There are thousands of methods that could possibly suit your business in order to attract more customers without having to spend large sums on advertising. The importance of marketing and good public relations in modernizing the business are undoubtedly two modern weapons. Here are ten ideas that could be the beginning of a successful promotion of your restaurant.
10 ways to promote a restaurant
1. Attract the spotlight
Have you set up a new menu? Did you renovate your store? Have you decided to send out a press release announcing the changes you have made to your site? What you may achieve is just a simple reference to a column in the local newspaper. In order to achieve greater visibility, you need to see how you could associate your restaurant with a name or an event that would be in the spotlight for a longer period of time. Could the presence of a well-known chef in your business, the organization of a cooking competition be the beginning for your store to be heard beyond perhaps the borders of your city? Think beyond the classic events that are usually organized by your competitors and the market in general. Challenge people who work in your business to come up with innovative ways to get involved and reward them for it. Collaborate with offices that have stood out for their creative work in similar cases to yours. A well-crafted tactic of attracting publicity can be worth the gold in terms of the positive impact your restaurant will receive.
2. Public relations
Public relations has been labeled as advertising that one does not have to pay for. If you set up a smart public relations program, you will be able to have a targeted promotion of your activities throughout the year without having to spend a fortune. A successful public relations plan comes to give added value to the business, increasing its prestige and reputation in the market. Grow those areas of your business that are or make your business unique. Find a company that treats your restaurant with enthusiasm. If she does not show interest in your store, it will be really difficult to arouse the interest of the media. for your work.
3. Reward your customers’ trust
Invest in the confidence that your customers show in your restaurant during peak times by offering them incentives to come back to you at times of low traffic. A tactic very simple to conceive and execute, but which can bring much more revenue compared to classic advertising. All you have to do is motivate each time a consumer visits your business by encouraging them to visit you again at another time. For example, if you want to increase sales during the noon zone, distribute “repeat” coupons to those who visit you during the night zone with an offer that can only be redeemed at noon.
4. Stop discounts
When a discount policy is used to attract consumers, this process often translates into something negative. Making a discount on the listed prices of the store is like making a discount on the effort you have made over the years to strengthen your restaurant’s position in the market you are targeting. In return, offer extra services that will not be based on the consumption that your customers make when they visit the restaurant. Some of them are: wardrobe service, free parking spaces, wet towels for cleaning after the meal, bites of traditional appetizers accompanied by traditional spirits that are not charged for the welcome, offering sweets at the end of the meal, childcare services such as small toys, toys or crayons and coloring papers for your little guests, free promotional products such as glasses, mugs, pens, hats, etc. Some of what you could offer to your customers from time to time or on a regular basis.
5. Establish business partnerships
You can not imagine how unacceptable or apathetic some restaurant owners are to the idea that they will host business lunches or events by businesses and organizations in the area. Nevertheless, if you choose the right company or organization and offer to cooperate, you will be able to use their resources to advertise your restaurant and at the same time focus on your target market. Create events where food is the protagonist. Be sure to collect enough photo material from the events where the food will be on the back of these photos and promote them in the local publications. Working with a company or even better with a non-profit organization can be valuable as you will be able to use more effectively the funds you can allocate to promote your restaurant and achieve better returns on invested capital for advertising.
6. Taste tests
The tasting process helps the average consumer to trust the foods you prepare or the wines you have on your list. So you should try to “put” in the mouths of your customers the food you serve, thus helping your store to gain recognition. Every event, celebration or event that attracts the consumers that make up your target market is an opportunity to sample your products. Choose the two or three delicacies or wines from your menu that can be easily offered in small portions and together with your best and most trusted employees proceed to a quality offer at no special cost at events in your space.
7. Set up food events / festivals
Creating a food festival, which could become an institution with a name, such as “Düsseldorf Tastes”, is a great way to place your restaurant in the center of the gastronomic map of the wider area, promoting your staff profile but also your business effort. Organizing a food festival, no matter how small or large, gives you the opportunity to attract people from different professions, multiplying your chances of creating profitable collaborations.
8. Set up simple marketing programs
Research shows that a large percentage of consumers eat out at home on their birthday. Make lists of your clients, record their date of birth and check their birthdays at regular intervals. At a time before the day, you send them a letter by mail inviting them to spend the day in your restaurant, including a specific offer as a gift from the company but also as a reward for the trust they show you.
Choose a day of the week that is not as high in terms of traffic. Your customers will have a 50% chance that the business will pay the full value of their meal on that day. Draw for the lucky winner of the offer. Similar actions provoke your customers more than any other, while we see them consuming more items than usual.
Distribute cards that have a table with five rows and five columns. Inside each box, make a note of a different item from your catalog. The visitors of your store who will participate in the action are obliged within a certain period of time e.g. 60 days, to consume the items in any direction of the table. When they manage to consume the five items, they receive a basket in a gift box with various food products or anything else you deem appropriate as a reward for their regular visit.
9. Promote your restaurant to those who eat at home / work
There are employees and professionals who do not have the ability to leave work to take a break to rest during which they can meet their need for food or families who want to dine at home together but do not have time to prepare their food. As a result of this trend of the modern way of life, restaurants should create and communicate new products and services to these groups of the population such as contract delivery and party catering.
10. Create a business with personality
As more and more restaurant guests view going out to eat as a complete form of entertainment, restaurants should offer their customers a set of experiences that compose the name and philosophy of the restaurant they visit. Deal with the character and personality that your store exudes and in this way build a name in the wider market that your customers will trust.
Source: nline.gr
