Posted By Guest Blogger Ramya Raju
As a restaurant owner or manager you can look beyond mass media advertising to boost your revenue and business. You have to remember that it’s as important to bring in new customers as it is to get more revenue from your existing ones. They have to become your repeat customers, bring their loved ones with them the next time they are over and drum up some word of mouth publicity for the food you serve and your restaurant in general.
If you are looking to strengthen the bond with your existing customers and bring in new ones then there are some restaurant marketing strategies that you can look into.
Publicity Moves
They will definitely help you attract eyeballs but you have to go beyond the regular events to get desired amount of publicity. In today’s times it’s important to think big and out of the box, while you come up with ideas that gel with your restaurant and get you a lot of exposure. The problem with local events is that they don’t even get a mention in local papers, forget National ones. That’s the reason, a well thought out publicity move is considered to be invaluable in restaurant marketing; you won’t have to worry about getting National coverage anymore.
Social Gatherings: Online and Offline
It’s a good idea to get different social media groups to have a social event at your venue. Social-only discounts will be considered a good gesture at times like these. You should also remember to get their Facebook names and Twitter handles so that you can thank them and build connect. You can also keep them in the know in case you are hosting a special event or a holiday function.
Email marketing has an edge over direct mail marketing because it’s faster, more efficient, cuts down your costs and helps you save paper too.
Public Relations
Having a strong Public and Media relations program is worth its weight in gold because it boosts your restaurant’s image. It’s also important that you keep creating newsworthy stories so that your restaurant gets talked about. Your hiring a new chef might be big news for you but you will have to think of other angles to make saleable stories that will attract attention.
You can take stock of marketing and advertising budget for your restaurant over the last three years and compare it against the money you have spent on public relations. It’s said that 15 to 30 per cent of your budget should go towards public relations. It can also be used in tandem with social Media Marketing to have a bigger impact.
Sampling of your food
At the end of the day it’s the food served at your restaurant that can be the deal breaker for your customers. Hence it’s a good idea to think of ways to get your food graded by potential customers. Remember every public event is an opportunity for you to offer samples of your product to your target customers. Make sure you have a couple of noteworthy items from the menu and dispatch them with your best team members to an event where it’s possible to reach out to your potential customers.
Bounce Backs
It’s an option that surprisingly many restaurant owners don’t make the most out of. It has served as a masterstroke for many because it can bring in more revenue than traditional advertising. To employ this strategy you have to give your customers incentives on popular services at the time of purchase. The incentives can then be used on other occasions when you might be struggling to add revenue. In case you are finding it hard to get customers for dinner, you can give bounce back certificates only for evening hours.
Similarly several offers can be tried and you can keep testing the results you are getting out of them. It will help you narrow down on offers that will bring in a larger clientele. From a direct discount to time or product specific, free item with purchase, you have several options you can explore.
Ramya Raju is a freelance writer/web designer from India. He writes on varied topics like travel, photography, English Courses, SEO, Web Design, Mobile, Marketing etc..He has an experience of about 8 years in content writing and has worked for top blogs and websites. He is generally an extrovert; He likes photography, anthropology and traveling to different countries to learn the culture and living of the local inhabitants to do travelogues.
Contact:
Ramya Raju
E-mail id: ramyaraju896@gmail.com
Website: http://www.englishcourses.pro/
If you are looking to strengthen the bond with your existing customers and bring in new ones then there are some restaurant marketing strategies that you can look into.
They will definitely help you attract eyeballs but you have to go beyond the regular events to get desired amount of publicity. In today’s times it’s important to think big and out of the box, while you come up with ideas that gel with your restaurant and get you a lot of exposure. The problem with local events is that they don’t even get a mention in local papers, forget National ones. That’s the reason, a well thought out publicity move is considered to be invaluable in restaurant marketing; you won’t have to worry about getting National coverage anymore.
Social Gatherings: Online and Offline
It’s a good idea to get different social media groups to have a social event at your venue. Social-only discounts will be considered a good gesture at times like these. You should also remember to get their Facebook names and Twitter handles so that you can thank them and build connect. You can also keep them in the know in case you are hosting a special event or a holiday function.
Email marketing has an edge over direct mail marketing because it’s faster, more efficient, cuts down your costs and helps you save paper too.
Public Relations
Having a strong Public and Media relations program is worth its weight in gold because it boosts your restaurant’s image. It’s also important that you keep creating newsworthy stories so that your restaurant gets talked about. Your hiring a new chef might be big news for you but you will have to think of other angles to make saleable stories that will attract attention.
You can take stock of marketing and advertising budget for your restaurant over the last three years and compare it against the money you have spent on public relations. It’s said that 15 to 30 per cent of your budget should go towards public relations. It can also be used in tandem with social Media Marketing to have a bigger impact.
Sampling of your food
At the end of the day it’s the food served at your restaurant that can be the deal breaker for your customers. Hence it’s a good idea to think of ways to get your food graded by potential customers. Remember every public event is an opportunity for you to offer samples of your product to your target customers. Make sure you have a couple of noteworthy items from the menu and dispatch them with your best team members to an event where it’s possible to reach out to your potential customers.
Bounce Backs
Similarly several offers can be tried and you can keep testing the results you are getting out of them. It will help you narrow down on offers that will bring in a larger clientele. From a direct discount to time or product specific, free item with purchase, you have several options you can explore.
Ramya Raju is a freelance writer/web designer from India. He writes on varied topics like travel, photography, English Courses, SEO, Web Design, Mobile, Marketing etc..He has an experience of about 8 years in content writing and has worked for top blogs and websites. He is generally an extrovert; He likes photography, anthropology and traveling to different countries to learn the culture and living of the local inhabitants to do travelogues.
Contact:
Ramya Raju
E-mail id: ramyaraju896@gmail.com
Website: http://www.englishcourses.pro/
