Restaurant Marketing in a Down Economy

With the overall economy in such a mess and people cutting back on spending wherever possible, it’s no wonder that restaurant owners are struggling. All around us, restaurants are closing down (see Restaurant Recession) due to reduced customer spending and higher food costs. So what is a struggling restaurant owner to-do? Should they do more marketing to bring in business or cut marketing expenses and hope to survive until the next up-turn? These are difficult questions facing business owners in difficult times. With after-tax profits in the 2-3% range, any unanticipated increase in operating costs or decrease in revenues can quickly turn a restaurant into a money-losing venture. Check out the NRAs (National Restaurant Association) recent press release (see Restaurant Performance Index). 

So how should all this doom and gloom affect your restaurant marketing efforts? Obviously there is no one answer to fit all situations but here are a few things to consider.

1. BUDGETING: Most experts recommend that you not cut back on your marketing budget, even in a down economy. If you are investing the recommended 5% (of sales) on marketing, and are reasonably satisfied with your results, then you’re already doing better than most. If you are spending more or less than 5% (of sales) then you need to ask yourself why? Avoid the inclination to lower costs by spending less on marketing. Instead, spend time optimizing your marketing strategies so you get the best return on your marketing investment.
2. PLANNING: It’s an unfortunate fact that most small businesses do not have, or use, a basic marketing plan. In difficult times this is even more important. A marketing plan doesn’t have to be long and complicated but should at least reflect your chosen strategies, budget and goals. Just having a plan can lead to better success since you are more inclined to execute better and less susceptible to impulse marketing.
3. MEASURING:  Do you know which of your marketing strategies are really working and which ones aren’t? The only way to know this is if you keep score and measure the effectiveness of your marketing. This could be as simple as asking new customers how they heard about you or as complicated as tracking internet referral links to see how customers found your restaurant on the internet. Bottom line is you need to be continually monitoring the effectiveness of your marketing. If it’s not working then either change it or eliminate it – and then do something else.  

Remember that there are internal marketing strategies you can use within your restaurant to get customers coming back(or referring others) and also external marketing strategies like print advertising, direct mail, etc. to attract new customers. In a lot of situations it might be better to spend more to get existing customers coming back more often than the more expensive strategy of trying to get new customers.

Wow … this is starting to sound like a marketing plan!

Marketing also doesn’t have to be expensive. If you need some new, low-cost marketing ideas then check out this book.

 ‘Restaurant Marketing and Advertising – For Just a Few Dollars a Day’

- Steve  (www.SPMsolutions.NET)

 

Take Advantage of FREE Business Listings

If you haven’t already done so, make sure to enter your business information in the free on-line business directories. You’ll need a business address and website to sign-up, since most of these directories actually check to confirm that you are a legitimate business.

The most popular business directories to use are;

1. Google Maps
2. Yahoo Local Listings
3. Yellowpages.com
4. Yellowbook
5. Superpages

After you have your business listed then the next step is to get some customer testimonials. I would recommend making it very easy for your customers to do this by sending them an email with the specific links to use.

Hopefully this will help you be found a little easier when customers are looking for you!

- Steve   (SPM Business Solutions)

Does Your Website Allow You to ‘Be Found’?

So how do you know if your website is effective at allowing people to find you when they are on-line and searching? Well, there is certainly the technical approach using web analytics to track how many visitors you get, which keywords people use to find you, how long they stay on your site and which pages they visit. This is the best approach but the job of a internet marketing expert or business coach. Alternatively, you can try this simple non-technical approach and evaluate your website effectiveness yourself.

First you need to determine the top phrases that people might use to find you. This is a little tricky since not everyone thinks alike so it’s always best to come up with your best guess and then ask others what they might use. Without making this process too complicated and time-consuming, I’d suggest the following strategy.

1. First determine the top 3 (multi-word) phrases that new prospects might use to find a business like yours (in your same city) with similar types of products and services .
2. Next determine the top 2 (multi-word phrases that your current customers might use if they were searching the web to find you (hopefully to refer you to someone else).

This will give you five key-word search-phrases to test out using the top search engines.

For example if you are a local dentist you might use;

1. “dentist family san jose”
2. “dentist invisalign san jose”
3. “dentist braces blueshield san jose”
4. “dr smith dentist san jose”
5. “my smile dentistry san jose”

Or if you are a local restaurant you might come up with;

1. “italian food san jose”
2. “italian restaurant romantic san jose”
3. “italian lasagna san jose”
4. “original luigi’s san jose”
5. “luigi’s reservations san jose”

Now go ahead and enter these ‘key-word’ search phrases in the top search engines and see how you come out. Luckily, the top three sites account for over 85% of the internet searches.

1. http://www.google.com/
2. http://search.yahoo.com/
3. http://www.live.com/

So did you or your business show up as expected? Ignore any ’sponsor links’ or ’shopping cart’ sites since these are usually paid for. Did you show up on the first page? Did you show up at all? If not, you should consider having someone investigate your site to see if it contains the right key words and is search engine optimized (SEO). If people can’t find you (when they are actually looking for you on-line) then your website is ineffective and should be improved. Otherwise you may not be achieving your true business potential. 

For more info on SEO you might <try this post>.

- Steve   (www.SPMsolutions.NET)