Elevating Yen Cuisine Japonaise's Digital Presence

A structured, data-driven consulting project to optimize YEN’s digital presence, strengthen customer engagement, and drive sustainable business growth

INSY 339 Digital Consulting | January - April 2025

Challenge

Despite YEN Cuisine Japonaise’s strong reputation for quality and authenticity, the restaurant faced major digital challenges:

Inconsistent social media strategy with no clear posting schedule or cross-platform synergy.
Underperforming website engagement, shown by a high bounce rate (91%) and low conversion rates.
Limited SEO presence beyond branded keywords, restricting new customer acquisition.
No structured email marketing system to build customer loyalty and drive repeat visits.
Operational time constraints from management, limiting the ability to maintain a consistent digital presence.

Objectives

To design and deliver a scalable, data-driven digital strategy that strengthens YEN's online presence, increases customer engagement across social media and the website, and builds long-term loyalty through SEO optimization and email marketing initiatives.

Discovery: Listening Beyond the Surface

The discovery journey began not through cold outreach, but through reconnecting with a high school friend who now manages YEN Cuisine Japonaise. What started as a casual conversation quickly evolved into a deeper professional partnership.
Beneath the surface of YEN’s online challenges — sporadic social media activity, unclear digital strategy, and under-leveraged website traffic — lay a more human reality: a passionate university student balancing academic life and business ownership.
By leaning into our personal connection, we created a safe space where the client could share openly. Through active listening and thoughtful questioning, we uncovered that the heart of the problem wasn’t just digital — it was a lack of structured time and clarity, holding back the brand’s full potential online.
This set the foundation for a consulting journey rooted in trust, authenticity, and a shared goal of helping YEN thrive.

Data Collection: Gathering Pieces of the Story

With trust established, we moved carefully into data collection. We conducted interviews, observed customer behaviors, and analyzed Instagram and Facebook analytics alongside website performance reports.
Instead of overwhelming the client with requests, we prioritized transparency, offering clear structures like an NDA to ensure confidentiality. Every follower count, bounce rate, profile visit, and competitor insight became another piece of YEN’s digital puzzle — helping us capture a full picture of both its strengths and vulnerabilities.

Analysis: Seeing What the Numbers Couldn't Say

Beyond the numbers, patterns emerged:

YEN had a strong Instagram presence but lacked cross-platform consistency.
The website traffic was growing, but engagement was shallow — a high bounce rate and low conversion rates pointed to missed opportunities.
Competitor analysis revealed that others in the Japanese dining space were better leveraging content storytelling and SEO.

By using frameworks like SWOT and competitive mapping, we interpreted not just what the data said — but what it meant: YEN needed a cohesive, human-centered digital ecosystem, not just better posts or ads.

Strategic Recommendations: Designing a Path Forward

Our final recommendations were not just checklists — they were an invitation for YEN to reclaim its story:

Refine the Instagram branding into a cohesive, warm, and elegant aesthetic, tied to its culinary artistry.
Implement a social media planner to bring structure without overwhelming the manager's schedule.
Optimize the website and SEO — moving from a static splash page to a living, breathing experience that welcomes visitors and drives action.
Launch an email marketing strategy, nurturing loyal customers with behind-the-scenes insights, menu updates, and exclusive offers.
Create an actionable implementation roadmap prioritizing quick wins (like optimizing CTAs) while laying foundations for long-term growth (like content marketing).

Through these steps, YEN could not only improve its online visibility but build lasting relationships — turning curious visitors into loyal customers.

Implementation Plan: Turning Strategy into Action

After crafting a clear set of strategic recommendations, our next focus was ensuring that YEN could bring the vision to life — sustainably and confidently.
We designed a phased implementation roadmap, balancing quick wins and long-term growth initiatives:

Weeks 1–3: Brand and digital audit — to benchmark the current state and set measurable KPIs.
Weeks 3–4: Content planning — building a realistic social media calendar and website improvements prioritizing user engagement.
Weeks 4–6: Launch of the updated Instagram presence, new call-to-actions on the website, and the first stages of email list building.
Weeks 6 onward: Continuous tracking, SEO refinement, and the rollout of a loyalty-driven email marketing strategy.

By mapping out each step with clarity — and considering the manager’s limited time — we made execution approachable rather than overwhelming.