9 Reasons Why Women Make Better Restaurant Marketers Than Men

There’s the saying,

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.“

That should tell you women know a thing or two about food and how to satisfy men with their cooking. It should also explain how more women restaurant managers and owners are driving more customers into their restaurants over the past couple months. And they’re doing this on a shoe string budget.

Looking at current statistics, it seems men are more likely to rely on conventional restaurant marketing techniques than women. Thing is conventional methods are becoming less and less cost-efficient and effective. I thought men took risks more than women, too. But I guess when it comes to restaurant management that simply isn’t the case. When it comes to managing their restaurant business, women have become far more aggressive.

Their secrets…

1. They stay away from print, TV and radio advertising.

2. Instead women seem to have found a niche doing direct mail promotions. Email promotions are also proving effective.

3. Remember the term “USP” or “Unique Selling Proposition” in your management classes back in college? Women restaurant owners know their USP, and they make it a point to convey it to the customer using as few words as possible.

4. It seems women are better negotiators overall.

5. Women do a better job of overseeing their restaurant marketing campaigns than men. So they have a better knowledge of which ones work and which ones don’t.

6. Women tend to remember customer names, addresses and other personal information better than men.

7. They take advantage of press releases.

8. They write better headlines. I have no idea how, but apparently they do.

9. Women understand their customer’s demographic than men.

Maybe it’s about time you think about hiring a woman restaurant operator to manage your restaurant. Better yet, study their methods and tactics and apply it yourself.

This blog post is based from information by Jerry Minchey. He is the editor of Marketing Your Restaurant.

Feel free to leave a comment below.

Get Rid Of Restaurant Marketing Campaigns That Don’t Work Once And For All

I had a good talk with a friend the other day about his restaurant business. Like most restaurant owners trying to crawl past the recession, he was having some problems, and he had hired a couple of consultants to help him get to the bottom of things.

This is what he had to say.

“You know something?” he said, putting down his cup of coffee, “These days so many people are trying to get your money, and I had to figure that out the hard way.”

“What made you say that?” I said.

“My consultants want to me give away coupons. They want to me build a website, to invest in a couple magazines, in the Yellow Pages. Heck, I’m not rich!” he said. “I wouldn’t have hired them if I could afford all those things.“

And he was right. These days marketing professionals have tendencies to recommend expensive restaurant advertising campaigns like they’re talking to Bill Gates. Small restaurant owners simply can’t afford all those stuff.

The truth is, all those restaurant marketing campaigns don’t mean anything—unless, that is, you have a vision in place.

Before you spend a single cent on your restaurant marketing campaign, ask yourself these questions:

• Is your restaurant struggling seven days a week and you’re looking to attract more clients?
• Or is it more like there are specific days where business is slow and you’d like fill them up?
• Did you just open your restaurant and you’re looking to generate awareness for it?
• Are you promoting an event?
• Are you targeting a specific market niche or customer profile?

So do you see where this is going?

A restaurant consultant should get these questions out of the way as soon as you sit down with him or her at the table. If he or she starts handing out your marketing options before these circumstances have been established, then you need to fire one consultant off the payroll.

Learn your situation first, what your restaurant needs, before figuring out which way to go. Doing it the other way around is business suicide, wasting your time and thousands of dollars in the process.

Play smart. Know your situation first before deciding on a restaurant marketing campaign. That’s what I told my good friend.

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Four Simple Ways To Increase Restaurant Revenue During A Bad Economic Period

The recession is real. Everywhere you look, there are establishments closing down for good, and restaurants are no exception. In fact the foodservice industry is one of the most affected sectors by the down economy. As a restaurant operator, how do you get away from this kind of situation?

There are two options – fight or flight. I’m not going to teach you anything about the second option, of course, but in an effort to keep your restaurant going during these tough times I’ll tell you four ways to fight the recession.

1. Know how much money goes into your advertising
Most restaurant operators rely solely on print advertising to get the word out. Thing is, print advertising is largely dependent on “hope” – you hope the ad is done well, you hope someone picks up the paper, you hope that person is hungry enough to order something, etc.

It might be a good idea to look at how much money goes into your print advertising campaigns. If your ad runs 1/4 of a page, consider downsizing to about 1/8 page size. I’m not saying print advertising is worthless. I’m just saying to cut your costs to a minimum.

2. Implement discount coupons
Coupons are nothing new, which is all the more reason why they’re a good choice.

Customers are always looking for a discount, and you’re looking for ways to earn more buck. At the exit, assign a hostess who would stamp cards for your customers. The customer is entitled to a free dessert or entree after collecting ten stamps or so. It’s a guaranteed effective way to increase revenue during a bad time in the economy.

3. Work your staff outside their assigned roles
I believe that a restaurant is only as strong as its weakest staff. So instead of limiting your employees’ responsibilities to their assigned roles, why not turn each of them into a marketing tool?

Distribute discount coupons to your staff with special numbers at the back of the card, assigned to a specific employee. For every coupon that comes back, they get $1.

4. Partner with competitors
This one has got to be one of the most ridiculous piece of advice anyone can give you about the recession. Or is it?

Your restaurant isn’t the only one reeling from the effects of the recession. Your competitors too, I’m sure, are having a tough time of it. So why not, instead of printing on one side of the paper, print on one side and your competitor on the other side and share the costs of the ad? This way you cut down on costs and have more people looking at your ad.

A bad economy is no reason to put your restaurant on its knees. On another note, a recession is really a time to shine, when everyone else is cutting back. The trick is to be creative with your campaigns. Nowadays a restaurant owner is no long just a plain and simple entrepreneur. Above all else, he or she must also be an artist.

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Discover The Recipe To A Successful New Restaurant Marketing Plan

I can’t help but get annoyed at how most restaurants are willing to pay hundreds—no, thousands of dollars for marketing campaigns that don’t work.

I have friends in the business who tell me their clients continue to pay the same sales people who bring up the same ineffective strategies again and again: magazine and newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, blanket mailing of restaurant coupons to the wrong audience, radio ads, etc. These ideas would’ve worked twenty years ago. Twenty years ago.

These days it’s a different playing field altogether.

It should be noted that new restaurants are immediately at a disadvantage. They haven’t found a place in the market yet, and while they’re busy establishing their own niche, big name restaurants are hogging all the hungry diners in sight. Which is why it is critical that the new restaurant’s marketing plan is focused and efficient and fool-proof. Anything less is a recipe for disaster.

An effective new restaurant marketing plan incorporates several different components to attract a wide range of people. It should also be measurable so you can track its failures and successes.

Running a restaurant is much like coaching at the NBA Finals. When putting together a new restaurant marketing plan, consider the dynamics of your business. This includes identifying the market, defining the customer base, checking out the competition, identifying your business’ competitive edge, and implementing focused marketing efforts for new and repeat business. Remember every decision is critical. A wrong move could mean the end of your business.

Those are just some of the things you need to keep in mind.

A good new restaurant marketing plan should address slow and busy months. You should set a marketing budget based on your profits in a certain span of time. Here’s a tip: around 3% to 6% of your sales is good enough. Think creatively and always be looking for opportunities to market your restaurant.

However the most important part of a new restaurant marketing plan is the part that promotes repeat business. For example, cook up a special event that honors patrons on their birthdays with a promotion encouraging other customers in the restaurant to join the celebration. This should get people talking about your new place, which in turn leads to more referrals. Now that’s repeat business ala mode.

This is simply a basic overview on what makes a great new restaurant marketing plan. For more in-depth tips, check back on some of my previous articles in the online and offline marketing sections.

A Guide To The Best Restaurant Marketing Tactics Of Sucessful Restaurant Operators

There’s a vicious cycle going on when it comes to restaurant marketing.

Don’t get me wrong. There are several great ways to market a restaurant. But even so, many restaurant operators simply aren’t made aware of the best restaurant marketing techniques by their consultants or advertising sales people. They want you to come to them from time to time. If it means giving you mediocre advices that work, but still mediocre, then so be it.

For now I’ll be discussing the key points of some of the best restaurant marketing campaigns I’ve seen in recent years. So the next time you talk to your consultant, you’ll know when he or she is holding out on you.

Here goes.

1. Branding
There has been a lot of talk going on about branding. They say a restaurant operator needs to do more branding or else do a better job of it if he or she wants to stay on business. But no one seems to slow down and explain what branding really is and how to build it.

A brand is a promise. Period. The brand is what the media, vendors, employees (internal customers) and most importantly, the customers, come to expect when they sit down at one of your tables. Building your restaurant’s brand means you are closing the gap between what you promised and what you deliver.

As a restaurant operator, it should be your life-long commitment to establish a strong brand for your restaurant.

2. Positioning
Positioning is another word for “marketing gimmick”. It is one of the best restaurant marketing tactics around, though underdeveloped in its execution most of the time.

Positioning is the place your brand holds in the customers’ minds relative to the rest of the competition. For example, $6 quick meals, served in 55 seconds or its free, etc. Great positioning makes effective use of USP, or unique selling proposition. Your restaurant’s USP is what’s yours and yours alone.

For example, both Burger King and McDonald’s sell burgers. But Burger King’s market positioning is they go for flame-grilled burgers while McDonald’s likes them fried.

3. Due Diligence
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Sure. Your restaurant is no great city, but the principle still applies.

The best restaurant marketing tactics do not materialize in a vacuum. They are built on a solid foundation of knowledge and facts, your customers, your competition, your financial history, your market history, other financial factors and all things in between. Not even Coca-Cola could market to everyone all the time.

An exercise in consistent market research and due diligence only has room for business success in the long run.

4. Training
What’s the point of marketing a restaurant that can’t even serve itself? Simply put, even the best restaurant marketing tactics won’t be able to do much for a B-grade restaurant. The money is better off spent on improving internal operations.

Training is a vital component of an effective restaurant marketing campaign. I’m not talking about a grand orientation program. As a restaurant operator, you need to set up an ongoing training regime that improves your staff’s competencies over time. And incorporating restaurant marketing sessions in one of your training programs isn’t a bad idea either.

The most successful restaurant businesses in the country makes use of one or more of these restaurant marketing techniques. Take it from me, employ the above tactics and put them to great effect, and you’ll only see good things to come for your business - thanks to these four key aspects of the best restaurant marketing tactics around.