Learn Exactly How To Promote A Restaurant With Style
Promoting a restaurant is no easy task. It’s going to take a lot out of you. These days of global recession and restaurants going out of business, you need to be extra creative if you want to see your restaurant take off. It’s sad to think not every restaurant owner out there could get this right.
The grand opening is no doubt the most crucial period of a restaurant’s life. How you handle this phase either makes or breaks your business in the coming months. So it’s important to promote your restaurant in a positive light as soon as the double doors swing open to receive the first customer.
Here are some tips.
1. The restaurant must have personality
CEO of Quantified Marketing Group, Aaron Allen, has this to say about restaurants being unique,
Define how the brand should walk, talk, act and behave. It will be easier to align the operations and marketing with this in place.
It’s important to identify what makes your restaurant unique, and bleed it until it shows. Brand personality is essential if you want to make an impression on your customers and want them to remember you later on. Allen agrees.
2. Employees can promote your restaurant, too
Ron Yudd, a Gaithersburg-based restaurant consultant, said employees should act as “walking billboards” for your restaurant brand.
Refrain from taking in shy and reserved people. Instead hire passionate applicants who are easy to talk with and love to pass around word about anything new and exciting in your restaurant.
3. Give customers a reason to come back
The first and second pointer invites new customers to your restaurant. This last one keeps them seated at your tables.
Why not consider adding celebrities to your restaurant marketing mix? Offer them a complimentary meal or something. When one comes to visit, grab a couple of pictures, and display them in a prominent place in your restaurant. I’m telling you, exposure of this kind goes a long way.
Another tip. Create special promotions based on local events. For example, during the Writer’s Guild of America strike, Campanile restaurant, a Los Angeles-based business, launched a 50% off promo for everyone with a writer’s union card.
The owner of Campanile says,
It’s definitely our thank-you back to our community.
Promoting a restaurant is no easy task. It’s going to take a lot out of you. But if you work hard at it and make all the right decisions with the help of course of an experienced consultant, it is by no means an impossible task. Fact is promoting your restaurant might as well be the most fun you’ll have out of running this business. It is where the story of your success begins.