How to get the most out of digital menu boards

In today's highly digitalized world, businesses are continually seeking innovative ways to stay ahead. One such innovation that has taken the restaurant industry by storm is digital menu boards. These dynamic platforms are transforming the traditional static menu into a vibrant, interactive, and customizable marketing tool, providing a wealth of benefits for both the business and its customers. Coupled with the power of audience analytics, digital menu boards are truly revolutionizing the restaurant experience.

Embracing the future: digital menu boards for restaurants

The power of dynamic content

One of the key advantages of digital menu boards for restaurants is their ability to display dynamic content. Unlike their static counterparts, these digital menu screens can showcase enticing images, videos, and animations of mouth-watering dishes, daily specials, and unique promotions. This ability to captivate customers' attention not only enhances the dining experience but also stimulates impulse purchases, ultimately boosting sales.

Furthermore, integrating user-generated content has proven to be a successful strategy, particularly with the growing influence of social media. DISPL, a leading digital signage software provider, supports integrations with third-party data, allowing restaurants to display real-time social media posts and video streams. This unique feature not only keeps the content fresh and engaging but also builds brand trust and loyalty, as customers appreciate seeing their content displayed prominently.

Maximizing efficiency with content management

Digital menu boards also offer unparalleled flexibility and convenience in content management. Menus, prices, and promotions can be updated in real-time across multiple locations, ensuring accuracy and consistency. For example, breakfast menus can be automatically replaced with lunch offerings at a specific time. This level of efficiency is impossible to achieve with traditional paper menus.

Moreover, targeted promotions are another powerful feature of digital menu boards. With DISPL's audience analytics solution, restaurants can tailor their offers to the specific demographics of their customers. By detecting the gender and age of the person looking at the screen, the digital menu board can display a targeted campaign that is likely to result in an order, thereby increasing sales. For example, show sweet-tasting drinks for women aged 20 to 35 and less sweet and bitter ones for men. You need to select content for each target audience yourself before. A targeted campaign is more likely to result in an order.

Enhancing the customer experience

Interactive kiosks: a new way to order

Interactive ordering kiosks have become an integral part of the modern restaurant experience. These self-service stations allow customers to browse the digital menu at their own pace, customize their orders, and reduce wait times. By streamlining the ordering process, interactive displays significantly enhance the overall customer experience.

Case study

Explore how DISPL provided a digital menu board software solution for Neat Burger, vegan fast-food restaurant chain.

Gathering valuable feedback

Digital screens or tablets can also be used as effective tools for collecting customer feedback. By integrating a software solution like DISPL on a simple tablet, restaurants can gather valuable insights into customer preferences and satisfaction levels. This real-time feedback allows restaurants to continuously improve their services and offerings, ultimately leading to a more customer-centric approach.

Capitalizing on audience analytics

Gaining insights into visitors

By leveraging DISPL's audience analytics solution, restaurants can gain a clear understanding of their customer demographics, preferences, and heat maps hours. This valuable data is collected through strategically placed sensors that capture and interpret various metrics.

Identifying trends in customer behavior

The data collected can also be used to identify trends in customer behavior. For instance, a restaurant can determine the preferred dining times of its customers. This data can then be used to optimize operations, adjust staffing levels, and manage inventory.

Segmenting customers for targeted marketing

Equipped with accurate demographic data, restaurants can effectively segment their customers for targeted marketing campaigns. For instance, if a significant portion of the customer base consists of young professionals, the restaurant can create promotional offers that cater specifically to this demographic, thereby fostering customer loyalty.

Location analytics

Restaurants might discover that their clientele demographics significantly differ from the network average due to unique factors like location. Recognizing this allows for creating more targeted and effective advertising and promotional campaigns, ensuring relevance and appeal to the local customer base.

Boosting customer loyalty

Understanding the preferences and habits of different demographic groups can help restaurants tailor their offerings, resulting in increased customer loyalty. For example, if data reveals that an older demographic group primarily visits during morning hours, the restaurant can adjust the ambiance and offer special morning promotions to cater to this group.

Evaluating marketing campaigns

The insights provided by audience analytics also offer restaurants the ability to monitor the campaign performance in real-time. By tracking metrics such as customer footfall, engagement metrics, dwell time analysis and demographic analytics restaurants can quickly gauge the success of their strategies and make necessary adjustments to maximize results.

Example

This is an example of real-time analytics built automatically based on collected audience data.

Improving operational efficiency with queue management

By implementing DISPL sensors in strategic areas, such as the cash register, restaurants can monitor and manage queue lengths, significantly improving service during peak hours.

Optimizing staff deployment

By analyzing customer store traffic and busy periods, restaurants can optimize staff schedules, ensuring the restaurant is adequately staffed during peak times. This not only improves service but also enhances the overall customer experience.

Personalizing experiences with audience analytics

By merging customer demographic data with purchase history, restaurants can create personalized dining experiences, increasing customer satisfaction and sales. For instance, understanding that a particular age group prefers certain dishes can lead to customized menu suggestions, increasing customer satisfaction and sales. Thus, find out the average preferences of your target audience by gender and age. For example, girls aged 20-25 prefer healthier food, but they order more junk food on weekends. This will help plan online marketing campaigns and display relevant offers on restaurant screens or for promotional campaigns.

Case study

Customer insights from our project with Dodo Pizza indicated that women tend to peruse menus more quickly than men, potentially because they are attracted to a smaller range of food items. This customer data can lead to further research into spending habits and menu preferences between genders. Consequently, restaurants might consider introducing special dishes or menu sections catering to women, potentially boosting sales and providing a more customized dining experience.

Conclusion

Digital menu boards and audience analytics are undoubtedly game-changers in the restaurant industry. They not only enhance the dining experience but also provide restaurants with valuable customer insights to optimize operations, personalize marketing campaigns, and ultimately drive sales and growth. As technology continues to evolve, the potential for even more immersive and engaging restaurant experiences is boundless.

Contact the DISPL team today to schedule a free consultation and unlock the full potential of your restaurant with digital menu boards and audience analytics!