How does a restaurant increase revenues in times of across the board rising costs?
- Develop a plan.
- Keep it simple.
- Stick with it.
- Leverage—get the most out of whatever you do.
- Synergy—different promotional activities will yield a final result greater than the sum of the activities.
- All staff members must support the programs or there is a potential for failure through apathy and lack of desire.
- Be prudent, but don't withhold funds.
- Use similar or related creative themes in communication materials.
- Use art and type that are consistent.
- Marketing is everybody's job.
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One way is to revisit your marketing plan.
In these times of fast changing market conditions, even if your marketing plan is referred to regularly, it is time for an audit and realignment if that hasn't been done in the last -2- months. If you haven't had a formal marketing plan in the past, creating one and consistent implementation of that plan will boost sales.
Restaurant "marketing" is broken out into four categories:
- in-store merchandising
- local store (community outreach)
- advertising
- public relations
- In-Store Merchandising
Definition: Anything in the store that makes the guest's experience more memorable and will cause them to return on a more frequent basis. This encompasses service, management, menu, specials, happy hours, entertainment, décor and environment.
Local Store Marketing
Definition: Staff outreach to the local community. This simply means communicating with the local community, which would include neighboring businesses, hotels, residents and offices. Identify several ways you can communicate with your local community; what you will say and what you will give them to entice them to try your restaurant?
Advertising
Definition: Communicating with a targeted audience, in order to generate trial and create awareness. Recognize the various advertising vehicles, email relationship marketing, website key word search optimization, radio, TV, newspaper, direct mail, busses, billboards, and others. Be sure to measure results – use exit interviews, sales mix, comment cards.
Public Relations
Definition: Identify community efforts/programs/activities that make sense to be aligned with and promote your alignment with on-site events or with community-wide announcements. The more popular a cause is within your community, the more mileage you get out of an affiliation with that cause.
There are no magical solutions to bring customers in the door and to keep them happy. A commitment to consistency and constant attention/pressure is the key to increased sales.
Need help increasing your sales through marketing? Contact us today for a free consultation.
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