Running any business these days isn’t easy but in the increasingly crowded restaurant sector, it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out and make your mark. With more cafes and eateries than ever, the job of the modern restaurateur has transformed from just preparing food and serving customers to finding ways to market and promote their business to ensure .
If you run a restaurant and are looking for ways to bring in the most possible customers, below are some novel ideas that might help.
1. Think about your market identity and try to find a niche
One of the easiest and most successful ways to ensure you generate is to become known as a specialist. There’s always a temptation to try and be all things to all people – after all, it’s quite easy to expand your menu – but by trying to find a niche market, you’ll stand much better chances of success.
2. Study your branding
As a business owner, you’ll already have a very keen handle on what your company is and what it offers – however, the same cannot always be said about your customer base. Having a strong, easily identifiable logo, tagline and company name should be top of your list so that clients can immediately recognize your brand.
3. Spend time on your physical marketing
It should go without saying that you need some kind of real-world marketing – at minimum, branded signage to identify your restaurant for passers-by – but you should also think about installing digital restaurant menu boards outside your business, so potential patrons can see what you have to offer.
4. Invest in the web
Whether you go down the route of branching into offering takeaway or delivery food with an e-commerce site, you should still ensure you have a well-designed web presence – one that takes advantage of the significant benefits that can be offered by Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and web marketing. Your clients – both potential and existing – will be far more likely to find you and remember you if you have a website – plus, with SEO, you may well attract additional trade.
5. Build a social media profile
These days, it’s easier than ever for all firms (no matter of type or sector), to forge long-lasting, valuable relationships with their clients by engaging in social media. Plus, you can contact your customers directly using the main social platforms.
By building a strong social profile across the main services – plus actively advertising your pages – you could promote special deals to those people that matter most. Ideally, you should be looking at actively promoting your company on the main platforms – Facebook, Twitter and, particularly for the younger audience, Instagram. If you have video footage, YouTube could also be a valuable resource.
Also, don’t forget the substantial benefits that can come from being on some of the smaller social platforms – for example, Pinterest has a 77% female user base and is particularly well-suited to posting aesthetically pleasing images (e.g., of your best dishes). As with all forms of marketing, the key is to think about your audience first – then choose the right vehicle to reach them.
