Effective Restaurant MarketingBrandingPositioningDue DilligenceMenu MixTraining4 Ways To Increase SalesHow Much to Spend on Marketing |
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It takes a lot of careful research, analysis and testing. It’s also ever evolving, which makes it even more difficult to master. The most difficult part is that restaurant owners are in the restaurant business, not professional marketers. But don’t be discouraged.
The fact that effective restaurant marketing is difficult to master is what can give you the competitive advantage. Resist the temptation to change everything at once or to go it all alone. You can start small and build your marketing competencies over time.
In the beginning, do simple programs so you can execute them well and measure the results. And if you’re not sure if your current marketing is working, save your money until you can prove the dollars invested persuade customers to buy more and buy more often.
A brand is a promise. It’s what customers, employees (Internal Customers), vendors, the media and all other key constituents come to expect in dealing with your restaurant. Brand-building is closing the gap between what you promise and what you deliver. A strong brand is one that has alignment between the promise and execution. It’s not something that happens when you advertise, and it’s not that people recognize your logo or recall your advertising.
Positioning is an underlying restaurant marketing component. Positioning is the place you hold in the customers or prospects mind relative to the competition (the cheaper choice, the higher quality choice, etc). Effective positioning involves incorporation of your point of differentiation that the competition either cannot or does not claim.
Effective restaurant marketing must be built on a foundation of fact and knowledge about the market, your competition, your customers, your Internal Customers, financial history, marketing history, the industry, and outside forces that will impact your business. It’s a lot to worry about, but restaurant marketing has to factor these considerations into the overall strategy. Effective market research and due diligence can help you be more effective in your restaurant marketing efforts.
Every six to twelve months, you’ll want to conduct an analysis of your menu. This will include profitability analysis and a competitive restaurant menu analysis. To keep your menu fresh, relevant, and profitable, you’ll need to know specifically how each item on your menu is performing and also how it stacks up next to your top competition. Think of each item on your menu as a tenant leasing space and it has to earn its right to the space you’ve granted it.
Restaurant marketing, human resources, operations and training are inextricably connected. Training is a vital component of restaurant marketing for this reason. Your training will have to go beyond just employee orientation. You’ll need an ongoing program that constantly improves and evolves your staff competencies. It’s also a good idea to include a restaurant marketing component in your training program so that you have a staff of ambassadors to help your sales-building efforts.
New Trial
These are first-time customers buying from you for the first time. They will establish their opinion of your company during this first purchase and decide what percentage mindshare to award you in the future. New trial is the most expensive of the four sales-builders as acquisition costs are typically 7-10 more costly to execute than the other sales builders. However, it is impossible to increase frequency, check average or party size without customers to start with. After a customer base has been established, however, it is advisable to focus considerable efforts on the sales-builders listed below.
Frequency
Is how often existing customers return to you for future purchases. Frequency is generated by developing enduring relationships and loyalty among customers. While it is rare to disagree that frequency is important, an alarming number of businesses fail to appropriate the needed mindshare and resources to developing successful programs.
Check Average
Often refers to the total purchase for each transaction. In this instance, however, we are referring primarily to per person check average – the amount each guest or customer spends at purchase. Check averages can be built through price increases, suggestive selling programs, effective internal merchandizing, and through add-ons or upgrades to name but a few techniques. You’ll want to make sure that the increase in check average remains consistent with your overall positioning strategy.
Party Size
As the name would suggest, Party Size refers to the number of people in each party. Do customers primarily visit alone, in groups of 2, groups of 5 or more? Whatever the number, you’ll want to devise programs that encourage customers to bring more of their friends with them for each visit. Examples of programs include bus drivers eat free, birthday clubs and refer-a-friend tactics. Encouraging party size turns customers into advocates and enlists them as part of your sales-building team.
The fact is, new customer acquisition is 7-10 times more expensive than building restaurant sales through increased frequency, check average and party size.
There are several rules of thumb and ratios in the restaurant industry and there are some for restaurant marketing as well. A typical restaurant should allocate 3% - 6% of sales to restaurant marketing. It’s also a good idea to allocate this money proportionally to your sales volume. Meaning, if July is your busiest month, you should spend a proportionate amount on your restaurant's marketing budget in that month. Some restaurant owners look at slow periods and think that’s when they need to spend money to drive sales, so they spend a big chunk of cash trying to build a happy hour business and forgo building on top of their busy periods. Restaurant marketing can’t change behavior; it can only influence existing behaviors. Spend your restaurant marketing dollar where it will have the best return for your restaurant.