by digitalplus | Mar 18, 2020 | Technology
In conversation with Vinay Reddy founder Dhamaka
With regards to the marketing of your restaurant Dhamaka, what changes you undertook and the reason for the switch from a digital marketing agency to Digitalplus24x7?
Before digital plus, we had a Bristol-based marketing agency that
was handling our business through the launch period in terms of PR and digital
marketing. Unfortunately, we did not get the desired results and the tactics
didn’t for our launch didn’t work and received a lukewarm response which led us
to make the change.
After that, I became skeptical of choosing any other digital agency to handle my business. As soon as I contacted Digitalplus24x7, I was put at ease within a few weeks of the switch over. Digitalplus24x7 has been handling my business for almost a year now and I have started to notice some dramatic changes in my business.
Considering the fierce competition in today’s business world, how would you highlight the competitive advantages of digital plus?
Their
services have really helped my business to reach where it is today. The
out-of-the-box strategies, creative artwork, and promotions on social media are
some things that I would like to mention. I am equally pleased with their
digital team who take the feedback on the artworks very positively and work
around the requirements.
Importantly their turn around time and responsiveness to business needs has been critical for business results.
What do you think sets Digitalplus24x7 apart from the rest of the advertising world? And how their strategies have brought positive changes to your business?
Digitalplus24x7 has played an important role in shaping what we today. Be it positive or negative, there is always feedback, discussions and talks about even the minute detail that could affect the profitability of the business.
Sachin, from Digitalplus24x7, has acted as an extended arm of our restaurant who gives his genuine inputs even sometimes it is not something you wish to hear. Even the artwork done by their digital team has been done very professionally and with good detail thoughts put into it.
Had your company made any recent changes to improve your business practices and profitability?
As a restaurant business, we treat marketing an important aspect of business that cannot be used on an ad hoc basis but part and parcel of our business. We have been using and will continue to the services of Digitalplus24x7 as we have witnessed a positive impact on my business. Sachin, from digital plus, has a wealth of knowledge and knows the ins and outs of the marketing with his close association in the restaurant industry he can understand things in an operator’s point of view.
They’ve got
the right understanding of how the strategic elements work and what right for a
business that eventually helps in increasing the profits.
Based on your experience, do you have anything to say about digital plus?
I cannot recommend Digitalplus24x7 enough. My experience with Digitalplus24x7 overall has been a pleasant one. They would be a good support to any business in the restaurant industry and I cannot but strongly recommend the restaurant business.
by digitalplus | Oct 22, 2019 | Food
Smoke & Dough: An exciting new BBQ experience coming your way
Smoke and Dough a new restaurant is all set to open in Liverpool One on 25th October. The grill on-the-table concept in itself is very interesting and covers a variety of delectable culinary treats that will surely take you for a lip-smacking barbeque experience.
Smoke and Dough, a new American-Italian restaurant is all set to open at Liverpool One on 25th October. This 7,000sq ft restaurant showcases a new and unique Barbeque concept, unlike others. The tables around here have a grill in the centre of the tables, where the food is cooked on the table and served directly onto your plate.
The dining room of the restaurant has a total of 150 covers and another 50 in the bar area. The expansive menu covers a range of bread, pizza, salads, cold meat, and vegetables served with dips and there’s just as much variety for vegetarians too.
Another big highlight of the place is the cocktail menu, from their impressive selection of wines to a mixologist bringing the city’s finest cocktails on your table.
Chef Deepak Bahuguna, the co-founder of Smoke & Dough said, “We’re thoroughly excited to be opening our first restaurant in the thriving Liverpool One. There are already many great options for dining at Liverpool One and we believe our new concept will be well received as it’s different, fun and offers quality and value for money perfectly suited for families and shoppers.”
There is a chance you can avail a free meal at Smoke & Dough, To know more, click here.
Do not forget to check it out as the restaurant open it’s door for public on 25th October.
by digitalplus | Aug 29, 2019 | Technology
Digital marketing has shown so many drastic changes in the last five years and that rapid change progress doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. There was a time when we get to see artificial intelligence only in science fiction films, but that time is long gone. AI is now an important aspect of Digital Marketing. Let’s get the overview of some of the main digital marketing trends to watch out in running year.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is considered to be the most cutting edge technology of today’s era. Now a day from TV to smartphones to other machines, AI has captured all the industry. If we elaborate in simple terms then AI is a computer system which can perform any task that humans are capable of doing. AI has large potential applications in marketing, but they are mostly deployed for advertising and customer service. The basic use of AI in marketing is to do competitor research and identify market trends.
In Digital marketing context AI helps in predicting the behavior of your customer whom you want to target. Especially for Google Adwords Professionals it is crucial to use AI where you define the campaign objective and target audience and with the help of AI tools automatically recommends strategies to achieve the desired goals.
Along with this predictive analysis allows digital marketers to extract information from data and uses that data to predict purchase trends and user behavior. AI helps in analyzing a large volume of data which eventually results in uncovering the most impactful insights. AI analyses millions of search queries and activities across several websites when any user is making any online purchase and shows them most relevant content or ads. AI is useful for analyzing data focused content like market research, relevant matches and reports.
Voice Search
Smart Speakers like Google Assistant and Alexa are getting fast adopted by people across the world which is causing the new search behavior which is called voice search or conversational search. These smart devices are making search a lot easier and quicker and the best thing about these searches is that they are totally hands free. As per the survey, nearly around 4% of adults had used voice search in 2018 so this adoption has predicted to increase very quickly in coming years also. It is one of the biggest development that impacting the world of digital marketing.
If we review the latest trends and stats in voice search we will find that the use of smart phones, speakers like Google Home amazon Alexa has increased tremendously. This rapid adoption of digital voice assistance across the world has made significant impact on SEO or search trends. If we go by figure today over 20 percent searches are done by voice on mobile platform which is going to increase up to 50% by 2050.
Earlier getting anywhere in page number one in Google searches was considered to be sufficient, but now after an increase of voice searches users had grown accustomed to at least scrolling and glancing beyond the top search result. So, the challenge is to optimize the website accordingly the voice searches. Now the website content should incorporate more natural language patterns if you want to grab more spoken queries.
Personalized Marketing
It is also one of the major emerging digital marketing trend of 2019. Personalized marketing is basically providing customized user experience depending on the specific user requirements. According to a big brand survey, nearly 96% of consumers agree that personalized marketing strengthens their relationship with the brand. Today, customers want personalized experience and in return they are ready to give their personal credentials also.
Web sites like Google mines your search history and identifies what you like and dislike and accordingly they provide recommendations for similar products you liked in the past.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is being one of the most used social media platforms for last several years. As per the survey video marketing will make up more than 85% of all consumer internet traffic in the U.S and the thing to notice here is most of the videos uploaded will be not by brand or business they will be by individuals. While YouTube is the number one choice for videos, but other platforms like Instagram, Facebook are also in use. If the videos you uploaded are entertaining, concise and short, they are more likely to get shared and liked on other social media platforms.
These days, every business use videos to promote their business on social media or other platforms. According to a recent stats, there are almost 97% of the marketers who believes that video marketing helps them to sell their products more because it makes customers to understand the products easily.
As per the Hubspot research, 54% of consumers would like to see videos of their favorite brands in comparison to other things like email newsletters and social images. By 2019, the internet video traffic will account for about 80% of all consumer internet traffic. Now, as the number of mobile users has grown up so rapidly, so 50% of the videos are watched on the mobile devices and videos up to 2 minutes are most engaging to the audience.
According to Cisco reports 80% of the traffic on the website is consisted only by the videos by year 2021. Videos basically helps in boosting conversions and sales and it also helps in increasing user time spent on websites.
Conclusion:
With these new trends, there are enough ways to attract more customers to your business. To stay ahead in the market once must need to incorporate all these strategies in their business plans specially voice search and video marketing. Even everything in place, it’s good to have an experienced Digital Marketing Company along with your side which can keep an eye on the big picture for your business.
by digitalplus | Oct 15, 2018 | Technology
In today’s era when instant communication has become the order of the day, the dependence of business on social media is the norm. However, in this backdrop it needs to be used thoughtfully and strategically to infuse and spread the information to the target audience in an effective way.
As per Global Survey in Jan’18 it is found that 5.6 million men and 5.6 million women between the age group of 25 to 34 years are active on Facebook in UK, as per statistical reports there were 8.6 million Twitter users in 2012 and it was predicted that there will be 17.1 million twitter users in the United Kingdom by 2018. It was also foretold that Twitter use among the age group of 65 years of age and older will increase by 13.2 percent in 2018. It is forecasted that by 2021, 13.2 million of folks in the UK will use Instagram that embodies 19.2% of the population.
So, in summary these data suggest the significance & penetration of social media in today’s fast paced world. Increasingly social media is the virtual world where we exist, no wonder there are over 3 billion Social Media users around the globe, which is almost half of the global population.
Here are some simple social media tips for small businesses including restaurants:
- Don’t delete negative feedback : On social media everything is exposed and widely available and if ever you receive negative feedback, never ever delete it because pressing the cursor on delete is not the solution instead you should provide resolution to the user, in cases where profanity is used then it is advised to politely pacify the user.
- Let your loyal followers Speak for you : Remember that most of the people who like your organization are liking and following your page and if someone deliberately put filthy remarks then your loyal fan base will surely defend you, so let your supporters pour their dearest love.
- Friendly interaction : Social Media is not all about posting and advertising yourself but it is also about building relations with the customer, forming a liaison that goes on, there should be a sort of personal and human touch whenever you revert to the customer and note that automated reverts are the BIG NO!
- Being Proactive is the Key : Being active does not work in Social Media, you are advised and assumed to be proactive because as soon as you receive message or comment from the client place a revert, reply shouldn’t exceed the time limit of 24 hours.
- Public altercation should be avoided : If an individual comes with a complaint and demonstrates an aggressive behavior try to pacify him, if he doesn’t cool down, try to get on to the private message & make him understand the issue politely, never be rude to the client, not even in the private message, client can even take screenshot of the private message and air it in public, so be careful with your reverts and play smartly with the customer.
- Engaging Posts : Your posts should be fascinating, they should catch the eye balls of every individual. Catchy and hilarious posts always lead to good level of reach and engagement.
- Take feedback seriously : If the same feedback keeps on popping up again and again. Try to look for a proper resolution and answer the complaints in a prudent manner and make it sure that the same issue never take place again.
- Conduct contests : We should keep on running contests like quiz, riddle, etc. on our social media pages, the winner should be selected from the bunch of people who gave right answer and then rewarded appropriately. This will accelerate the engagement level manifolds.
- Choose your content wisely : Whatever content you post on Social media is read by masses in huge numbers and whatever you mention in the copy should make sense, it should be backed with facts and must be engaging, so that the results are fruitful for both organization and customer.
- Play with videos : Gone are the days when content was the King, new age is of Video marketing, now a days videos are taking Centre stage in Social Media, rather than plain content or imagery, one should go for small gifs or videos, that are way more attractive and go viral in no time.
- Boost your content : Promotion of organic content plays a significant role but it is required to be done in a smart way, firstly you have to identify the top performing post and the target audience, once it is done boost the post to get more traffic through target audience.
So, these are handy tips hope you find them useful. Wishing you all the luck to start your Social Media journey, trust us, it’s Cool, if you are a people’s person. If you found this interesting please share and comment this space……….
by digitalplus | Sep 10, 2018 | Technology
Rightly said, “Revenue on table lost at time is lost forever.” If a table is not sold in a restaurant for a certain length of time, the revenue can never be regenerated for that period as that particular time is already gone. It is essential that we make optimum utilization of our resources especially in the service based industry, hence the introduction of a booking system is must to rectify this concern. Now the question stands, what is a booking system?
An online booking system is software used as reservation management in a service based industry. For instance, they allow travel portals to accept bookings online and allow the management to manage their online bookings made by guests directly as well as the admission of manual bookings taken by the staff. Our purpose is to help you understand the booking system a little better by learning how they can help your business, how to choose the system that is right for you and even how to get started.
Here, we will have a candid conversation with Ms. Prasida Suman, an intellectual professional with 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, with a specialization in Front-of-the-house and reservations for luxury hotels and restaurants, both in India and the UK. Being a hospitality graduate, she has worked in global brands such as Taj Hotels, Radisson and the Ananda Spa in India. Prasida is currently associated with Leeds Red Hot – a multi-cuisine buffet restaurant in Leeds with 300 plus covers, where she has worked for 8 years. Prasida is an extensive reader and avid lover of fictional books who often travels as a means of rejuvenating herself; she also enjoys spending time with her lovely 10 year old daughter.
♦ Hi Prasida, How’s life in Leeds?
I love Leeds and it’s a buzzing and exciting city to live. I and my family enjoy exploring Yorkshire.
♦ Please briefly explain your experience within the hospitality sector to date?
Guest service is my passion and I was lucky to start my adventure with luxury hotel brands in India. I was exposed to meeting and greeting celebrities and handling difficult situations or complaints and I was blessed to learn the management skills with the best in the industry.
♦ The Booking System behaves as a vertebrae to the hospitality industry, how has this unique feature helped you?
Being from the same industry, we think that the online Booking System gives accuracy, 24/7 business, instant confirmation, 100% ownership of customer data and most importantly manages the supply and demand that leads to the optimization of services and smoothens the operations of a business.
♦ According to you, what is the strongest reason why every restaurant should have an automated booking system?
An automated booking system allows for business around the clock, and makes the organization of restaurant management far easier. The booking system’s simple layout makes it accessible for both staff and guests, meaning that bookings can be generated easily and at any time, as opposed to solely by making a phone call during business hours. The automated booking system erases the effect of human error, improves the efficiency of business, lets us understand the real time view of table availability and offers a powerful insight into how to maximize occupancy.
♦ Being a Buffet restaurant with a large volume of business, have you faced any challenges with this system?
On extreme busy days like special occasion of Valentine’s Day, school break or Christmas festive period it is challenging to keep track of the bookings/covers per time slot received and to ensure we inform the concern person from the booking system to block any time slot to avoid over booking.
♦ As we discussed earlier, the booking system helps to manage staffing, proliferate revenue and has become an essential part of the restaurant business. Can you imagine running the restaurant without the booking system?
As business has picked up and more people booking tables at restaurants online than ever before, the booking system has become an essential part of restaurant business. Whilst manual bookings can still be taken by staff in person and on the phone, the booking system provides an easy way to track both manual and online bookings for the restaurant.
♦ Table management becomes much more flexible with a booking system in place. How significant is table management in the booking system for a buffet restaurant, or would you say it is more useful in an A La Carte?
The online booking system makes table management far easier for any restaurant; buffet or A La Carte. Being a buffet, we often have large tables celebrating occasions, and on busy day such as the weekend, the booking system is essential. The online booking system not only means that staff can plan in advance for busy periods but also means that large tables can be managed and separated in times where there will be a high volume of guests.
♦ According to you, how should the Booking System be priced? Should it be priced as per covers sold, or would a fixed price be more convenient? What suits you best at the Buffet in Leeds?
Because of the volume of covers booked it is not feasible for us to consider share of the cover and would prefer a fixed cost. Also for the company which is managing the system is secured because there is a guarantee of a fee to maintain the system and give any technical support. Fixed cost works both ways for the restaurant and the company providing the booking system.
♦ The ability to take payments online is one of the strongest features of the booking system. What is the best way for you to take payments? Online, in person or integrated into the Booking System?
Payments made via the online booking system provide a quick and easy way for both guests and businesses to track the payment of deposits. An automated confirmation receipt is immediately sent to the guest, as well as all the relevant payment information is provided to the restaurant instantly. This system saves time for both the guest making the payment online, as they can do so from the comfort of their own home and also the business as all necessary information is sent via one email.
So, here was our brief conversation with Ms. Prasida Suman, her sui-generis approach and magnetic personality charmed us. Her insight on booking system facilitated us a lot to revive our knowledge and we are sure that for you also it was an interesting read, you can even share it with your friends who hail from hospitality sector as it will be a certain help to them, please let us know your opinion in the comments below.
by digitalplus | Jul 15, 2018 | Food
A dynamic world, dynamic people, dynamic lifestyle! However, is everything at the stake of one’s health? Have we ever thought the cheesy pizza and awesomeness overloaded burger which we enjoy all the time is laden with heaps of calories which is adding on to our flab?
Solution to this is simple and comes with certain diet foods which are healthy and at the same time gratifies our foodie palate.
Here is some healthy food ride which will cajole you for more and more:
Sprouts in Lettuce Cups
Take lentils, soak them overnight, drain out water and let them sprout. Once they are sprouted, add salt and black pepper as per taste, drizzle some honey and add a teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix and serve on the lettuce bed and you are ready with your diet full of protein. You can eat the lettuce too which is a great source of Vitamin A, sodium and potassium.
Advice: Please go for Iceberg lettuce
Mulligatawny: The Indian Soup
India is the ‘Land of Spices’ which is often considered unhealthy however this soup is an exception. This is the national Soup of India prepared with Lentils, coconut milk, Indian spices, ginger, onion, garlic and tomatoes that are slightly cooked and then pureed. This is the best source of proteins with fiber.
Advice: You may enjoy this with boiled rice as it is simply a derivative of an Indian Dal.
Bircher Muesli
Here comes our favorite Muesli however not with milk but it’s Bircher Muesli. Soak Muesli overnight in apple
juice, add yogurt with a lot of nuts & berries and then garnished with strawberries and apricot.
Advice: Serve it chilled for the optimum taste.
Milk Whey
We all know how overrated milk is and how it comes in various alternatives for fitness-lovers, like low fat, skimmed milk, double toned, etc.; however, none of these are as useful as Milk whey. This is a complete protein and is really supportive when eyeing for true proteins as it contains all the essential amino acids.
Advice: You can freshly make it by curdling milk with lemon juice.
Epigamia Greek Smoothie
This is the easiest of all to prepare. Take Epigamia Yoghurt, which is made from Soya milk and is widely available in the market, add some honey if you have sweet tooth and blend it as a thick smoothie. This is very rich in soya protein.
Advice: May add some Soya milk if you prefer to make the consistency thinner.
Egg white Omelet
Albumin is the best quality natural protein available contrary to yolk that is the poorest of the fats in an egg. First of all, segregate egg yolk and white and then as per your choice add finely chopped onions, bell peppers spring onion, tomatoes, black pepper, and salt. Use your fork to thoroughly beat them and then place a pan over flame lightly greased with olive oil to prepare your fluffy egg white omelet.
Advice: Cook this in low flame and as less as possible because proteins should not be cooked much to retain the essential amino acids.
These were certain healthy at the same time lip-smacking options for all you Bon vivant peeps. Here, quoting Ann Wigmore, “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful kind of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” So the choice is yours! You can choose whatever you like and mention that in the comments below and do remember this, “To stay healthy you don’t have to eat less, you just have to eat right.”
