| Even the economy is expected to improve in | | | | marketers, ranging from fast food eateries to |
| 2010, industry experts estimate that sales in | | | | high-end establishments. |
| restaurants will decline by about 0.8 percent, | | | | - #3. Yelp. Word of mouth is one of the best |
| compared to $328 billion in last year. It is not a | | | | ways of promote food and services. That's what |
| good news for restaurant managers, because the | | | | Yelp community volunteers are doing. Hundreds of |
| lean sales will force them to face another bitter, | | | | thousands of Yelp gourmets write reviews and |
| hard fight war through 2010. Internet nowadays | | | | read comments about the new restaurants or |
| has magnificent effects on business, but few | | | | better food within their neighborhood or at travel |
| restaurant owners notice it also brings 5 effective | | | | destinations. But Yelp is a double edged sword. |
| while free marketing tools to boost their | | | | You want your business out there and at the |
| customer traffic. | | | | same time you have to take the good and bad |
| - #1. Website- the start of Internet marketing. | | | | reviews online, both of them are broadcast much |
| Even if you already have a website, don't skip this | | | | faster than traditional media. |
| tip. A qualified restaurant website should include | | | | - #4. Social Marketing. After Costco decided to |
| aesthetic design, organized page navigation, and | | | | set up Twitter and Facebook accounts in its |
| fast-responsive page opening in a browser. Don't | | | | marketing plan, why not hurry up to battle for |
| forget to just take half hour to embed an | | | | more fans of your restaurants in this Internet |
| interactive Google or Yahoo map inside of your | | | | Enclosure Movement. If you plan to distribute |
| store locator, so any interested strangers can | | | | deep discount information or state-of-the-art |
| choose a drive route at their own pace, without | | | | services, your fans at those social website can |
| leaving your website. If you don't have a website, | | | | help to broad your news tens of thousand times |
| then congratulations, your business is lagging far | | | | within several days. |
| behind the world. | | | | - #5. In-store Viral Marketing. After bringing online |
| - #2. Local Directory. The local directories are | | | | customers to your restaurants, you should |
| similar to the internet versions of yellow page. | | | | prepare them some different experience they |
| Although some famous directories charge several | | | | never get at your competitors' side, so they can |
| bucks every year, if you search "free local | | | | send out anything about your restaurants to |
| directory", you can still find a lot places to fill in | | | | amuse their readers or friends among those social |
| your website and boost its SEO performance. | | | | networks. In Tampa, FL and 2010 International |
| Since most search engines also provide free | | | | Hospitality week, the new multi-touch TouchMenu |
| directory listing, your restaurant location and | | | | systems captivated a lot of attention. Can you |
| services can get attentions from Google and | | | | imagine a 20-year-old virtual waitress explains you |
| Yahoo users at least.Some experienced | | | | every delicious food with hi-res images? Or order |
| restaurant marketers may have tried those 2 | | | | a drink from the kiosk to a hot girl in other |
| basic tools, but advanced marketers will never | | | | tables? Or even chat with them in real time? Such |
| stop from here. The ambitious owners are | | | | TouchMenu System also integrates Twitter and |
| seeking more active ways to stand out in the | | | | Facebook for your proactive guests to |
| local community. The following technologies are | | | | immediately start a new word of mouth campaign |
| essential for those ready U.S. restaurant | | | | for you, for free! |