Restaurant Marketing Uncertainty
Author: Jose L Riesco

Yesterday I went for a beer with a friend of mine who owns
a small restaurant. We talked about the business (slow
these days), we talked about his family (busy running the
business) and, at one point, we talked about marketing.

"You know?" he said "These days, there are so many
marketing people trying to get your money... " He paused,
drank a sip of Guinness and proceeded.

"They want me to do coupons, they want me to invest in my
web site, they want me to advertise in the Yellow Pages, in
magazines... I don't have money for all of this!"

I looked at my friend, and I understood what he meant.
Marketing professionals pitching -of course - his or her
product as the best way to promote the business bombard
restaurant owners on a daily basis.

They all look good in paper, but which one is the right one
for you? How do you know if a marketing initiative will
bring you the clients that you so desperately crave for?

The answer is: you don't, unless you have a marketing
strategy in place.

You see, some of these initiatives might be beneficial for
your business - and most will be a waste of money - but you
won't know which ones will work unless you know what to
look for.

Before spending a single dollar marketing your place you
need to have a master plan. You need to analyze your needs.

Ask yourself:

- Does your business struggle all week long and you are
looking to attract more customers?

- Or perhaps you seek clients on specific days of the week
that are slower?

- Have you just opened your restaurant, and you want to
increase awareness about your great food and service so
that people know about your place?

- Do you want to market to your best customers to encourage
them to become repeat clients? (This, by the way, is the
best marketing strategy that you can implement.)

- Do you want to promote an event? (Such as a wine dinner,
menu change, charity event, etc.)

- Do you want to target some specific customer profiles
(such as families or professionals or older people, etc.)

You see where I'm going?

Each of these examples will require a different marketing
approach.

If you are aiming to capture older, retired people, you may
not gain much by having a great Web presence, since most
are not very Internet-savvy.

Similarly, if you have a family-friendly restaurant, an ad
placed in a weekly entertainment magazine devoted to young,
concert-going people won't work because your target
audience won't see your ad.

On the other hand, magazines, newspapers and radio ads are
great for promoting a newly opened restaurant or a special
event of promotion. They reach a wide audience and can
spread the word about your place. However, they are
ineffective marketing techniques if you simply want to fill
your place; they are expensive and it's difficult to
quantify their results.

Coupons, however, are interesting.

They could be very effective since they allow you to
measure their impact (you can count how many of them are
redeemed at your place) and can be targeted to fill empty
tables on specific days (valid only on Mondays, etc.).

However, it is important to consider how they will be
distributed and, if they go in coupon packages, which other
restaurants are advertising in them (you don't want to be
the only upscale restaurant packaged with fast-food joints
and pizza delivery services).

So you see: Before you spend any money in marketing, sit
down and look at your needs. Think strategically and make a
master plan.

These are some of the questions that you'll need to ask
yourself:

1. What kind of customers do you want? (Unless your
restaurant is already very geared to a specific audience,
such as families - with decor and food for kids, etc. In
this case you're already got the answer.)

2. When do you need to fill the seats the most?

3. What's your profit margin per dish? (So that you know
exactly how much can you afford to give away in coupons,
etc.)

4. What can you do to attract repeat clients?

5. Do you have a formalized referral system in place? If
not, you should! Not only is this the most cost-effective
and revenue-generating system, but you can implement this
yourself easily without spending any extra money!

6. Do you need to promote a special event?

7. Etc.

If all these considerations overwhelm you, perhaps you
should call in an expert consultant.

Having a consultant that sits with you for a few hours or
days and helps you design your own master Strategic
Marketing Plan could save you thousands of dollars a year
in wasted money and time.

Just make sure that this expert doesn't waste your time
going over your operational details. You want somebody that
can help you define your strategy!

You need to make sure that you spend your marketing dollars
wisely and you can ONLY accomplish this only with strategic
thinking and planning.

Otherwise, it's like starting a road trip in an unknown
territory without a clear destination or a map that shows
you the way. You may end up in some interesting place, but
most of the time you'll be wandering lost in small roads
that take you nowhere.

You can't afford to run your business this way.

To conclude: Sit down and create a marketing strategy for
your restaurant. This strategy will drive your marketing
plan and expenses, and will help you decide what works for
you.

Happy Sailing, Jose L Riesco


About the Author:

Jose Riesco worked in the IT industry for 18 years and
owned a restaurant. Jose has brought top proven marketing
practices to the restaurant industry, making a unique
contribution to this business. By creating a unique
client-centric Strategy, restaurateurs will be able to
dramatically increase their sales while having happy and
repeated clients. To find more about his Restaurant
Marketing Strategies visit:
http://www.myrestaurantmarketing.com