Six Simple Ways To Improve Your Restaurant’s Publicity

Ask yourself, “Will I eat in my own restaurant?”

The easy answer is “Yes,” but then again that’s an easy question, too. If you really want to understand how the customer’s mind works, you need to put yourself in his or her shoes, and ask yourself the real painful question, “Why should I eat in my own place when there are dozens of restaurants in the area?”

How do you solve this age-old business dilemma? Simple. Work on your restaurant’s publicity. The more you put your restaurant’s name out there, the more people you’ll see coming in.

That’s why, in this article, I’m going to talk about the six most effective ways to raise your restaurant’s publicity. Here goes.

1.    Web and interactive marketing
These days restaurant marketing begins and ends on the Internet. Period. Raise your restaurant’s publicity through blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. Online viral marketing also comes to mind.

Burger King’s Subservient Chicken website is perhaps one of the first successful online campaigns that demonstrated the power of advertising on the Internet. Online marketing is an effective way to increase restaurant publicity, and the practice is definitely here to stay.

2.    More viral campaigns
Viral marketing isn’t limited to the Internet. Think Starbucks and learn by example. Some years ago the coffee giant sent a car around Washington DC with a coffee cup affixed to the roof. It handed out coupons to good Samaritans who notified the driver. The campaign went viral faster than Dominos could deliver pizzas. It created a buzz around town, and Starbucks received plenty of media attention, locally and nationally.

3.    Larger than life PR events
Creating controversial PR events would eventually stir viral news about your restaurant business, which in turn would prompt bloggers to talk about you, and your new place, on the Internet. It’s a vicious yet healthy cycle for a restaurant operator.

Senor Frog celebrated its first location’s opening in Myrtle Beach by creating the world’s largest pair of underpants. It got some restaurant publicity alright, and a spot in the Guinness Book of Records to boot. KFC did something similar by being the first business to erect a logo visible from outer space.

4.    Environmental marketing
Environment-friendly marketing as a way to raise restaurant publicity is always a good thing. Not only are you generating awareness towards your restaurant business, but you’ll be doing the environment a big favor, too.

Refer to this article for tips on how to go green in your restaurant. Then use any of the marketing tactics I mentioned above to tell the world about it.

5.    Niche marketing
It helps to know that Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic in the country. So expect to see more Spanish-language ads, family-oriented promotions, and authentic Hispanic dishes in restaurants over the next couple years or so. As a restaurant operator, what ideas do you have in mind that takes advantages of this growing Hispanic audience?

6.    Brands with more personality
Eating out isn’t all about eating. It’s about the experience too. As customers continue to look to restaurant dining as a form of entertainment, you need to be ready to offer exemplary dining experience to your patrons, not just the meal.

Simply put, the restaurant’s personality plays a big part in the overall dining experience. It helps establish your brand name as well.

I think I hit the nail on the head when I said eating out is as much about experience as it is the taste of the food. While good food and great value is still the knockout combination that would send your competitors out cold, it doesn’t hurt to work on other things such as PR events and personalizing your restaurant brand.

I’ll say it again. Improve your public relations, and everything else will follow. Generate sales by going all out on your restaurant’s publicity.

Proof That Susan Boyle Can Help Improve Your Restaurant Business

The Eagles once said,

“There’s talk on the street, and it sounds so familiar.”

There’s definitely some talk going on in the online world, and it’s about none other than Susan Boyle.

Last month, around the first or second week of April, one or the other, a video of Susan Boyle singing on Britain’s Got Talent was aired on CNN. I was stunned. Everyone in my house was stunned, and the judges and the audience on TV, they were stunned, too. Within minutes of the performance Susan Boyle’s fans had uploaded the video on YouTube and millions of people were watching it at a rate of thousands of clicks per second.

A month later, the lucky – and extremely talented – singer is now a household name. What can your restaurant business learn from this incident?

The point I’m trying to get across is this: viral video marketing. Do you think it’s possible for your restaurant to achieve this kind of success through viral video marketing? The short answer is YES.

“The buzzwords viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness…”

Notice the word “pre-existing”. Viral video marketing is effective, almost too good to be true, because it is cheap because it uses social networks that are already in place, most of them free. In my previous articles I’ve talked about advertising on Facebook, Twitter, etc. This time heed Susan Boyle’s example of viral video marketing.

Thing is you never really know which videos will go viral and which videos won’t. The principle is that it only takes one video out of a hundred videos to become a sensation. It’s your job to find that magic video. I believe that as a restaurant operator you should always be on the lookout for happy moments in your dining and kitchen area, and capture it using any video recorder you could buy these days for less than $150. Now that’s a bargain.

It is common courtesy to ask your customers’ permissions first before uploading the website on YouTube. Keep this in mind. I’m sure they’d say YES anyway.

Check out Kogi Korean BBQ restaurant for sample videos made for restaurant blogs.

Do You Struggle With The Idea Of An Open Restaurant Kitchen?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Last week me and my wife went to this fine dining restaurant near where I work. While we were in the middle of our dinner, the couple at the next table asked the waiter if they could get a tour of the kitchen. The waiter leaned forward and said something I didn’t catch, but I’m guessing it was a “No”.

An open kitchen, it struck me as an interesting idea for an article.

With the foodservice market expanding to the point of over-saturation, as a restaurant operator you don’t only have to provide customers with great food and service, but also peripheral details and good reason to talk about your restaurant. “Their experience needs to go above and beyond the food and beverage,” another blog says. In this regard, a show kitchen fits the bill nicely.

But take note that a show kitchen is something that could either make or break your business. I’ll consider the pros and cons.

Advantages
1.   It keeps employees on their toes
What better way to keep the kitchen staff in check than to allow diners to watch them at work? Some chefs have problems with others burning a hole on their backs while they go about their work, but in my experience most employees get used to it over time. On the other hand they get the pleasure of interacting with diners.

2.    Customers gets to see things for themselves
There are government agencies responsible for monitoring the cleanliness of restaurant establishments. But even so, in my opinion, as a diner I sometimes can’t help but wonder what really goes on behind those double kitchen doors.

By implementing a show kitchen, customers get first hand accounts on how clean (or dirty) your kitchen is even during peak hours. If you can keep the kitchen clean at all times, your diners will definitely be impressed. I am sure a clean place always leaves a lasting impression.

3.    It’s something different
I know. A show kitchen isn’t exactly a novel idea. But still when was the last time you walked into a restaurant with an open kitchen and didn’t find it the least bit interesting? A properly implemented show kitchen area will only generate good talks about your place, and we all know viral marketing is the cheapest and most effective way to advertise.

Disadvantages
1.    Some customers complain too much
The problem with an open kitchen is you leave your staff and restaurant too much at the hands of your customers. Simply put, there are some nitpicky customers who always find something to complain about just for the sake of it.

Be prepared to handle these kinds of customers if you decide to implement a show kitchen. You also need to train your employees how to deal with these situations in case you’re not around.

2.    Extra costs to maintain a presentable show kitchen
Take note that you’ll be spending more on labor and maintenance just to keep your show kitchen at its best possible shape. Not to mention you need to replace kitchen tools and equipment more frequently or as soon as they begin showing the smallest signs of wear and tear, all for the sake of aesthetic value necessary in maintaining a show kitchen.

3.    Customers trying to interfere with kitchen operations
One other problem is customers trying to talk to the cook or else get his attention. I’ve seen instances where diners try to tell the cook what to do and how to do it even when it isn’t even their order to begin with.

You need to put this in consideration when designing the layout of your show kitchen. Make it so there’s an open view of the kitchen, but with minimal ways for customers to interact directly with the chef.

A show kitchen is a double-edged weapon. Use it right and it does its purpose perfectly, swing it the wrong way and you end up cutting yourself instead. Think it over very carefully and consider the pros and cons when designing and implementing your own show kitchen.

Outwinning The Competition Without Cheating

Business is war, or so the Japanese say. Businessmen are always taught to think that there is no room for second place in business, and there is only win or lose to think about in the battlefield.

The difference between war and business, however, is that there is no room for unorthodox and dirty tactics. Businesses are not allowed by law to make comments that will discredit the competition, or else risk legal action.

The only thing that businesses can do to win people over is to promote their products as best as they could. All businesses are affected by this, including restaurants.

That is what restaurant marketing is all about. Marketing is a means to make moves to win market share without resorting to dirty tactics like verbally attacking the competitors.
The Two Kinds of Marketing

Marketing comes in two forms: offline and online.

Offline Marketing

Offline marketing involves the use of traditional methods and media to promote one’s business. There are many ways to facilitate offline marketing, and these methods include:

Flyers

You can choose to distribute flyers about your restaurant, especially if you have just set up and started your business. Flyers are a good way of getting your restaurant to other people’s attention and at the same time gauge interest and response.

Calling cards

A restaurant can also double as a catering service if the entrepreneur so chooses. Calling cards can be distributed to potential clients like big companies, schools, and universities so people will know about your catering service. You can order inexpensive professional looking cards to site like www.vistaprint.ca.

Mass media

Mass media includes TV, radio and newspaper ads. This method gets attention to your business quickly and faster, and is the preferred method next to Internet marketing.

Online Marketing

Since the Internet rose to prominence, people have taken advantage of its communication capabilities. These include businesses. More and more people browse the Internet everyday, and thus information is easily disseminated in the World Wide Web.

Considered the great equalizer, online marketing gives small and large businesses equal opportunities for marketing. It is not unusual for a smaller business to eclipse a larger one in popularity because of effective Internet marketing.

Several offline techniques have also been adapted for online marketing. These marketing techniques include:

Viral marketing

The most effective technique, viral marketing has never been easier online with the rise of social networking sites and forums. Through viral marketing, you can promote your restaurant by maintaining a blog and joining forums about topics relevant to your business.

Of course, you can write about anything you like but to ensure interest in your line of business, it is advisable to write blogs only about restaurants or food to make sure you generate enough interest for viewers to click the link to your business website.

Search engine marketing

Search engine marketing is simply optimizing the content of your website to take advantage of the search engines’ algorithm so that your website is ranked high among other search engine results.

Pay-per-click marketing

Pay per click marketing is an effective yet inexpensive online marketing strategy. Through PPC, your ads appear besides search engine results for keywords of your choosing. What makes this inexpensive is that you can control how much you’d want to spend on this type of advertising.

Merits of Viral Restaurant Marketing

Everyone knows what viral marketing is. Everyone uses it at some point and, even if businesses don’t specifically go into a viral marketing campaign, the customers themselves facilitate viral marketing in behalf of the restaurant.

Viral marketing is very important to a business, especially restaurants. This is because viral marketing involves word-of-mouth, and restaurants are one of those few businesses that are dependent on customers’ opinions in order to bring themselves forward.

What are the advantages of viral marketing over other marketing techniques?

It Is Inexpensive

Viral marketing does not require any expense of some sort. You don’t have spend too much on it. For example, if you’re taking advantage of the Internet to conduct a viral marketing campaign, the only expense you’d be recording is your Internet access as well as paying the person who’s doing the campaign for you.

It Is Very Effective

People rely on testimonials greatly in order to shape their own decisions whether or not to experience the offerings of your restaurant. Viral marketing takes advantage of that by spreading the word about your restaurant.

You can accomplish that by giving quality service to your customers, who in turn will tell their friends, family and contacts about your restaurant.

It Is Fairly Simple and Easy to Do

There are no complicated strategies that come with viral marketing. All you need to do is provide the proper jump-start and the chain reaction will start from there. Viral marketing can also be facilitated both offline and online.

With those points represented, certainly by now you would have grasped the importance and effectiveness of viral marketing in your advertising campaign for your restaurant. The next thing you’d want to know is, how do you start a viral marketing campaign for your restaurant?

Here are some ways that you could start a viral marketing campaign.

Online

The social networking capability of the World Wide Web is remarkable, and very ideal for viral marketing. You can easily conduct a viral marketing campaign in the World Wide Web by just having a username to any of the restaurant-related forums and by maintaining blogs with content related to your restaurant business.

One advantage of online viral marketing compared to offline methods is the wide range of audiences that it can reach. You’d never know where your marketing campaigns lead to as people of all nationalities browse the Internet everyday. You might find a foreigner being aware of your restaurant visiting it on his trip to your area.

Offline

Offline viral marketing is a bit more difficult to do. Unlike online viral marketing which is based on curiosity alone to attract new customers, offline viral marketing hinges on the actual performance of your restaurant.

In order for your offline viral marketing campaign to be effective, you must do your utmost to satisfy your customers so that your campaign is going uphill, and not on a downslide.

You can also give out flyers and calling cards, and post ads in a newspaper to spread the word about your restaurant business.

The Most Important Factor In Restaurant Marketing

Marketing has so many factors and considerations packaged into it. That is why it is so difficult to master, and equally difficult to succeed in. However, what most people don’t realize is that there is only one important factor in marketing. That is why some businesses fail because they fail to give the proper emphasis on this factor.

Now that we’ve built the thrill up, here is what we’re talking about. Customer satisfaction is what most restaurateurs often overlook or fail to give due importance. Most businesses are too busy with building up customer base through aggressive marketing and advertising that they fail to concentrate on the most vital consideration.

How Important Customer Satisfaction Is to Your Marketing Strategy

One of the most effective marketing is viral marketing. In order to understand the importance of customer satisfaction, we should take into consideration what and how viral marketing works.

Viral marketing is basically just buzz marketing or word-of-mouth. Most businesses unconsciously rely on this technique because it is natural and inexpensive.

Viral marketing is mostly carried out by customers who, after visiting a restaurant, tell their friends and family about their experiences. If their experience with your restaurant is good, then expect some good results. However, if their experience has been traumatic, then you’re in for a world of hurt.

Teach Employees to Be Conscious about Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction starts with your employees. A satisfied workforce will always be on the mood to serve customers of a restaurant well. On the other hand, a dissatisfied employee may not be at his or her best when entertaining a customer which can be problematic in the long run.

Employees should also be trained to be conscious about customer satisfaction. Train them to always serve customers with a smile, and to remember that no matter what happens “the customer is always right.” Though really, it’s not always, but should feel they are.

Appeal to Your Customers’ Tastes

Some businesses just offer items on their menu without consideration about their customer’s feedback. If you are just starting a restaurant business, keep track of each individual item’s sales so that you can determine later on which of your offerings are doing well with your customers and which ones need improvement.

Another way to know what your customer thinks is to solicit their feedback. Come up with a small questionnaire that they could answer when their orders are delivered to their tables. This is also an effective marketing strategy in itself as you are making your customers feel important and will aid you greatly in your viral marketing strategy.

Devise Promos Every Now and Then

Customers love promos. This is what attracts them to your establishment in the first place. If you notice, restaurants experience a growth in customer traffic when there is a promotional event going on.

For example, offer a discount on some selected foods or offer something free together with their order on Valentine’s Day or Christmas. You can choose to give a small gift, or offer reduced prices for the duration of the event.