEO best practices is to ensure that your ghost kitchen is listed on all relevant directories. Google Business Manager is number one and the most important, but Yelp, YellowPages, and others serve their purpose as well and give you a chance to show up in more searches that you would otherwise potentially miss.
Create Opportunities to Cross Promote Your Ghost Kitchen
New news is good news. As your ghost kitchen begins to establish itself, a unique way to offer exciting news about your product to new audiences is through cross-promotion. It might be a local kombucha paired with one of your bowls or a one-of-a-kind dessert from a local baker paired with an entree.
The right collaboration gives both brands a reason to talk about it on their channels and generates awareness for both parties involved. These types of partnerships take time to come to life, but it can prove to be extremely valuable and open up future opportunities more organically. There is however education required to your audience – don’t overlook the time it will take to promote the offering.
Sometimes we’re tricked into thinking it will only take a few posts or a single email, but the reality is that marketing often requires 7-8 touches before messaging impacts the consumer or influences a decision. If you see success with this approach, start to pace them out into the future so that you and your partner have ample time to promote it.
Being the Best Means Being Consistent
The tactics we shared here are not a secret. In fact, you can bet that every one of your competitors will be trying to do them as well. Where people fall short is in being consistent. When the results aren’t what we want at first pass many give up and don’t try again. Others, even though they’ve seen success, get wrapped up in other responsibilities and weeks go by before they come back to a working tactic.
Make the commitment to yourself that marketing is a part of your ghost kitchen and overall operations – not a nice-to-have – and you will have success.
Whether you are a seasoned chef looking to launch your own culinary venture or an aspiring entrepreneur with a unique concept, commercial kitchens offer a dynamic and supportive environment for turning your food dreams into reality and we would love to have you take a tour of one of our facilities today!