Sumptuous food, great ambiance, friendly staff.
These are some of the stellar feedback you often hear from your customers, yet somehow, most of the seats in your restaurant remain vacant throughout the week.
Why is that?
After the initial capital needed to build a restaurant from the ground up, most restaurateurs leave little room to market their business.
Have you considered that your target market may not be aware that you exist?
Advertising through traditional media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers) can cost a small fortune especially for a new restaurant. The good thing is that there are affordable ways to market your business without costing you an arm and a leg:
- Have Happy Hour(s)
Throughout the course of the week, you have probably noticed certain times of the day when business is slow. This is usually in the late afternoons during weekdays, but it could differ depending on your location.
Start having happy hour(s) during this time. Serve your bestsellers at a discounted price for a few hours. Or maybe a buy-one-take-one offer. You can also offer discounted appetizers and drinks that would most likely lead to them staying all the way to dinner.
Happy hours would give first-time customers more reason to come back.
- Host Events
Hosting events is one of the best ways to get your name out there. Once passersby see there is an event going on, it will pique their interest and possibly pick your place to eat. People who haven’t visited your restaurant before will get the chance to taste your food and experience your services.
Here are some ideas for events:
- Seasonal events. Decors and discounts related to seasonal events (e.g. Valentine’s Days, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, etc) will attract the attention of first-time customers.
- Theme nights. Theme dinners will give you the chance to test your creativity. You can, for example, piggyback on a famous TV show that’s airing recently (a The Walking Dead theme night, anyone?). You can also have wine tasting nights, Super Bowl nights, grill nights—really, the sky is your limit. But remember that your theme should still be in keeping with your brand.
- Charities or Fundraisers. Pick a charity that you and your team would feel passionate supporting and raise funds for it. Host this event once a year. More than the exposure you’ll get, this is a great way to give back to the community, as well as create an avenue to have the team bond better.
- Give Away Free Stuff
Who wouldn’t be attracted to the idea of getting anything for free?
One, this would definitely grab customers’ attention. And two, you can finally showcase how good your food is, especially to those who do not want to risk going to a restaurant they haven’t heard of.
A couple of ideas you can try, include:
- Going around the neighborhood to give samples
- Giving away samples outside the door of your restaurant (will work best if your restaurant is in a busy area)
- Supporting a local sports team by giving each player a discount or free appetizer during the season
Keep in mind, however, that the free products you’re going to give should not last for a long time. Always plan ahead. Set a specific amount of time that you can comfortably cook the free food you’re going to offer without it hurting your expenses.
- Conduct Online Marketing
If you find traditional media to be too costly, the internet would give you a really cheap way to market your business. This will also be the avenue where you can let them know of any discounts you’re having, new products, or events that you are about to hold.
- Social Media. A lot of people either Google or trust the recommendations of their friends on social media when picking which place to eat. So create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+. Make sure you take good, appetizing photos. Then promote your accounts to your customers when they come in.
- Email Marketing. This channel is one of the cheapest yet most powerful ways to gain customers in the online world. At the end of service, ask your customers if they’d like to sign up to your newsletters. Get their cards or have them write their names and emails on your address book.
- Location-Based Apps. Check-in apps can be easily used and connected to your customers’ social media. Yelp and Foursquare are two of the most widely used apps, so make sure you have accounts on both. You can offer special discounts to customers who repeatedly check-in, giving them more reason to return.
- Online Business Listings. Online directories are the internet’s version of the Yellow Pages. Search for websites that list down businesses in your area and create an account for each of those. Keep in mind that your customers are most likely searching for a restaurant online, so make sure that you are visible.
- Ask Employees’ Help
Lastly, you can ask your staff to share your business’ posts or help spread the word about your restaurant via their own social media.
This, of course, goes hand-in-hand with your creating a working environment that will make it easy for employees to share the good things about your restaurant. You can also be proactive and set clear guidelines on what and what not to share about the restaurant on social media.
Keep in mind that getting customers to step inside your restaurant is the first step. The bulk of the work is still in the experience they will get while dining with you. Let your food and your service speak for your business and you are guaranteed an increase in your customer base.
