Entering your restaurant into a dining award campaign might require you to go the extra mile, but its rewards are bountiful. Dining awards, whether local, regional, or international, are a great endorsement of your restaurant, and does wonders for your staff morale. Not only does it encourage higher footfall of returning customers, it also introduces new audiences to your restaurant. Here’s why your restaurant marketing team should start putting your restaurant out there and participate in dining award campaigns.
1. It gets you local press coverage.
What’s a sure-win way to get press coverage without the need for aggressive pitching and a public relations campaign? By landing yourself as an awardee, of course. Entering your restaurant into a dining award campaign might require you to go the extra mile, but its rewards are bountiful.
Some dining awards have partnerships with local press on advertisements or editorial inclusions, which means that your restaurant will get free press coverage just by winning. While getting an international dining award is great, a local dining award will be promoted in local newspapers, targeting locals — the very people who will support your restaurant business.
Awards such as Diners’ Choice by Chope often collaborates with local media and key opinion leaders for winner announcements, ensuring that your restaurant gets a slice of the media value.
2. It attracts diners outside of your usual clientele.
You’re used to the regulars that stream into your restaurant, and you have this outreach down pat in your marketing communications. How can you reach beyond the usual clientele? While nothing can truly beat word of mouth marketing, landing your restaurant on an award list guarantees more visibility. In fact, some awards will also provide complimentary winner entitlement in the form of blog posts, social media posts, and email marketing coverage, which allows your restaurant to tap into their audience.
For example, each Diners’ Choice restaurant winner in Singapore and Hong Kong is entitled to marketing credits, social media posts on Facebook and Instagram, and web and app placements to drive traffic to your restaurant.
3. It will bring in tourists.
If you type in “Best restaurants in [country name]”, you’ll undoubtedly get a list by top travel media or local publications on the best restaurants the country has to offer. With travel opening up again in the form of vaccinated travel lanes, you can expect the industry kicking up again. With the ease of restrictions, soon, tourists will be flocking in and dining out with a vengeance.
Most of these listicles are penned by food journalists who undoubtedly want to put your country on the world map — therefore selecting restaurants that have awards that are recognised internationally.
Tourists with a discerning palate will also make it a priority to dine out at establishments that are awarded by certain brands. Michelin, Asia’s 50 Best, and World’s 50 Best are some accolades that land you international and regional recognition, with some diners putting you on their restaurant bucket list.
4. It gets you peer recognition.
Dining awards are a good opportunity for like-minded people in the industry to get together (especially when there’s a ceremony) and celebrate their accomplishments. Not only will you stand in the company of the best in the world, region, and your country, you’ll also be part of a snapshot of the current state of the culinary world.
Award ceremony events are also a change to meet and greet the movers and shakers in the dining industry. If you’re an entrant to the scene, or have yet to make connections with peers you admire, an award ceremony is the place to be.
Of course, every award has its own values and criteria, but just look at every restaurant awardee list — you’ll immediately get a sense of what’s hot at the moment. Your restaurant would want to be on this list!
Are you a restaurant client in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai? Find out about Diner’s Choice, our annual dining awards where diners vote for their favourite restaurants in the country.
