3 Action Ideas To Beat Big-Chain Restaurants At Their Own Game

We live in a world where the big boys dominate the playing field. This is something I’m not going to lie to you about. Especially in the foodservice industry, where big chain restaurants—McDonald’s, Burger King, etc.—get all the customers and a huge chunk of the market. Small business owners are left to feed on the crumbs of these burger giants.

So what to do? As a restaurant owner, you turn to online restaurant marketing, where reaching out to millions of potential customers is easy and affordable. But then you find out the same big burger chains are pulling out all the stops in their marketing on the Internet.

Here are some tips on how you can compete with these established restaurant chains on the Internet:

• Stir up a controversy

Hire a restaurant consultant to come up with a really smart and edgy marketing campaign for your restaurant. Go for shock value, of course taking care not to offend anyone with your antics. This one way, a great way, to separate your restaurant brand from the rest of the competition.

Again it should be noted that the line between edgy and offensive is quite vague. Keep that in mind.

• Mix up your marketing mix

Election period is the time when politicians spam across all media channels their campaign platforms to try and get your attention and, eventually, your vote. This is invaluable knowledge to the keen restaurant owner.

Broaden your marketing effort. Diversify. Billboard and flyers are proven effective in communicating a message. Support them with newer advertising methods such as email newsletters, a restaurant website, and advertising on social media.

• Distinguish your brand culture

Starbucks isn’t the cheapest coffee around. But even so, hundred thousands of people around the world order a Venti Cafe Mocha Frap every day. Why is that? Because people visit Starbucks not only for their coffee, but for the unique Starbucks culture.

Many restaurant advertisements promise something different about their brand. So customers come and sit at the tables, expecting a unique experience. Instead what they get is the same mom and pop experience they know all too well, and this is where you come in.

Build a unique culture for your restaurant brand, advertise it online, and deliver. Sell not just the food but an experience they won’t find anywhere else.

You must understand that toppling the big chains isn’t an easy task. It’s going to be a struggle. But it is possible, with the right knowledge and skills to get your message across this ONE very important medium – the Internet.

Share your ideas about online marketing for restaurants by leaving a message after this post.

Discover The Top 5 Restaurant Trends For 2010

The year 2010 is going to be an interesting one for restaurants. There will be changes, and they will be big, enough to draw the line between success and failure of your restaurant business.

New York-based restaurant consultants Michael Whiteman and Joseph Baum have compiled a list of potential dining trends for 2010. I find their predictions quite interesting, enough to discuss about there here.

The 2010 dining trends are:

1.    Hotdogs and hamburgers. Whiteman and Baum are seeing a spike in burger and hotdog sales in 2010, but not because these foods are cheap. So okay. It’s partly because they cost less than sirloin, but also because they’re delicious, especially when garnished with homemade relishes.

2.    Fresh is healthy. People are starting to get more health-conscious in the face of apocalyptic movies such as The Road and 2012. And it is a common belief that local, fresh and handmade foods are healthier foods. Keep this in mind when organizing your menu.

3.    Strong tart flavors. A lot of people have been avoiding strong tart tastes for the past couple years. It’s about time these flavors make a comeback. Homemade pickles, sour candies, anyone?

4.    What’s on their menu? The best way to make money in a recession is to steal your competitor’s customers. How are you going to do that? Start by stealing their top menu items. Pizzerias now serve fresh sandwiches. Fast-food chains like Burger King brew gourmet coffee.

5.    Bring your brand to the kitchen. Brand awareness does wonders to any restaurant business. Start by partnering with local manufacturers and have them paste your logo on their supermarket products. When families decide to eat out on weekends, they are more likely to come to your restaurant in search of that familiar and homemade-like flavor.

Got anymore ideas for 2010? Share them by leaving a comment below.

If You Don’t Monitor Your Restaurant’s Brand On Twitter Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later

It was three in the morning—I couldn’t sleep—when the idea for this article suddenly hit me while I was browsing through my Twitter updates. A friend of a friend of mine posted an update about a certain restaurant brand I’d rather not name. Anyway, the message went something like this,

“Just came out of this burger joint, and I must say I’m extremely let down they didn’t have Swiss cheese. That’s like riding in a train without handrails or staying in a hotel that doesn’t have towels.”

I immediately passed the update along to my friends as most of my friends are restaurant operators. I wanted to share this guy’s opinions to them, and in the process teach them the value of monitoring their online presence.

Monitoring your restaurant’s brand online is very important, especially on Twitter, where a mere comment has the extremely volatile property to catch on like wildfire.

I was hooked. I checked the followers of this guy on Twitter and it clocked in at 138,945 – he’s a pretty famous personality. It means that at the click of a button some 138,945 people were alerted to his negative opinions about the restaurant, and those were some very valid opinions too, if I might add.

In a split second, the restaurant’s name was challenged.

I can only hope the restaurant knows the word that’s been spreading about it on Twitter and hopefully be able to defend and redeem itself.

That’s the point I’m trying to get across folks. You can’t please everyone. Sooner or later somebody’s going to complain about this thing or that about your restaurant. You can’t stop these things from happening. Even the most famous restaurants have its detractors.

But what you can do, at least, is monitor your restaurant’s brand online. So when something like this happens, you can take care of the disgruntled customer right away and defend your restaurant’s reputation. In a way, it also serves as customer feedback on your part.

Putting on a blindfold and tying your hands behind your back has never been the best way to win a fight.

Five Key Methods In Building A Brand For Your Restaurant

Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee shops in the world, and so far, it has retained a top position despite the stiff competition in the industry. Why? The answer is all in the brand.

You don’t need to be a high-end restaurant just so you can justify the need to have your own brand. If you want to make sure that you can outlast your competitors, obtain a steady stream of new and old customers, and boost your revenues, you have to find a way on how to make your restaurant business unique from all the others.

Knowing where to start can be pretty hard, but you can make it a lot easier by following these 5 key methods:

1. Come up with specialties.

   There should always be specialty of the house in your menu, a type of food that can only be tasted at your restaurant. It can be Grandmother’s secret recipe in making an apple cream pie, or the kind of sauce that you used for your pasta. It doesn’t have to be grand, but it should be enough to highlight the uniqueness of the dish.

2. Develop a slogan.

   When you hear of “Finger lickin’ good,” you instantly know that it’s Kentucky Fried Chicken. The purpose of the slogan is to define what your restaurant is all about, the promise that you’re going to be making to your customers. It will also serve as your general guide in the way you prepare your food or entertain your guests. You can brainstorm among yourselves to decide which slogan would fit your business to a T.

3. Allow your crew to wear a uniform.

   Your employees will play a huge role when it comes to branding, and you want to make sure that they also feel truly involved in the business. One way to do that is to let them wear a uniform. Now, you don’t need to settle for the unusual shirt and pants. You can perhaps add a sombrero if you have a Mexican café or a polo shirt with flowered prints if you are running a Cuban restaurant.

4. Create a name for your restaurant.

   Just imagine how people would call your restaurant if it doesn’t have a name in the first place. Though the rule is always to tickle the fancy of your target market, make sure that your name doesn’t sound too foreign that it becomes so difficult to remember or even pronounce. It may have a meaning or not.

   The most important thing is your restaurant will be associated to that name at all times.

5. Up your customer service.

   Part of the branding is customer service. Usually, people may come for the food that you prepare, but they will be more than happy to come back if they know that your customer service is brilliant. For example, on special occasions, you may have some freebies to the celebrant and to his or her guests. You can have singers who can provide some form of entertainment while your guests are eating their meals.