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There is so much more to it than just creating the food when it comes to designing a menu. You, of course, have to figure out prices, dish names, and descriptions, but it doesn’t stop there. One of the most essential pieces of your menu is how you showcase your dishes in the menu, which means how they look. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you are using high-quality photos that make your dish look so mouthwatering that they can’t help but order it.

Getting the right pictures for your menu isn’t always easy, but we have put together some tips to teach you how to best utilize those photos.

High-Quality Images on Your Menu

Having high-quality photos on your menu does so much more than just showing your customers the food that they are ordering.

1. Make Dishes More Appetizing

We all do it, we see a picture on a menu, and we are instantly drawn to it and consider ordering it. It’s human nature; the visual catches our attention and draws us in. If you don’t have good-quality photos showcasing your dishes, a customer might not give it a second look and move on to the rest of the menu. 

But, if they are good quality photos, showing the glisten of the gooey cheese, the little crisp to the pepperoni, and the caramelization of the onions, now you are talking to their senses - having them eat with their eyes. The more delicious those photos appear, the more likely they will order that off of your menu.

2. Highlight High-Profit Dishes

You want to make sure you put pictures on your menu, but you want to be mindful of how many you include so that it is not overwhelming for the customer. You can use fewer photos to your advantage by highlighting your high-profit dishes or best-sellers with those delicious-looking photos helping to drive sales.

Online Ordering Website & App

One of the great benefits of online ordering is being able to add a picture of every item on your menu if you want. Digital menus have tabs and subpages that allow you to not worry about the number of pages. Having high-quality and clear photos on your menu will enable you to excite your customers with the food they are ordering, especially if they have never been to your restaurant before.

Having lots of pictures on your online menu also helps customers decide what they want to eat because they are not experiencing the smells in the restaurant or seeing the food coming out from the kitchen if they were eating in your dining room.

Social Media

Great photos of your food do not need to be just limited to your menu and online ordering site. Using those high-quality photos on your social media accounts is an excellent way to attract people to your restaurant and share with your current customer base. Maybe you have a holiday special or just added a new dish to the menu? What better way to promote it than to take a great picture of the meal and post it on social media? You tell them about the promotion, what to expect, and generate content for your restaurant, all at the same time!

Advertising

You want to get the most use of these fantastic photos as you can, so why not include them in your advertising? Maybe you are putting up a banner or poster outside your door, or maybe you are sending out a direct mail piece; this is a great way to get your food and photos in front of your customers and future customers.

No matter how you are using them, using good quality photos that entice your customers will help keep your customers coming for more! For more tips on how to capture the perfect photos for your restaurant, check out our article: 8 Tips to Create Delicious Images for Pizza Online Ordering