I have an important event coming up at my restaurant. What's a good way to announce it without spending a lot of money?

Loyalty Programs: One of Your Smartest and Most Powerful Marketing Tools

The restaurant industry can be cut-throat, especially in an economy that encourages people to save money and spend less on things like eating out.  These facts make restaurants the ideal places to create loyalty programs.  In fact, in almost every sector of the industry, loyalty programs increase customers, increase the number of times those customers return to the establishment, and increase the likelihood that they will buy more when they are there. 

So why don’t more restaurants have them?  Well, the simple answer to this is that many restaurants don’t know enough about loyalty programs, particularly how to establish them and how much they will cost.  This creates scenarios in which restaurant owners have misconceptions about loyalty programs and how to administer them.  Many might think that a loyalty program will be too expensive, won't work for their particular clientele base, or will be too much hassle to create and administer. 

The simple fact is that a restaurant loyalty program will significantly increase the frequency and spending of your most loyal customers.  While the number of repeat and loyal customers for most restaurants is typically one-third of the total sales that restaurant makes, you can increase that number dramatically with loyalty program incentives. 

One mistake that many restaurants make in establishing and administering loyalty programs is they offer discounts to their most loyal customers.  This is a mistake because in most cases, customers will be loyal to your restaurant because they like the taste of your food or the quality of your service—not because of the price discount.  This means that your loyalty rewards should be menu items rather than discounts, as customers will be more attracted to this type of reward than they will be attracted to discounts you might offer. 

Establishing a loyalty program is a simple, low-cost way to increase the number of times your customers return to your restaurant.  It isn’t difficult to administer, especially if you use cards that the customers can swipe each time they visit.  You will find that a loyalty program is a smart way to encourage repeat business, as well as a great way to offer free tastings of new menu items that might become available as your menu grows and changes. 

The Importance of Satisfying First Time Customers

First-time customers have a lot of potential for any restaurant that is focused on effective marketing.  To begin with, first-time customers don’t know what to expect, so it is easy to impress them with small details related to customer service or food/service quality that other restaurants don’t provide.  Additionally, first-time customers will immediately compare your restaurant or services with other restaurants that are similar, so it is a good opportunity to surprise them with something that they might not receive from more established or chain restaurants.  

The appeal of the “new” is a strong human emotion.  In fact, when we experience something new that we haven’t experienced before, the simple “newness” of it is exciting within itself.  People enjoy breaking out of their routine or mold, even if just for a meal, and the enjoyment of that experience can be multiplied easily with a few simple things that set the experience apart from others.  

First-time customers are also more likely to share their experience with others.  Take, for example, the couple who decides to go somewhere new to celebrate their anniversary.  They will likely share their dinner date plans on Facebook or Twitter, including information announcing their anniversary.  They are also more likely to “check in” somewhere on FourSquare, or some other GPS enabled application.  This means that their post and “check in” will be announced to all of their friends on these social media applications, which becomes very effective (and very free) marketing for your restaurant.  

The expression “first impressions are the most important” holds true, especially when it comes to growing a customer base.  The first impression that someone has of your restaurant will be the main impression they take with them when they leave, and will color their opinion of your food and services despite how this impression might change over time.  If someone has a good first time meal experience at your establishment, they will always remember it, and will be more likely to return in the future—especially if their first time was to celebrate an important occasion in their lives. 

Tips for Marketing a Restaurant in a Downturned Economy

In a downturned economy, restaurants are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a steady customer base and keep their tables full.  However, there are several tips you should follow when the economy isn’t looking its best—they will help keep you sane (and your restaurant afloat) through the worst of the economic crisis.  

1.       Focus on low-cost marketing strategies.

There are many effective marketingstrategies that cost little to no money, and can help boost your sales more than most of the higher-cost strategies such as print, television, and radio ads.  Since most customers are making online social media and group discount opportunities like Groupon, start with those avenues to attract customers and keep in constant contact with the ones you already have.  

2.       Increase your visibility.

Again, this doesn’t have to cost a lot but can have enormous benefits for your restaurant.  Increasing your visibility means reaching out to your customers on a daily or weekly basis through email campaigns, social media posts, blogs, direct mail, or any other strategy you can find to get your restaurant’s name “out there.”  Getting involved in community efforts also helps to increase your visibility, while also showing your customers that you care about the well-being and progress of the community.  

3.       Update your menu. 

If there are items on your menu that do not sell and/or have a low profit margin, get rid of them.  Do this before you adjust pricing, and if you must adjust the price of your items, do so subtly.  Also, if you feel you need to raise prices, consider other things such as reducing portion size.  In an increasingly health-conscious society, the reduced portion size will be less negative from your customer’s point of view than an increase in price will be.  You can be sure that your customers are feeling the weight of a downturned economy to the same extent you are. 

Reasons To Outsource Social Media And Inbound Marketing For Your Restaurant

A successful restaurant is one that usually has great marketing and a lot of communication with its customers.  In order to get to that place though, restaurants have to take advantage of the multiple opportunities in social media and inbound marketing to boost awareness of their location and menu, and in doing so, attract as many customers as possible.  

Inbound marketing is not only a proven tactic for effective marketing, it generally costs 62% less Cost per Lead (CPL) and has a higher conversion rate (55% higher, to be exact) than other forms of marketing like print media, radio, and television ads.  Most successful businesses, both small and mid-sized ones, have incorporated inbound marketing into their marketing strategy, and it almost always pays off exponentially. 

The reason you should consider outsourcing your inbound marketing—which includes your social media marketing efforts—is because this type of marketing requires a lot of expertise.  Approaching it in the wrong way not only results in ineffective efforts—it can also seriously damage your business’s reputation and brand image.  This is why from day one of your inbound and social media marketing efforts, you should have a solid plan and goal in place for everything that is sent out or posted online.  A lack of professionalism, communication skills, or expertise about the ins and outs of this kind of marketing could be disastrous for your business and negate all of the time and effort spent in doing so.  

Many online marketing companies offer these services at a fraction of the cost you would be paying for more traditional forms of marketing, such as print or radio ads.  They also provide important status and click-through tracking to determine which campaigns are working for you and which ones your targeted customers are not paying attention to.  This will save you valuable time and money in making sure that your customers are responding positively to your inbound marketing campaigns. 

Restaurant Marketing 101

Marketing your restaurant isn’t an easy process—anyone who has opened a new restaurant and attempted to market it knows this.  However, creating a marketing plan doesn’t have to be as complicated as many people make it.  Knowing which facts to consider is half the battle, and once you determine the right questions to ask, marketing becomes a much easier task to take on.  

Here are the first questions to ask when creating your restaurant marketing plan:

1.       Who are my target customers?

2.       Who is my competitor? 

3.        What is the status of the restaurant industry in my area? (How are other restaurants doing?)

The reason why the target customer question is the first to consider is because this question will be the most important one to ask – and the one that will require the most focus.  If you want to have competitive advantage in the restaurant industry, regardless of who you are competing against or the area in which your restaurant is located, you will have to always put the customer first.  Regardless of how great you think your service is, it’s what your customers think of it that matters most.  

People are attracted to restaurants that are clean, consistent, positive, and personal.  This means that in addition to providing a clean and attractive environment for your guests to eat, you will need to make sure that this is provided consistently.  In addition to this, every piece of marketing that you send out – every statement you make, whether in person or in print – should be positive and personal.  The more personal you can make your marketing (for example, acknowledging birthdays and names), the more effective it will be.  

Finally, don’t make the mistake of only focusing on marketing when things are not busy.  You should be focusing on marketing every day—even when your restaurant is overflowing with guests and all the tables are full.  Your best and most effective marketing strategies will happen when customers are present, and this is when you should be building loyalty and relationships with them.  Their word-of-mouth referrals to friends, co-workers, and family members will do more to keep your tables full than all of your marketing efforts combined. 

What are anticipated food services industry trends for 2012?

The National Restaurant Association Finds That Sustainability is a 2012 Hot Trend

The National Restaurant Association surveys restaurant owners, chefs, and patrons yearly to determine the top trends showing up in the restaurant industry nationwide.  As a nationally representative sample, these surveys help restaurant owners determine the direction of their establishment in a sluggish economy, and how to best meet their consumers’ demands while cutting costs.  

It was no surprise that according to survey results, 65 percent of restaurant operators believe in the importance of recycling and have recycling programs in place in their restaurant’s day-to-day operations. The survey also found that 60 percent of consumers prefer to support restaurants that recycle, and 51 percent of consumers said that they are willing to pay more for food at restaurants that recycle in order to show support for the practice.

On their current trends report, the National Restaurant Association also showed that an increasing number of restaurants are implementing sustainable practices as a top priority. Since practices of sustainability and recycling promote a healthy environment, lower costs, and the interest of environmentally aware customers, the potential environmental and economic benefit of these trends just make sense.  

The EPA has released a downloadable guide for food service providers wishing to make their business more sustainable and environmentally conscious.  The guide can be found here: (http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/organics/pubs/food-guide.pdf).  The National Restaurant Association also has several studies and trends related to recycling and sustainability available for download on its website (http://www.restaurant.org/).  According to its findings, restaurants that have begun to put into place new processes that are more environmentally friendly and that reduce food wastes have found that consumers are attracted to the idea, as consumers are likewise becoming more educated, in general, about sustainable practices and the need for it on a wide-spread level.  The message is clear: Environmentally aware business practices are not only smart – they will save you money AND attract more customers.