David "Rev" Ciancio on How To Master Restaurant Marketing Marketing Expert David "Rev" Ciancio discusses the importance of publishing honest social media video content, simple branding strategies, and creating a new type of restaurant conference that actually helps you grow your business.
By Shawn P. Walchef •
Key Takeaways
- TikTok Marketing is Undeniable - David “Rev” Ciancio has over 400,000 followers across his Instagram platforms. However, he never wanted to be a "photographer" and has evolved from focusing on static images, to now nearly exclusively creating video content to post to his other growing social media accounts like TikTok.
- Simplify Your Marketing - In the current climate, social media marketing and smartphone storytelling is viewed as a major contributor to a business' growth plan. However, David “Rev” Ciancio says that posting more is not the single, simplest way to increase your marketing. Instead, he advises restaurants to collect and send emails to customers so they remain top of mind and provide consistent Digital Hospitality.
- Restaurant Marketing Summit - Like most of us, David “Rev” Ciancio strives to learn tips, tricks, and tactics by attending industry events. But he hasn’t been very happy with the educational content out there in the current conference scene. So he created the Branded Restaurant Marketing Summit, which gathers the best marketers in the hospitality business to provide useful information to those who watch online.
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David "Rev" Ciancio knows it takes courage to tell your honest story online.
The marketing thought-leader and entrepreneur created the Branded Restaurant Marketing Summit to highlight useful strategies and true tales from 32 of the biggest and brightest names in the hospitality industry. Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef is a conference presenter (talking about "The Upside-Down Vertical Video Club") as are former RI podcast guests Matt Plapp (America's Best Restaurants), and Kyle Inserra (Restaurant Idea Factory Podcast).
"It's an online conference. You don't have to leave your house, your office, your bedroom, wherever you consume content. It's all video content," explains David "Rev" Ciancio to Shawn Walchef of CaliBBQ Media.
Restaurants and businesses consult with Rev Ciancio about building their marketing, digital, and hospitality strategies both in person and online. With an online following of around 500,000 across his social media platforms — and a truly unique voice in a space of a billion voices — the marketing expert understands the power of the creator economy and Digital Hospitality despite early reluctance to accept the reality.
"I was like, 'I didn't want to be a photographer for the first part, and I don't want to make videos. I'm not interested,'" shares David Ciancio. "But then, the TikTok thing became undeniable.
"As somebody who does marketing and tells restaurants what to do with their marketing, it's like, I gotta master this. I look like a fraud if I don't master this. So I embraced it."
Even with the embracing of new marketing executions, he believes wholeheartedly in tried-and-true methods for acquiring and expanding a business' customer base. According to David Rev Ciancio, keeping it simple can help businesses create a pathway to sustainable growth.
"What's the fastest, easiest way to get your brand in front of my eyeballs? Email." he said. "So if I was going to simplify marketing for an independent operator it would be to collect guest emails and email them at least every ten days."
Strategies and tools like the aforementioned email strategy marketing is the focus of the Branded Restaurant Marketing Summit. The 2023 online event will take place on January 25-26 and registration is free.
For those wanting a deeper experience, there is a VIP package available that includes on-demand access to training and other elements to help you grow, such as the Social Media Order Igniter, which maps out a posting schedule and ideas for business owners.
"I don't want to talk about operations. I don't want to talk about the labor shortage. I don't want to talk about any of the stuff that gets talked about at any of the other conferences. I literally want to show you how to get and keep more guests."
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