The eyes have it! Social media has become a feeding frenzy for visually interesting culinary concepts. Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino may be the quintessential example of a concept that the eyes couldn’t help but drink in. The neon purple and blue concoction—so snap-worthy in its rich, colorful, almost confectionery appearance—seemed ready-made for the age of Instagram, where it generated 155,000 posts over the short course of its April 19-23, 2019 run dates.¹

Nothing feeds the foodservice bottom line like loyal customers. As the National Restaurant Association reported, repeat customers account for as much as 70% of a restaurant’s revenue.¹ These patrons are also more likely to have a higher check average, given survey data that shows a 60-70% probability of upselling to an existing customer, compared to 5-20% for new ones.²

It wasn’t that long ago when the word “super” applied to especially big servings of fast food. The idea seemed to be to power sales with mammoth portions, until an increasingly wellness-conscious consumer base sent demand for better-for-you options soaring and the industry took the high ground, trimming caloric content and boosting nutritional value to beef up sales.

A feast of devices and digital marketing channels has created a feeding frenzy for marketers hungry to reach new customers and retain existing ones. As we explored in “Marketing on the Menu,” digital marketing is a must-or-bust proposition for today’s restaurant operations. To keep pace with a digitally accelerating marketing environment filled with digitally savvy consumers, you need to capitalize on the foodservice trend of tapping into tech and get a handle on what it brings to the table.

Before you can whet people’s appetite for your menu, you need to grab their attention—and that involves marketing. But with so many promotions circulating through today’s amazing array of marketing channels, from social (a huge smorgasbord in itself) and mobile to print and broadcast—it’s hard to keep pace with trends and zero in on what works best.