A Guide To Reducing Advertising Costs For Restaurant Owners

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 used to enjoy advertising in food magazines, etc. But when those publications demanded higher fees, my friend knew he needed to look someplace else if he wanted to keep advertising.

I was lucky enough to talk to him one afternoon over coffee, and he happened to share his dilemma. I asked, “Have you tried marketing online?” He said, “No,” and shook his head. “You’re missing out on a lot,” I said. Those were my exact words.

Seriously, what restaurant owner wouldn’t advertise online and not miss out on a lot of good things? So I told him, “You should think about advertising on social media like Facebook and Twitter. That way you’ll reach a broader set of audience without feeling the expensive costs of print media.”

My advice to restaurant owners, start with the most popular social media websites around – Facebook, MySpace, Multiply, etc. Of course, Twitter. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, online restaurant marketing, then you can move on to deeper stuff like blogging. You could write for the blog yourself if you’ve got the time. Otherwise, you could hire a blogger or assign one of your chefs to blog on his or her spare time—of course, with proper compensation.

My friend was worried about the same thing. “I’m not a computer person,” he said. “I know my way around the kitchen, but I can’t tell one side of an iPod from the other. Isn’t hiring an online marketing company going to cost me more than what I used to spend on magazines?”

That’s a good question. But that’s also where online marketing shines. You don’t need to hire a company. You just need to hire someone—an internet-savvy person—to spend just a few minutes in front of a computer everyday to check your email, send newsletters, update your Twitter status. But here’s an even better solution: why not pay one of your servers to do just that for you? Unless you require your servers to be above the age of 60 and possess a senior citizen’s card, they should know how social media works and wouldn’t mind earning some extra income on the side.

More restaurant owners should recognize the power of online marketing on social media. It’s here, and it’s mostly free-of-charge. Why not use it to boost your restaurant business?

Tell me what you think by leaving a comment below.

Discover How You Can Accommodate Tweetup Dates In Your Restaurant

A lot of people are getting into this digital matchmaking thing these days. I could name at least a couple friends – or friends of a friend – who met their significant other while chatting online or else browsing a social media website. Twitter is quickly becoming a household name when it comes to meeting someone online. And you know, where there’s Twitter, there should be your restaurant.

The term is Tweetup. Tweetup, according to its online definition, is wordplay between “tweet” and “meet up”. People organize tweetups on Twitter. As a restaurant owner, this is a perfect opportunity to market your restaurant and serve as the rendezvous spot for these folks. You get to be the generous restaurateur who provides them a good place to talk and chill as they get to know each other a little better – one coffee cup at a time.

Here are some tips.

1. Designating a secluded area for tweetups doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t have to be a private room. Think of it as a smoking area versus a non-smoking area. Just make it so your tweetup clientele doesn’t have to put up with your other noisy customers.

2. Design simple nametags for your tweetup customers. Remember these people know each other by their online names. Wearing nametags make it ten times easier to find someone you just met online, compliments of your restaurant.

3. Don’t be a snob. As a restaurant owner, come out and greet your tweetup clientele – say a few words about your restaurant’s history, what type of food you specialize in, introduce your head chef, things like that, etc. Trust me, it makes a big difference.

4. Spare them a dedicated waiter, if you could afford it.

5. Offer them special menu pricing. In other words, discounted prices. You could also tempt them to come back a second time by offering them discounted coupons for future visits.

6. Treat them a free dessert or a glass of wine. I’m sure they’d be surprised, and will remember it when they share their tweetup experience on Twitter the next day. This is free online marketing for your restaurant, for the cost of two glasses of wine. It’s a fine idea, don’t you think?

The thing is to make sure they have a splendid tweetup experience at your restaurant. Afterwards, they’ll keep coming back, and maybe even spread the word about your establishment on Twitter. You know the value of positive word-of-mouth as a restaurant owner, right? So for the sake of all things online, put your best foot forward when tending to your tweetup clientele.

Share your insights on restaurant marketing via Twitter by leaving a message below.

3 Sure-Fire Tips To Promote Your Restaurant Brand Without Spending A Fortune

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 and mass appeal. Then they think about expenses, expenses, expenses.

There are simpler, cost-effective ways to market your restaurant. You don’t always have to spend millions to advertise on Super Bowl. Sometimes all you need is a little creativity and a techie friend working at your side.

Here are some tips.

1.    Distribute business cards and leaflets
The restaurant owner must work “on” the restaurant, not “in” it. While your waiters are busy serving tables, you should be monitoring your restaurant and figuring out who your target customers are. In time you’ll form a better picture of your regular clients. These are who should focus on. Reach out to them by distributing menu fliers, leaflets and sample cards.

2.    Stay in the public eye for all the right reasons
It’s important to have locals talking about you, but make sure it’s for all the right reasons. Do this by promoting your restaurant locally. Offer discounts, coupons, and even sponsor charity events. Make sure your restaurant’s presence is heard during festive seasons.

3.    Get into social networking
This is where your techie friend comes in. Social networking is advertising on the 21st century. And the best thing about it is, it’s FREE – or mostly free. Get your restaurant’s name out through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or by blogging, what KogiBBQ did for its franchise. Social networking is the best way to get your name out without spending a fortune.

Tell me what you think about these cost-effective means of marketing your restaurant by leaving a comment below.

Here’s A Quick Way To Send Restaurant Tweets Using Your Mobile Phone Or Blackberry

2009 was a good year for Twitter. It was the year when Twitter finally took off and got the attention of many businesses owners, including restaurant operators. A couple of months later, advertising and marketing your restaurant on Twitter have become essential for any aspiring restaurant owner looking to make a good business.

Thing is, I’ve been receiving calls from my friends saying how difficult it is to use Twitter. They tweet on the move using their mobile phone or Blackberries. I’ll tell right now, you’re really going to have a hard time tweeting if you’re going to do it like that.

Enter TwitterBerry and TweetDeck.

TwitterBerry
TwitterBerry is exactly what its name suggests – Twitter on your Blackberry. But the thing about TwitterBerry is that it makes tweeting extremely easy (as if it weren’t easy enough).

First you need to download the application on your Blackberry. Once downloaded, you’ll be greeted with a simpler interface compared to the usual one on your desktop. Everything is pretty much self-explanatory from here. If you’re using a Blackberry to tweet your restaurant, why not give TwitterBerry a try.

TweetDeck
Do you normally see the message, “about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck” underneath your friend’s tweets? That’s it – TweetDeck. TweetDeck allows you to send tweets faster and more efficiently using your mobile phone.

TweetDeck has a default white font on black background theme, but I think other themes are available online. Unlike regular Twitter, TweetDeck lets you organize your followers under different groups—friends, staff, patrons, partners, etc.—and view them in separate columns. This makes it much easier to browse what group is doing what, and to send tweets to specific groups.

If you’re always on the move and you need to send out a message to your restaurant patrons—special offers, a new event—then TweetDeck is no doubt your best friend.

Share your insights on tweeting for your restaurant by leaving a message after this post.

How Pizza Hut Turned Charity Work Into A Phenomenal Brand Promotion Campaign On Twitter

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 Twitter, the famous pizza chain turned to its 17,500, more or less, followers on the social media site.

For each re-tweet, Pizza Hut pledged to donate four meals to the World Hunger Relief, a support campaign of the United Nations World Food Programme and other hunger relief agencies worldwide.

President of Pizza Hut Scott Bergren says,

Global hunger has reached epic proportions this year — reaching more than 1 billion hungry people around the world. At Pizza Hut, our goal is to get the word out about what can be done to help feed the hungry. We’re asking our customers to help us spread the word through a simple tweet, and in exchange we will provide meals for World Hunger Relief.

The tweet goes like this: “We will donate 4 meals to World Hunger Relief 4 each person who RTs this: http://ow.ly/qWn8 #pizzahut (More: http://ow.ly/r3Cy).”

What does this say about reaching out to customers on social media sites like Twitter?

It’s very effective, especially when done right. The right occasion and the right message could put anyone’s attention on your restaurant, even people who aren’t familiar with your brand, with just a simple Tweet alert.

For tips on how to establish a good following on Twitter, view this post.

Pizza Hut pulled a good one this time – promoting brand name through charity works using an effective online campaign. Is your restaurant doing the same?

Tell me what you think by leaving a comment after this post.

Put Yourself In Their Shoes: Why You Should Become A Customer In Your Own Restaurant

For some reason, the title of a short story I read a long time ago called “Put Yourself In My Shoes” came to me as I sat down to write this article.

Last month I came across an article by Rohit Bhargava on the internet. The article had an interesting title, “Forget Eating Your Own Dog Food - Just Try Buying it…” Rohit believes the best way to understand the customer is to experience your own product and services yourself – from the initial awareness up to the purchase period. That means every single step of the way.

It makes sense. If you put yourself in your customer’s shoes, you’d see things from their perspective. It might explain why your restaurant business is booming, or being unprofitable.

So how do you put this into practice?

The first step is to create a portrait of your ideal diner. What is her social status? Has she eaten at your restaurant or is this her first time? Is she a local or an out-of-town visitor? Is she here to conduct a business meeting or is the meal purely for leisure?

Answering these questions will help you put together an image of your prospective client.

Next stop is establishing a visible online presence. A successful restaurant internet marketing plan is when your restaurant is visible no matter what the ideal client is looking for. If your restaurant is only visible to those looking for it, then you need to reconsider your online marketing mix.

Search for restaurants in your city using Yahoo!, Google, Ask—any other popular search engines. Are you in the Top 20 list of local restaurants? Too bad if you’re not – your online visibility is minimal. If you’re in it, are the descriptions about your restaurant accurate and appealing to first-time diners?

Also look for your restaurant on Facebook and Twitter to check the social media community for fans and detractors.

Last but not the least, it’s time to check your website’s usability first-hand. Pretend you’re a potential diner looking for a place to eat and came across your restaurant’s website.

• Is the address, phone number and email address clearly visible on every page of the website?
• Do you have a dedicated page showing directions to your restaurant’s location?
• Is the menu available online? Is it in an easy-to-read format?
• Can you order online?

It’s probably going to take a while to get all of this done, but believe me, and Rohit Bhargava, it’s worth every ounce of effort and penny you put into it. The idea is to thrust your restaurant’s name out there on the World Wide Web, and eliminate every obstacle that stands between the ideal diner and your front door.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. You might just find something useful – a new marketing idea or opportunity – you didn’t know was there from the beginning.

Four Practical Ways To Establish Your Restaurant On Twitter

For restaurants, Twitter is the king of social media. You should know how much faith I have in it if you’re reading this article from my blog.

But Twitter won’t solve your problems if you don’t know how to “catch” an audience. You need to gain their trust, and make it clear that your tweets are an honest attempt at communicating, not just to sell.

If you want to advertise your restaurant on Twitter, you need to attract a following. To attract a following, you need to follow these four practical tips.

1.    Inject humor into your tweets
The corporate world is a dull and boring place, and Tweeter is where mundane life could be more fun.

Practical rule no. 1 is to inject humor into your posts. This reminds followers that not only is there a real person behind your account, but it also help them relax a little towards you and your brand.

2.    Ask questions followers could respond to
Communication is a two-way street. If all your tweets end at that period, guess who’d feel left out?

Practical rule no. 2 is to encourage customer interaction by asking questions they could relate and respond to. It is also a good opportunity to conduct a survey of your menu and services.

3.    Timing is key to effective promotion
I mentioned earlier that Twitter is where most people look to read interesting stuff about their friends and followers, and this is where proper timing comes in.

Practical rule no. 3 is to limit your promotional tweets to only a couple times per day. Don’t bombard your followers with endless service or product advertisements—that is, unless you want to push them away and follow someone else.

4.    Be human
I can’t stress this enough. This is perhaps the most important piece of advice I could share to you about Twitter.

Practical rule no. 4 is to be human. Don’t make your tweets sound like a bored call center agent who couldn’t wait to put in his eight hours for the day. Show them you’re human and that you are interested in what they have to say. When customers realize they’re being heard, they tend to patronize that product or service—in this case, your restaurant—even more.

Being practical doesn’t end in four simple steps. Post a comment below and tell me your methods on attracting a solid following on Twitter.

The Truth About Yelp And How It Helps (Or Hurts) Your Restaurant

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 few clients whom I asked the question, “So what’s your take on Yelp?” only to get this look on their face as response.

If you don’t know Yelp by now, then you need some catching up to do.

To make a long story short, Yelp is an online review website for bars, restaurants, retail stores and other commercial establishments. Customers sign in and post reviews and tell this and that thing about your restaurant.

In other words, Yelp could be helping or hurting your business right this minute, and the scary thing is you just found out about it.

Here is the thing. Yelp’s review system makes it possible for your competitors to put out a bad word about you by posting “fake” reviews of your restaurant. You can suppress these bad reviews by “sponsoring” Yelp at $150 a month minimum, which is another way of saying “corporate blackmail.”

This “sponsorship” system is Yelp’s primary source of income. But even so, more or less only 1% of businesses on Yelp became site sponsors, which has more to do, I believe, with the owners being unaware of Yelp as a review website than not wanting to shell out the money.

Look at eBay, Amazon, Epinions.com. Online reviews are here and they could burn your restaurant right down to its foundations if you continue to pretend they won’t affect you and your business. As a restaurant owner, it’s important to know what’s being said about your establishment online, and address these praises, issues and complaints appropriately.

Why not conduct an in-house survey? Ask customers if Yelp had anything to do with their being in your restaurant. If it turns out the majority found you on Yelp, then maybe you should consider sponsoring the website.

The younger your target market niche, the more likely they found out about you first on Yelp.

So what’s your take on Yelp? Tell me your experiences with Yelp by leaving a comment below.

Here Is A Method That Is Helping Small Restaurant Owners To Compete With Big Name Businesses

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 to them on their very first day—that is, to make friends online and hopefully turn leads into regular customers.

This is called internet marketing, and as a restaurant owner you ought to call yourself lucky for being “just in time” to take advantage of it.

The one thing I like about online restaurant marketing—or online marketing of any commercial service—is that it levels out the playing field between small business owners and big name corporations. Before the internet, the majority of marketing is done on TV or magazines and newspapers. This means you’ll be spending millions of dollars just to let people know you are opening a restaurant.

For small business owners, this can be killing.

Modern internet marketing, on the other hand, is fought with ideas, not money. You could advertise your restaurant on the internet and not spend a single cent. Your competitor’s fat wallet isn’t a big factor here.

A tried-and-true formula is to advertise your restaurant on social media. Why not invest on a monthly cooking show to be shown, for free, on YouTube? Like my friends, why not sign up on popular social media such as Twitter and Facebook and get to know your market niche better so you could serve them what they want?

A successful business venture is one that takes the time to listen.

Money still plays a role here. Don’t take it the wrong way when I said it’s “free“. But even so, it doesn’t play as big a role as it does when advertising on any other medium outside the internet. You can pay for an online ad space, sure, but you can’t buy the sense of trust and intimacy between brand and client that result when you, the restaurant owner, form a relationship with your customers.

Did you know that only a handful of US restaurants use social media to get their names around? Don’t be one of them. Leave a comment below and tell me how you intend to make a difference by going online.

The Ugly Truth About Restaurants And Social Media

Who hasn’t heard of social media? My kids love their MySpace, I mingle on Twitter from time to time. Even my wife plays her farm and restaurant applications on Facebook.

But here’s the real thing: are restaurants actually using social media? I’ve been raving about them ever since I started this blog, and I’m sure every other consultant and business coach out there is doing the same – trying to emphasize the importance of social media in today’s business environment.

The sad news is that most restaurants don’t seem to be getting the same message about social media.

Chalkboarder.com recently surveyed restaurants in the better parts of San Francisco, New York, and Portland. The survey wasn’t about food preparation or anything like that. They were only interested in one thing: do restaurants actually use social media?

About 80% of restaurants in Portland and New York maintain their own website. Pretty good. But not considering that San Francisco only compares by as much as 50%.

The city is home to Silicon Valley, considered the cradle of the internet. If so, then why is it that only half the restaurants in San Francisco are using social media? I don’t get it either.

This is where it gets more interesting. In all three cities, only 10% of restaurants, just about, are using Twitter and Facebook as a free online marketing tool. This is San Francisco, New York and Portland we’re talking about – not Timbuktu or any other location where internet access is either scarce or banned.

The reason why these restaurants aren’t doing anything is beyond me.

Maybe it’s got something to do with the owners coming from an older generation before the internet. The restaurant is going well even without social media marketing, or they can’t afford to hire someone with the marketing expertise. Or the restaurant owner simply doesn’t believe in the kind of influence social media could have on people.

Since I’m here anyway, I’d like to make one point clear. Put social media to good use. It’s convenient, it’s accessible, and most importantly, it’s free. Trust me. If you don’t take advantage of social media now, you’ll be kicking yourself in the #@$& later on.

Are you using social media to introduce your restaurant? How much do you think is it affecting your business?

Leave a comment below.

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