5
Dec

Where Did That Traffic Faucet Go?

Need Butts In Seats?

Keep Your Restaurant Marketing in the Neighborhood

Most of us have heard that 80% of your business lives and or works in within your 3 mile radius of your restaurant. If we you threw out the paid advertising and focused on the Neighborhood, Grass Roots, Guerrilla Marketing, your effectiveness, ROI, and your restaurant sales will increase.

The core of your overall marketing strategy (plan) must center around your restaurants neighborhood. Tempting as it may be to hand money over to your newspaper, local magazines, radio and even cable ad rep touting the latest deal for promotion to massively spread your name to thousands for just pennies, per day, resist the temptation until you have a solid Guerrilla Marketing Plan.

Restaurant Branding

Who are You? Who is your Customers Do you have a brand? do you know who your customers are? Hell do you know why they come to your restaurant? A simple old school tactics for doing market research is to find poll your employees and find out where they are coming from. Sound silly, well it ain’t. It is easy all you need is a

Corkboard / Maybe an easel
Do You Know Who You Are?
A map (of your neighborhood)
Pins
A wee bit of Training

Now just collect data, sounds easy, well it is, incorporate some pre-shift meetings, conversations with each and every , host staff, have the wait staff communicate the desire at the table, voila, market research.

Collect Restaurant Marketing Data

Make collecting data fun, Use the time to graciously welcome your guests as they arrive and when the are leaving. Welcome your guests back! (step number 10 in the ten steps of service) have fun, collect names, build relationships, learn names, “The Cheers Factor”.

Now What?… A Hospitality Marketing Plan

Analyse then set up a grass roots campaign (More on this to Follow) do, find other businesses in the area that you can “Coop”, Joint Venture, Ready, Fire Aim… ok maybe not lets create a restaurant marketing plan.

Community Organizing (Not Really)

When I first began managing, I learned a new term MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) my mentor, the regional VP, did this better then anybody I know. The restaurant industry has adopted this term to communicate a style of restaurant management, this can also be a very effective tool in your restaurant marketing campaign.

True MBWA marketing starts with your neighboring businesses, remember joint ventures. A great way to find those other businesses to joint venture with is to first begin building a relationship with the owners and employees, the ideas will happen naturally.

Ciao