Restaurant Marketing Tips – Part 2

Last time, we talked about the fundamentals of restaurant marketing. Today, I want to talk about the digital age has affected restaurant marketing, and what steps a restaurant or diner can take to help see their sales grow.

The Internet has revolutionized restaurant marketing like it has revolutionized everything else. But it is still concerning to see how many restaurants have not taken advantage of what the Internet has to offer in terms of great marketing solutions.

Too many restaurants still rely on word of mouth or pedestrian traffic for their sales. While this will always be the mainstay of their business, it is becoming increasingly more and more competitive to ensure consistent sales growth for individual eateries.

2009, with all of the financial issues we are facing, is going to be tough for most businesses. It will be ESPECIALLY difficult for restaurants. Now, more than ever, restaurants need to focus on long term strategies for consistent growth.

The Internet provides a perfect vehicle to do just that. So let's see what can be done on line to get more patrons at your eatery.

Get a Website: Why is it that more restaurants don't have a custom website is mind boggling. No matter what the upfront cost is, by not spending it you are jeopardizing much more in potentially lost sales. So get one. NOW! A good website will be custom done -from scratch- to convey to the visitor your restaurant's experience. It will be search engine friendly, have lots of pictures of your establishment, lots of pictures of your dishes (people eat with their eyes), your menus (both food and drink), prices, hours of operation, map of your location, and contact info (both phone and email). Don't forget to make sure that your location is listed on every page. This is a great way to ensure that you are found. Nowadays, people want to learn as much about a business before they drop their cash. A website is a great way of doing that.

Start Email Marketing: On your website, allow people the chance to sign up to your mailing list so you can easily send them email updates about specials, events, and promotions. And send these emails out regularly. At least once at week but no more that 3 times a week. When you give your customers their bill, give them a card they can fill out and provide their email information and let them know you want to stay in touch. Some great and affordable email marketing tools include 12ALL and PHPList. Email marketing is completely under utilized by restaurants, so make sure you take full advantage of it and be creative in your use. (More on this next).

REALLY Start Email Marketing: Now that you have a database of customers, and great email marketing software, keep in touch with your subscribers. And keep in touch creatively. Don't just let them know about this weeks specials, use email marketing to help you with your downtime. Use it as a means to kick up sales on a bad day. For example, anyone who owns a restaurant knows how a rainy day can kill sales. So instead of spending the day alone at your eatery, send out an email and offer a 'rainy day special'. Try and make an offer that will entice people to brave the weather and join you for a meal!

Be Wary of Restaurant Directories: In Toronto, restaurants are tempted to join MenuPalace or Dine.TO. While I have nothing against these businesses per se, they all merely glorified restaurant directories. Ultimately, they offer you little in ways of a tactical advantage. Most people will still use Google or Yahoo and do a search for the kind of restaurant they are hungry for. Many of these kinds of sites will offer to develop a website for you for cheap. I recommend against it. Many times, they use template based solutions, that make all of their websites look exactly the same. You're has to stand out. Worse yet, much of the time they do websites in Flash, that aren't search engine friendly. It is much better for you in the long run to invest in a well designed website that is search engine friendly.

Get on Facebook: Facebook groups are a great way to extend your brand. They allow you to reintroduce it to your friends, and allow your advertising to grow organically. Social networking is going to be the dominant marketing tool for the next 5 years, so get used to it. Get on Facebook, start a group, add lots of photos, and start inviting people. It's free, it's easy, it works, and -did I mention?- it's free.

Get on Twitter: Along with Email Marketing, Facebook, and a Website, Twitter is a great way to send out quick messages to your fans. Twitter is basically an on line paging system. Type a message, hit enter, and anyone that is following you on Twitter will get your message. This is a GREAT tool to use in conjunction with an email marketing initiative and ties in very well with Facebook.

Take Professional Photos: I've mentioned this already before, but it bares repeating. People eat with their eyes. The more delicious your food looks the more people will want to eat it. Make sure your photos are professionally done, so they look their most yummy. Once you have them, post them everywhere: your website, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere!

The Internet provides all the tools you need to get a great marketing campaign off the ground for your business quickly, and affordably. And you HAVE to start using it. Effective use of on line marketing techniques can be a Godsend for your restaurant.

Get to it!


Yusuf Gad
President, a5MEDIA inc.
http://www.a5media.ca