| Deciding to spend money on a marketing | | | | restaurant marketers want to know for every |
| campaign can very often feel like you're rolling the | | | | dollar they spend on marketing campaign......what |
| dice and hoping that it will achieve some kind of | | | | was the net return of that investment. The other |
| success in growing sales for your restaurant. | | | | benefit of being able to measure your efforts is |
| Restaurant owners and managers fall back upon | | | | that when you find those golden ideas that return |
| old standards such as newspaper, radio and even | | | | strong profits, make sure to store that idea in |
| television broadcasting to get their restaurant | | | | your own marketing tool box to be used again |
| name out in their marketplace. They might do a | | | | when the timing is right. |
| neighborhood mail drop with a copy of their menu | | | | The Third Golden Rule I want to talk about is the |
| or possibly a bounce back coupon to the | | | | idea that your marketing campaigns need to be |
| restaurant. Once we have chosen one of these | | | | cost effective. I want you to invest with |
| mass media approaches to call attention to our | | | | hundreds of dollars and not thousands of dollars. |
| restaurant you usually have to pay a large fee | | | | Small independent restaurant owners usually |
| for the service. Generally speaking the small | | | | cannot afford expensive campaigns like |
| independent restaurant owner cannot afford to | | | | newspapers, radio or television. Some of the |
| be paying for expensive media such as | | | | most effective marketing ideas I know of only |
| newspaper, radio or television. | | | | involve spending a few hundred dollars along with |
| Smart restaurant owners live by the following 3 | | | | being Specific and Measurable. There is nothing |
| Golden Rules when it comes to deciding how to | | | | worse than spending thousand of dollars for some |
| spend their hard earned cash on a marketing | | | | kind of broadcast media add that cannot be |
| campaign. The 3 Golden Rules will save you a lot | | | | measured along with not being targeted. You |
| of wasted time and money and keep you | | | | might as well had just taken the money and |
| focused on techniques that will produce a return | | | | burned it in a pit. |
| of investment. | | | | So now that we have reviewed the Three Golden |
| When it comes to Restaurant Marketing make | | | | Rules of picking a marketing campaign, let's take a |
| sure you can say YES to the following 3 Golden | | | | look at the old standards we tend to throw our |
| Rules: | | | | money at... Newsprint, Radio and Television. |
| 1) Restaurant Marketing needs to be SPECIFIC | | | | If you chose any one of these medias to market |
| 2) Restaurant Marketing needs to be | | | | your restaurant... can you say YES to the Three |
| MEASURABLE | | | | Golden Rules? |
| 3) Restaurant Marketing needs to be COST | | | | Are you being specific in terms of the type of |
| EFFECTIVE | | | | customer you are trying to reach? Answer is NO... |
| Rule Number One states you want to go after | | | | media marketing is not specific and broadcasts to |
| targeted customers with a rifle approach and not | | | | a large geographic region. The bulk of your best |
| a shot gun approach. It is not enough to say "I | | | | customers are in a much smaller radius around |
| want to get more customers in my restaurant". | | | | your restaurant and not half way across a large |
| That statement is very hard to identify on where | | | | region. |
| to look or what kind of approach to try to get | | | | Are you able to measure the money you would |
| more business. A more focused or specific | | | | have to spend on this type of marketing? |
| approach to selecting a target would be to say "I | | | | Answer is NO... once again you cannot truly |
| want to find a way to get the office tower | | | | measure your return of investment from these |
| across the street with 1500 employees coming to | | | | common forms of mass media. Were you busy |
| my restaurant for lunch" on a regular basis. Does | | | | today because of a radio ad or was it because |
| that not sound more specific and targeted? Now | | | | the sun was shining or was it because the |
| that you can define your potential customer | | | | weather turned cold? |
| target, isn't it a little easier to brain storm some | | | | Are these types of media marketing cost |
| cost effective ideas to approach those 1500 | | | | effective? Answer is NO...typically speaking the |
| potential diners. | | | | cost to invest in newsprint, radio or television can |
| Rule Number Two for marketing in your | | | | cost you thousand of dollars depending on the ad |
| restaurant states that your marketing approach | | | | and time length. Your investing a lot of dollars on |
| needs to be measurable. You should be able to | | | | an approach that already has two red flags |
| know without a doubt what the return of | | | | against it. |
| investment you received from you efforts. If you | | | | Save your money, time and poor results in |
| cannot honestly measure a market campaign you | | | | marketing your restaurant by insuring your |
| are thinking of doing, then do not do it. Save your | | | | choices follow the Three Golden Rules of |
| money and look for a better solution. Smart | | | | Restaurant Marketing. |