One of the biggest challenges that restaurants face is changing the perception that dining out isn’t environmentally friendly. More and more, sustainability is becoming such a driving factor behind people’s eating decisions. In fact, 74% of Millennials and 72% of Generation Z are willing to pay more for sustainable products and services.
At face value, there are some obvious benefits of eating out compared to dining at home. The first of which being food waste. Restaurants operate like finely tuned machines, operating at the most optimal capacity, ordering only what they need and aiming to waste as little food as possible.
On the flip side, there’s nothing more wasteful than only needing a small portion of an ingredient for a home cooked meal and having to buy a whole packet, or even worse, buying food that you plan to cook, only to not cook at all and let the food go to waste.
With this said, if your restaurant is sustainable, puts in an effort to minimise its carbon footprint and sources local and organic food, this is the perfect angle to put to market. As we outlined, people are willing to pay more for sustainable options and slowly but surely, there’s a cultural shift (and a good one too!) towards being environmentally friendly. Make sure to communicate how your restaurant is sustainable, and if you’re using local and ethically sourced ingredients – build your ads around this.
Top Tips for Ads about Sustainability:
2: Copywriting & Creative
When promoting your restaurant from a sustainable angle, it’s important to not lose sight of the fact that you ultimately want to generate bookings. Using a photo of a meal will leave your ad copy (or description) free to convey information about environmental benefits. Consider choosing a meal that visually reflects the environmental message with lots of natural ingredients and colour.
3: The Why-How-What Formula
This is a writing structure that you can use almost anywhere! Using renowned author Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” philosophy, you show that your restaurant truly cares about how its processes impact the environment in a way that readers will connect with easily.
Break your ad copy into 3 sections: Why environmentalism is important to your business, how you want to impact it, and what actions you take to create that impact. By talking about the greater purpose, you hook your audience in with a cause they can relate to and understand. Then, by tying your actions in with that purpose, they carry a lot more gravity for the reader – making you more memorable, and a better spot to dine.
Hungry for more info like this? From our extensive experience of marketing in the hospitality industry, we’ve put together a number of pro tips. Find them in First Table’s Resources for Restaurateurs