Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Marketing Plan for Restaurant Effectiveness

By Jose L Riesco

A marketing plan for restaurant development is crucial for growing the business by attracting new customers to your restaurant and maintaining customer loyalty of your repeat business. A successful marketing plan should feature several parts so that it reaches as many people as possible and its effectiveness is measurable.

Once a restaurant is open and word of mouth has begun to spread, a marketing plan for restaurant flexibility translates to a healthy bottom line. A marketing plan should be a combination of things, like direct mail, promotions, community activities, and radio, television and print advertising. Themed dinners, specials and other in-house promotions are also successful and inexpensive marketing activities.

A marketing plan for restaurant business means enticing repeat customers. Consider marketing efforts that make customers feel special, such as honoring them on their birthday with a special promotion. Not only does this encourage repeat business, but a larger party of diners who will be part of the celebration. This means more people will experience your restaurant, thus creating more referrals.

When developing a marketing plan for restaurant stability, think of the business overall by identifying your market and comparing your competition. Then you can move ahead and define your customer base, explore other customer based opportunities, implement focused marketing efforts for new and repeat business, identify your competitive edge, determine menu price points and implement up-sell strategies.

A marketing plan for restaurant lifecycles will help the business through both busy and slow times. A marketing budget should be set in proportion to your sales, generally 3% to 6% of sales. The marketing plan should have a proportion of advertising in all mediums, promotions at the restaurant, appearances at special events in the area, and involvement with a charity or other organization. Think creatively, introduce yourself to the media to encourage free press opportunities and consider ways to market your restaurant through already established vehicles.

A marketing plan for restaurant development should explore efforts that better connect you with the customer so they feel part of your family and want to support your business. Among the avenues to consider are targeted mailings, coupons, customer loyalty cards, an e-newsletter, a website and gift certificates. An inexpensive marketing plan is an email campaign where you collect customer's emails in the restaurant or through your website and email them regularly about events, specials, holiday happenings and incentives for dining with you at certain times.

A marketing plan for restaurant continuity needs to involve the entire staff since they are in direct contact with customers. The staff is responsible for implementing your marketing vision so they need to be well trained. After all, they set the tone for a diner's experience which determines whether they will return and refer your restaurant to others. At every opportunity, your staff should focus on enhancing customer expectations.

A marketing plan for restaurant effectiveness involves building a strong foundation that includes all areas that could influence business. Among them are changes in the restaurant industry, your market area, your competition, your customers and any other influences. Marketing efforts should also be measurable so you can analyze their value. Whether your marketing plan is established internally or by a marketing consultant, it needs to be an integral part of the daily operations of a restaurant.

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