Digital Menu Boards

A Deep Dive into Dayparting and Managing Digital Menu Boards Across Multi Location

Restaurant TV screen menu are a great way to give your guests an overview of your options, but they don’t have to be the same throughout the day.

With the help of dayparting, you can create a much better digital menu boards experience for your customers.

What is Dayparting?

It’s when you offer a different menu at different times of the day.

You might have breakfast, lunch, dinner, or midnight snacks – whatever works best for your business and fits with your customers’ schedules.

Examples of Dayparting

Breakfast menu: You could offer croissants and coffee during breakfast hours, but not all day long (or even morning hours). Instead, you’d only serve it from 7am-9am on weekdays.

You might also change the type of croissants available – maybe sweet buns instead of savory ones.

Lunch menu: You could offer salads during lunchtime hours with a variety of dressing options like ranch or Italian. Just make sure you don’t leave out any items that are particularly popular with your regulars!

Dinner menu: This one is tricky! Dinner doesn’t have to be limited to just dinner time on weeknights and weekends (although if it is, that’s fine!).

Why We Love Dayparting

We’re huge fans of dayparting. It’s a terrific way to enhance your customer experience and increase your bottom line by offering different digital display menu at different times of the day.

Pro-tip – While adapting to dayparts, maintain a consistent brand identity. Ensure that the overall aesthetic and messaging align with your brand, even as you customize content to suit different times and moods.

Dayparting can also be a very tricky thing.

When you separate your menus, you’re not just making changes to your TV screen menu you’re making changes to how you interact with your customers.

You want to make sure that every time they come into your restaurant, they’ll have an experience that is unique and memorable.

Let’s look at some examples:

A late-night supper spot might want to offer a very different menu than their morning-only neighbor.

They could choose to serve up some sort of specialty cocktail in the evening, or they could even switch up their drink options by offering a new type of alcohol or specialty cocktail mixer instead of the regular mixer that everyone knows how much they love.

A coffee shop might want to offer different drinks during different times of day because coffee is most popular in the mornings and then again in the afternoons when people need a little pick-me-up before heading out for work or school later on in the day.

The days are different for everyone, and that can be a challenge for your restaurant.

If you’re doing a lot of takeout business, for example, that means you need to be open for lunch and dinner. If you’re making a lot of delivery orders, then you might only be open from 8:30am-6pm.

How do you decide what hours to keep?

There’s no one-size-fits all answer here – each business is different and has its own needs. But one thing we’ve found is that while it can be tempting to just keep the hours that you’ve always had, there are some advantages to changing things up.

So, think about what makes sense for your situation before making any changes.

Managing Digital Menu Boards across multiple locations

If you have plans of rolling out digital menu boards across different restaurant locations at one go, things get even trickier.

Follow these essential steps and considerations for managing a multi-location TV screen menu rollout.

If you are a restaurant brand with plans to implement digital display menu across multiple locations, these steps will provide the necessary insights and best practices.

1. Planning

First and foremost, create a solid plan and make sure they are followed properly.

  • Conduct thorough research on restaurant digital signage providers and technologies suitable for your brand.
  • Define your objectives and determine the key features and functionalities required for your menu boards.
  • Assess the budget and resources available for the rollout.
  • Create a timeline and establish clear goals for each location.

2. Content Development Strategy

Your Digital TV screen menu need to be the heart of your restaurant outlets. Make sure you put enough time into defining the content strategy for your menus.

  • Create a digital signage content strategy that aligns with your brand and target audience.
  • Create visually appealing and engaging digital menu board templates.
  • Incorporate relevant and updated menu items, promotions, and pricing.
  • Ensure consistency in content across all locations while adapting to specific regional preferences and requirements.

3. Hardware Setup

You need to explore hardware options based on your budget, size of the wall, TVs for digital signage needed, size you prefer and much more.

  • Evaluate the technical requirements and infrastructure necessary for each location.
  • Select appropriate digital signage displays and media players.
  • Install necessary cabling and network connections.
  • Test the hardware and ensure smooth operation before implementation.

4. Installation and Training

This forms a very important part of the installation and training section of the rollout process. Follow the below to get everything done seamlessly.

  • Coordinate with each location for an optimal installation schedule.
  • Ensure all required permits and approvals are obtained.
  • Provide comprehensive training to staff members responsible for content management and operation.
  • Conduct regular maintenance checks and provide technical support as needed.

Protip – Plan for scalability from the outset. Choose a digital menu boards system that can grow with your business, accommodating new locations seamlessly without major overhauls or disruptions.

Continuously measure performance and optimize your strategy to adapt to evolving customer preferences and business needs.

Once you have rolled out menu update across different locations, the next step is to make sure that these digital display menu are effectively utilized.

Consistency is the key here.

While maintaining consistency, customize the content of digital menu to suit the preferences and requirements of each location.

Consider regional preferences, local ingredients, and cultural nuances to create a personalized experience for customers.

Incorporate localized promotions and specials to resonate with the target audience in each location.

Make sure to schedule your content updates to stay ahead of time.

Create a content calendar to plan and schedule updates for each location. Coordinate with marketing campaigns, seasonal changes, and new product launches.

Regularly review and refresh content to maintain customer interest and engagement.

Conclusion

Implementing dayparting strategies requires careful planning and consideration.

It is essential to analyze customer behavior patterns, sales data, and menu performance to identify the most appropriate menu items and promotions for each time segment.

Collaborating with location managers and staff for valuable insights and feedback can further optimize the dayparting strategy.

The successful management of digital menu boards across multiple locations is also crucial in dayparting implementations.

Centralized content management, customization for specific locations, regular content updates, technical reliability, comprehensive training, and performance monitoring are key factors in ensuring consistent and impactful menu displays.

If you are looking for a seamless digital signage solutions that helps you manage dayparting as well as multi-locations with us, check out DotSignage. We have advanced scheduling features that help you easily schedule content day wise or time wise.

You can also schedule event based content for a day or two well in advance.

Sign up for our 7-day free trial or schedule a quick demo with us here

Smit Nebhwani

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