Marketing Ideas for Restaurants

Ninety percent of all restaurants go out of business the first year. This might be due to a number of reasons like bad food, bad service or bad marketing strategy. You can make sure that the food in your restaurant is of the top quality and the service is impeccable, but you need good marketing ideas for restaurants if you want to make it a success. Restaurant business is a tough one, with numerous new restaurants that you have to compete with as well as lure customers away from the old restaurants. Moreover, patrons of your restaurants will be notoriously fickle and will dine elsewhere if you make one mistake. So, it is very important that your restaurant should not only serve the most delectable food with great service but should have the right marketing strategy.

Advertising Ideas for Restaurants

You know and believe that the food that you serve in your restaurant is very tasty and delicious. But your customers don't know that. You need to first recognize your target customers and place some advertisements of your restaurant in newspapers, magazines and newsletters. If you have a very upscale restaurant with an à la carte menu and an impressive wine list, then it is best to run a full color advertisement of your restaurant in the local newspaper. If on the other hand, your restaurant is more like a friendly neighborhood diner which serves affordable family meals, then placing ads in newsletter and giving out flyers is sufficient. Always try to sell the unique selling points of your restaurant. Your restaurant may specialize in steak dinners, delectable chocolate desserts or even sea food. Advertising these unique points of your restaurant to your prospective customer guarantees that your restaurant is a success.

One of the best marketing ideas is to host food events with a special theme like Hawaiian food, Italian food or any other popular but exotic cuisine. Make sure that the food you provide has a lot of variety and decorate your restaurant in that theme. This is a very good way of getting more customers to come to your restaurant and to give your regulars a reason to come back.

Another great advertising ideas for restaurants is to have a tasting menu for those days which are a little slow like Monday and Tuesday evenings. You must have noticed that although you have a waiting list for your dinner menu, the lunch hour is quite slow with very few people drifting in. There is actually a large untamed customer base for the lunch hour. People who work in office do not have time to have a leisurely seven course meal and want something that is quick, affordable and satisfying. So, instead of having an elaborate lunch menu, streamline your lunch menu with some quick and healthy options like soups, stews and sandwiches. Make sure that you advertise these in nearby offices and firms and you are sure to attract more customers in the lunch hour.

Organizing a contest is one of the best restaurants marketing ideas. You can have a contest like pie eating, oyster shucking or making some delectable dessert. The winner can be presented with a free dinner for two with a complimentary bottle of wine.

Some other things that you should remember are to shuffle your menu every two or three months so that you have more variety and can incorporate seasonal fruits and vegetables. Also, the design of the menu should be enticing with appealing name of the dishes printed in a stylish front. If you follow some such marketing ideas in your restaurant then you are sure to have success.