I have a friend who is a restaurant owner. He runs a fairly popular restaurant in his local area. But thing is, 2009 left him with a small hole in his pocket, and now he’s interested in hearing ways how he could cut down on his advertising costs without compromising his restaurant brand awareness. He [...]
Who hasn’t tried Facebook? Who doesn’t even know Facebook? I’d be hard pressed to find someone without a Restaurant City or Farmville account. Simply put, Facebook has become one of the most visited—or overcrowded—websites over the last couple years. A study shows that 6 billion minutes are spent every day on Facebook all over the [...]
Tough competition has forced restaurants to advertise. There are more restaurants than most customers could afford dine in, especially in major cities. So what’s a restaurant owner to do? Advertise, of course, to get the lion’s share of the market. But when restaurant owners think of advertising they think about getting an effective message out [...]
Restaurant operators nowadays are lucky. They don’t know what it’s like to market a restaurant the old-fashioned way: purely word-of-mouth. These days customer feedback is still as valuable to a restaurant entrepreneur, but it’s much easier to get around, thanks to the Internet. Online restaurant marketing tools such as blogs, SEOs, social media and etc. [...]
Social media is a great tool for marketing a restaurant. It’s easy to get going, and most importantly, it costs less than the smallest ad at the back of the morning paper, which nobody reads by the way. But thing is most restaurant owners have this misconception of social media being “too easy” that I’ve [...]
Always try to see things in a positive light, even when there’s tough competition. Fact is if there’s one thing you could take from having other restaurants in your business area, it’s the opportunity to learn from your competitors. As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” This is what came [...]
At a time of affordable burgers at McDonald’s and three-figure meals at Le Cirque, more people around the world spend their days hungry and without food. We all know this. But are we doing anything about it? Pizza Hut is. Last month, Pizza Hut launched an ambitious online campaign to fight world hunger. Partnered with [...]
I’ve been talking about social media—Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.—as means of establishing presence on the internet. Do you own a small restaurant business? There’s no better way to spread that piece of good news than to create a fan page on Facebook or get fans to follow you on Twitter. I’ve also worked with a [...]
I’m sure it’s been made clear that not every single restaurant needs to be on social media. For example, Morrisville Cafe is owned by Ms. Jenkins, a small diner located along Chapel Hill Road and has been in operation for more than 30 years. Here’s the kicker: Morrisville Cafe doesn’t have a website. I doubt [...]
Let’s talk about online restaurant marketing. I have friends who had made a good start with their businesses and are now enjoying a steady flow of transactions from both old and new clients. Their line of services falls under different industries, not just foodservice. But they all did one thing in common, which I suggested [...]