In this conversation, Matt Plapp, CEO of America's Best Restaurants and Dryver, shares his extensive experience in restaurant marketing, discussing the evolution from traditional to digital marketing strategies.

He emphasizes the importance of storytelling, customer engagement, and building a strong customer database. Matt also highlights the challenges faced by restaurant owners, particularly in adopting new technologies and marketing strategies, and offers practical advice for improving restaurant sales and customer loyalty.

• Matt Plapp started his journey in traditional media before focusing on restaurant marketing.
• America's Best Restaurants aims to highlight unique stories of local restaurants.
• Digital marketing has transformed how restaurants engage with customers.
• Restaurant owners often struggle with time management, impacting their marketing efforts.
• Creating irresistible offers can significantly increase customer engagement.
• Storytelling is a powerful tool for restaurants to connect with their audience.
• Many restaurants are still behind in adopting technology for operations and marketing.
• Building a customer database is crucial for long-term success in the restaurant industry.
• Consistency in marketing efforts leads to better customer retention and engagement.
• Matt emphasizes the importance of using customer data to drive marketing strategies.

00:00 Engage and capture walk-in restaurant customers' data. 04:41 Friends' efforts led to business skill shift. 07:55 Nike's wealth contrasts local restaurants' immigrant stories. 09:38 Create media on restaurants, sharing owners' stories. 13:10 Visionary branding strategy for independent restaurant marketing. 17:54 Guess the jar amount, enter competition, collect data. 21:45 Improve marketing; avoid repetitive digital content. 25:20 Be genuine; share stories, not just selling. 26:56 Focus on consistent output over view counts. 31:03 Seeking tools for engagement-driven data and sales. 33:13 Spoke at conference about restaurant marketing books. 35:33 Fragmented restaurant data systems lack integration. 41:02 People choose cheap, unreliable solutions due to time constraints. 42:40 Cook caught stealing steaks from restaurant dumpster. 45:36 Engage restaurant visitors with personalized offers. 49:52 Gym partner later sold companies for millions. 51:19 Effective data use boosts customer business engagement.