Offline Restaurant Marketing Strategies
Although online restaurant marketing should be a key component of your overal restaurant marketing strategy, we can't forget the low-tech, old fashion offline restaurant marketing. I will cover here three main marketing strategies:
Restaurant bartering
In-restaurant marketing
Restaurant direct mailing
Let's cover each one in more detail:
Restaurant Bartering
Bartering is the action or system of exchanging goods or services without using money.
You can exchange goods or services that you may need for something that you can offer. This is a very powerful mechanism to leverage your assets.
Bartering allows you to do things that you couldn’t do otherwise on a tight budget – to obtain things you couldn’t normally buy if you’re short on cash or if you don’t have unlimited buying power.
Perhaps you are not aware of it, but you have an excellent asset to trade: the dining experience you offer. Think about it. Everybody loves a good restaurant, and this means that you will be able to trade dining at your place for services that you may need - such as advertising, cleaning services, etc.
You can barter with many businesses. Not all businesses are constantly using 100% of their capacity or resources. They are often waiting for more work, so perhaps they could use gift certificates from your restaurant to give to their customers, or to invite patrons or benefactors to lunches or dinners, etc.
There are two main kinds of bartering: One-to-One bartering and Triangulation bartering.
One-to-One Bartering:
It is a direct exchange of your goods and services for other goods and services that you need or want.
Triangulation Bartering:
Perhaps the single most valuable technique for the creative barterer to master is the fine art of triangulation bartering.
By becoming proficient at triangulation, you can make many more barter deals and achieve much higher net profits than the traditional trade deals produce.
Triangulation is the use of three or more separate transactions to achieve your ultimate barter objective. While it may seem complex in theory, it is really simple in practice.
My book Restaurant Marketing Strategies covers both in great detail and I give you the Step-by-Step details of both: One-to-One and Triangulation Bartering.
Bartering is a great way to leverage, to optimize your resources in a creative way without costing you additional revenue. It is a multiplier of your assets.
The great thing about bartering is that you’ll never lose money, because you are investing gift certificates for a dining experience in your place that cost you less than the actual value.
Remember:
You can exchange goods or services that you may need for something that you can offer. This is a very powerful mechanism to leverage your assets.
Bartering allows you to do things that you couldn’t do otherwise on a tight budget – to obtain things you couldn’t normally buy if you’re short on cash or if you don’t have unlimited buying power.
Perhaps you are not aware of it, but you have an excellent asset to trade: the dining experience you offer. Think about it. Everybody loves a good restaurant, and this means that you will be able to trade dining at your place for services that you may need - such as advertising, cleaning services, etc.
You can barter with many businesses. Not all businesses are constantly using 100% of their capacity or resources. They are often waiting for more work, so perhaps they could use gift certificates from your restaurant to give to their customers, or to invite patrons or benefactors to lunches or dinners, etc.
There are two main kinds of bartering: One-to-One bartering and Triangulation bartering.
One-to-One Bartering:
It is a direct exchange of your goods and services for other goods and services that you need or want.
Triangulation Bartering:
Perhaps the single most valuable technique for the creative barterer to master is the fine art of triangulation bartering.
By becoming proficient at triangulation, you can make many more barter deals and achieve much higher net profits than the traditional trade deals produce.
Triangulation is the use of three or more separate transactions to achieve your ultimate barter objective. While it may seem complex in theory, it is really simple in practice.
My book Restaurant Marketing Strategies covers both in great detail and I give you the Step-by-Step details of both: One-to-One and Triangulation Bartering.
Bartering is a great way to leverage, to optimize your resources in a creative way without costing you additional revenue. It is a multiplier of your assets.
The great thing about bartering is that you’ll never lose money, because you are investing gift certificates for a dining experience in your place that cost you less than the actual value.
Remember:
The cost of your food and drinks is spread over a longer period as people use the gift certificates.
The gift certificates are also an advertising tool by themselves since they will bring you new customers that will discover your restaurant and become clients.
You can also use bartering to diversify and increase your sales.
I've just added a new module to my Consulting Services. It is called Restaurant Offline Marketing Consulting. It includes a module about bartering so if you are interested on learning about bartering and how can you leverage this powerful marketing tool to improve your restaurant marketing, I strongly suggest you to check it out.
You can find it HERE.
I've just added a new module to my Consulting Services. It is called Restaurant Offline Marketing Consulting. It includes a module about bartering so if you are interested on learning about bartering and how can you leverage this powerful marketing tool to improve your restaurant marketing, I strongly suggest you to check it out.
You can find it HERE.
In-Restaurant Marketing
Most business owners try to grow their business in order to grow their income. However, they usually try to grow their business linearly, focusing on one area of growth at a time. Not many restaurant owners set up a goal for themselves by thinking linearly.
The good news is that there are only three ways to grow a business. Here they are, nicely described for you:
The good news is that there are only three ways to grow a business. Here they are, nicely described for you:
Increase the number of clients who come to your restaurant.
Increase the amount of money that they spend per visit.
Increase the frequency of their visits (number of times that they dine at your place).
So, what can you do to grow your business geometrically instead of linearly?
It is very simple: you need to grow all three areas at the same time. Every small increment in each of these three areas will combine to create a geometrical growth.
You need to stop thinking linearly and think geometrically. This is the way to really grow a business and to make you leap way ahead of your competitors.
When you apply this multiple growth on the three ways to grow your business simultaneously, you will become a dominant force in your area/specialty.
It is very simple: you need to grow all three areas at the same time. Every small increment in each of these three areas will combine to create a geometrical growth.
You need to stop thinking linearly and think geometrically. This is the way to really grow a business and to make you leap way ahead of your competitors.
When you apply this multiple growth on the three ways to grow your business simultaneously, you will become a dominant force in your area/specialty.
What’s the Best Way to Attract More People to Your Place?
Increasing the Number of Clients involves not only bringing new clients to your place, it also means bringing back former clients that haven’t visited your place in a while for whatever reason (perhaps they weren’t happy with your former way of doing business or they just forgot about your place. Hey - it happens!).
Increasing the number of customers is the initiative where restaurant owners focus and spend most of their money when they think about growing their business. That’s also the area where most of the advertising sales people put their emphasis on, and this explains why restaurants spend a lot of money in bringing new people through their doors.
This doesn’t seem logical; after all, most of the restaurateurs expend the bulk of their marketing budgets to bring new prospect instead of focusing on the clients that they already have or have had.
This is a very important aspect of growing your business. But you don’t need to put as much emphasis on getting new clients in order to grow your business as you should in bringing your clients back and increasing the amount that they spend in your restaurant.
Let’s talk about what can you do to attract more people to your place.
What can you do to convert these people into clients? Into high quality repeated clients... Into the kind of clients that you want?
I mention in my book some things that don’t work: Yellow Pages, newspaper ads (unless you use them to communicate a special event or occasion), radio ads and TV advertising (they are too expensive and very seldom bring enough new people to justify their investment).
So what does work? The key for you to understand is: you need to do marketing that gives you measurable results.
You need to be able to know how many new people walk through the doors of your restaurant, and how many clients come back to your place because of your marketing.
What marketing vehicles do we have available that can give us these numbers?
There are several that we can use. In the book, I examine in detail the following marketing strategies to attract new customers: Coupons, Targeted Direct Mailing, Join Ventures, Networking and my favorite one: A Formalized Referral System.
Referrals are perhaps the most powerful weapon that you have in your marketing arsenal, and for good reason.
These are some of the top benefits that you get from using referrals as a marketing strategy:
Increasing the Number of Clients involves not only bringing new clients to your place, it also means bringing back former clients that haven’t visited your place in a while for whatever reason (perhaps they weren’t happy with your former way of doing business or they just forgot about your place. Hey - it happens!).
Increasing the number of customers is the initiative where restaurant owners focus and spend most of their money when they think about growing their business. That’s also the area where most of the advertising sales people put their emphasis on, and this explains why restaurants spend a lot of money in bringing new people through their doors.
This doesn’t seem logical; after all, most of the restaurateurs expend the bulk of their marketing budgets to bring new prospect instead of focusing on the clients that they already have or have had.
This is a very important aspect of growing your business. But you don’t need to put as much emphasis on getting new clients in order to grow your business as you should in bringing your clients back and increasing the amount that they spend in your restaurant.
Let’s talk about what can you do to attract more people to your place.
What can you do to convert these people into clients? Into high quality repeated clients... Into the kind of clients that you want?
I mention in my book some things that don’t work: Yellow Pages, newspaper ads (unless you use them to communicate a special event or occasion), radio ads and TV advertising (they are too expensive and very seldom bring enough new people to justify their investment).
So what does work? The key for you to understand is: you need to do marketing that gives you measurable results.
You need to be able to know how many new people walk through the doors of your restaurant, and how many clients come back to your place because of your marketing.
What marketing vehicles do we have available that can give us these numbers?
There are several that we can use. In the book, I examine in detail the following marketing strategies to attract new customers: Coupons, Targeted Direct Mailing, Join Ventures, Networking and my favorite one: A Formalized Referral System.
Referrals are perhaps the most powerful weapon that you have in your marketing arsenal, and for good reason.
These are some of the top benefits that you get from using referrals as a marketing strategy:
It is very inexpensive to implement.
It brings quality people who you’ll be able to convert into clients.
It gives you instantaneous credibility. People trust their friends and colleagues much more than any brochure, flyer, or ad that you can create.
It fills your restaurant with people who are connected. They will be visiting your business more often with the hope that they will meet their friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc.
It keeps people talking about your place and therefore fresh in their minds.
The beauty of this system is that it has very little downside (just the cost of printing), and unlimited potential.
I’ve created a very inexpensive and foolproof restaurant referral system that you can use. You just need to follow 5 easy steps and you’ll be on your way to have a great Referral System. For more information check: Referral System in a Box.
You own to your clients to give them more of the best
These are 3 suggestions to increase their purchase amount:
These are 3 suggestions to increase their purchase amount:
Increase the price of your menu items.
I suggest that you change your menu prices and test the new prices until you reach the perfect price for your items. The perfect price is the one that gives you the maximum amount of profit while still maintaining sales levels. In Chapter 5 of my Restaurant Marketing Strategies book I explain how to do this in detail in the section called Test Your Marketing.
Once you are comfortable with your prices, I recommend that you increase your menu prices annually (perhaps at the beginning of the year) to compensate for the rising cost of living and the erosion of your profit because of inflation.
However, please keep in mind that you need to solidify your client base first and make sure that your regular clients are not overly price-sensitive. The referrals method mentioned before is a great way to capture high-quality clients.
I suggest that you change your menu prices and test the new prices until you reach the perfect price for your items. The perfect price is the one that gives you the maximum amount of profit while still maintaining sales levels. In Chapter 5 of my Restaurant Marketing Strategies book I explain how to do this in detail in the section called Test Your Marketing.
Once you are comfortable with your prices, I recommend that you increase your menu prices annually (perhaps at the beginning of the year) to compensate for the rising cost of living and the erosion of your profit because of inflation.
However, please keep in mind that you need to solidify your client base first and make sure that your regular clients are not overly price-sensitive. The referrals method mentioned before is a great way to capture high-quality clients.
Sell additional merchandise.
Other than the food that you serve and the drinks that you pour, what else can you sell in your restaurant? There are some additional items that you could also offer for sale in your place to increase your profit (again, in my book, I cover several of them in detail)
Other than the food that you serve and the drinks that you pour, what else can you sell in your restaurant? There are some additional items that you could also offer for sale in your place to increase your profit (again, in my book, I cover several of them in detail)
Start/Promote a Catering Business.
This one is more complicated to implement - if you don’t have it already. I won’t go into much detail here since the catering business, because of its peculiarities, will require a whole book to explain the topic.
The idea is simple but I know that the implementation can be complicated. Since you have the equipment, the food, the business and operations experience, advertisement media (your own restaurant, your website, etc.), why don’t you expand your business and create a catering unit that can expand your sales?
This could be a great revenue generator, especially in the summertime or holiday periods when people often host parties at their houses, churches, community centers, etc.
This one is more complicated to implement - if you don’t have it already. I won’t go into much detail here since the catering business, because of its peculiarities, will require a whole book to explain the topic.
The idea is simple but I know that the implementation can be complicated. Since you have the equipment, the food, the business and operations experience, advertisement media (your own restaurant, your website, etc.), why don’t you expand your business and create a catering unit that can expand your sales?
This could be a great revenue generator, especially in the summertime or holiday periods when people often host parties at their houses, churches, community centers, etc.
GOOD NEWS! I've just added a new module to my Offline Marketing Consulting Services that will help you implement a personalized strategy to increase the amount of money that your customers spend in each and every visit to your restaurant. You can check it HERE.
In the end please keep your clients’ satisfaction and dining experience in mind at all times. Don’t try to create so many up-selling systems that you alienate your clients and make them feel added sales pressure.
Start slowly. Implement one or two of these ideas at a time and always - always - ask for feedback from your clients. They will tell you what they like and what they don’t.
Start slowly. Implement one or two of these ideas at a time and always - always - ask for feedback from your clients. They will tell you what they like and what they don’t.
Bring back your best clients over and over.
In this section, we will discuss several proven strategies that won’t cost you too much to implement - and they work like a charm. Remember that the most costly marketing objective (and often the most used by your competitors) is the one designed to bring new people to your place.
However, you know better by now. Your current clients know about your place, they like it and like your food and your service. It’s logical that you should spend some time and effort to make sure they don’t forget about you.
3 reasons why a client may stop going to your restaurant:
There are three main reasons why clients may stop going to your restaurant:
In this section, we will discuss several proven strategies that won’t cost you too much to implement - and they work like a charm. Remember that the most costly marketing objective (and often the most used by your competitors) is the one designed to bring new people to your place.
However, you know better by now. Your current clients know about your place, they like it and like your food and your service. It’s logical that you should spend some time and effort to make sure they don’t forget about you.
3 reasons why a client may stop going to your restaurant:
There are three main reasons why clients may stop going to your restaurant:
They moved out of town or to a new place far away and your restaurant is not convenient for them anymore.
They were unhappy the last time that they went to your restaurant but they never told you.
They just are too busy and forgot about you, or sometimes they remember your restaurant but they keep on postponing going to your place.
We will cover here briefly what you can do to solve problems two and three (there is not much that we can do about number one). However, before you can bring your clients back, you need to know who they are.
Certainly, you may recognize your clients when you see them. You may even know some first or last names for some of them; but do you know how to contact them?
How to Bring Back Your Clients:
Gathering client information is the first step that you need to master to be successful in bringing your clients back.
You need to setup a system to capture your clients’ information. The more information you can gather without being intrusive or violating a client’s privacy, the better off you’ll be.
If you don't know how to capture your restaurant customers' information, I suggest that you read this article:
Certainly, you may recognize your clients when you see them. You may even know some first or last names for some of them; but do you know how to contact them?
How to Bring Back Your Clients:
Gathering client information is the first step that you need to master to be successful in bringing your clients back.
You need to setup a system to capture your clients’ information. The more information you can gather without being intrusive or violating a client’s privacy, the better off you’ll be.
If you don't know how to capture your restaurant customers' information, I suggest that you read this article:
They moved out of town or to a new place far away and your restaurant is not convenient for them anymore.
They were unhappy the last time that they went to your restaurant but they never told you.
They just are too busy and forgot about you, or sometimes they remember your restaurant but they keep on postponing going to your place.
So now that you’ve got your client’s information, what do we do with it?
We do have several great mechanisms to make people think about your place and pick up the phone to make reservations. Let’s look at some of them:
We do have several great mechanisms to make people think about your place and pick up the phone to make reservations. Let’s look at some of them:
Call your former customers if you have their phone number.
This is a very important step to re-activate dormant clients. You can use several steps in this process:
This is a very important step to re-activate dormant clients. You can use several steps in this process:
Collect Data
Contact Them
Update their Addresses
Give Them a special discount or treatment when they visit your restaurant
Send them birthday or anniversary gift certificates so that they come and eat at your place with their loved ones
Tell them about special events that you host at your restaurant
Offer them promotions
Send them monthly or by-monthly newsletters
Tell them about your Website each time that you update it or add something of interest
Offer your restaurant clients a Membership Card or some other kind of rewards for repeated business
So there you have it: plenty of ideas designed to bring you repeated clients. Of course, you can use your imagination and come up with many more ideas similar to these (and by the way, if you would like to share them with me, I would be very happy to hear from you, just send me an email.
If you implement just one of them, you may be able to increase the frequency of visits of your clients by at least 10%; however, if you combine several techniques together, you’ll multiply your success rate several percentage points, following the rule of geometric growth.
Bringing back your best clients is a great way to fill your tables with valuable and committed patrons who love your place and who’ll spread the word about your restaurant, bringing you additional food-loving visitors just like them.
If you implement just one of them, you may be able to increase the frequency of visits of your clients by at least 10%; however, if you combine several techniques together, you’ll multiply your success rate several percentage points, following the rule of geometric growth.
Bringing back your best clients is a great way to fill your tables with valuable and committed patrons who love your place and who’ll spread the word about your restaurant, bringing you additional food-loving visitors just like them.
If you could use some help creating some of these strategies for your restaurant, I have good news for you. I've just added a new module to my Offline Marketing Consulting Services that will help you to implement a personalized strategy to increase the number of visits that your customers make to your restaurant. You can check it HERE.
Restaurant Direct Mailing
Coming soon... (stay tuned)