Easy and Effective Restaurant Marketing Ideas
Quick Win 1: Bring 'Em Back Restaurant Coupons
Give all first time restaurant customers a coupon with a simple offer redeemable on the next visit (perhaps a free aperitif, dessert or after dinner drink). The offer must have no conditions and should be redeemable within the next 6 months. Tell the customer to create in the restaurant coupon and be sure to ask for information you can increase your database. Gauge the results, modify the offer if needed, and when it brings you more business, make this section of your marketing system.
Quick Win 2: Cut Restaurant Costs
While you are busy, it literally pays to take time to review your restaurant costs every six months. An easy way to improve your bottom line is to spend less. When did https://www.pokestuf.net/ renegotiate your credit card charges? Are you getting the best deal from your own wine merchant? Review your menu and check your profit margins - which are the dishes that provide you the best margins? Create a special menu with these dishes to market more. Eliminate your 3 worst-selling dishes and the ones with the worst margins. You will end up surprised at how this regular housekeeping can affect your bottom line.
Quick Win 3: Increasing Restaurant Prices
"If your prices are 10% too low you have to do 3x the work to help make the same profit. If your prices are 10% too high it is possible to lose 43% of your business and still keep up with the same profit." - Larry Steinmatz
One of the fastest ways to increase your restaurant profits would be to raise prices. Just a few dollars on several well-selling items will provide you with exponential growth immediately. That may sound like a frightening idea, but have a closer consider the psychology of pricing and purchasing behavior and you may understand why 80% of restaurant businesses undercharge because of their services and products.
Except in some particular cases, most people usually do not make purchasing decisions on price alone. Don't think me? Just take a shop around at the sunglasses folks have on around you. I bet you see a lot of Ray Bans and Dolce Gabbana sunglasses. This just demonstrates there are other criteria for purchasing behavior than price.
So anything you do, don't ever reduce prices, and certainly don't start a price war. You do not want that to be your competitive advantage because anyone and everyone can undercut you. On the other hand, you should think about raising your prices. Don't allow fear of competition or lack of confidence stop you. If you have true differentiation, you have targeted your audience correctly plus they see a perceived value in your product they are willing to pay for, then you can charge premium prices. Actually, they will expect reduced service and will feel privileged, and you may find yourself selling even more.
In most cases you will find that dropping prices to sell more actually loses you money, while raising prices, in case you sell less, raises your margin.
Even if it seems like a difficult thing to do, test different higher price points for various offerings. Tomorrow increase your prices by 10%. You can view not only how the price rise affects your organization (you will either lose business, gain business or stay the same), but you can then look at your profit margins and adjust accordingly.
Most of the restaurant owners that we work with have experienced the next pleasing phenomena: they raised prices and discovered that not only did they will have more customers (the restaurant is regarded as higher quality), however they had a more reliable and less difficult clientele that also spent additional money and had higher overall tickets.
Quick Win 4: Celebrate Birthdays at your Restaurant
Birthdays, by their very personal nature, are a perfect time to distribute an extremely personalized offer. Of most occasions, this is the most effective as far as restaurant marketing campaigns go. Make sure to gather birthday and contact information in your exit surveys and start a birthday campaign. Send an email or snail mail with a restaurant coupon for a free of charge dessert, drink or meal at the end of the month preceding the individual's birthday month. Allow them to utilize the restaurant coupon for the entire month of their birthday.
You can also propose additional birthday services. Think about ways that would make your visitors life easier - supplying the cake at a special price, giving a special group rate, or including party favors.
A special surprise such as a complimentary easy with a candle and the customer's name and birthday wishes written on it is sure to interest the kid within any customer. You would be amazed at the invaluable positive person to person a simple gesture like that can create.
You can even use a birthday campaign as a way to recruit clients by buying lists with birthdays and postal codes and sending out your special birthday offer in an effort to introduce your restaurant.
Birthdays are very personal, and as we will learn, business is personal. Don't avoid this fantastic possibility to reach out to your visitors and make sure they are happy.
Quick Win 5: Referral Restaurant Gift Certificates
Try this activity now for an instantaneous increase in your restaurant customer numbers. At the end of a meal, give happy customers 3 different gift certificates with a certain amount off because of their next meal at the restaurant (or any other offer that you feel is compelling). Then provide them with 2 more of the dining certificates and ask them to talk about the certificates making use of their friends. The offer ought to be compelling and also have no conditions other than a time limit. Give the recipient enough time to redeem the certificate. Perhaps make the certificate good for six months, or for specific down times that you are trying to fill.