Getting more customers to visit your restaurant is always a challenge for owners, and this isn’t unique to certain eating spots. Even the restaurants with fantastic food on their menu sometimes have difficulty getting their seats full on Friday nights. Here, we highlight the best marketing trips to attract new customers to your food haven and keep old customers coming back. All ideas listed are realistic, affordable, and suited to every kind of restaurant.
1. Let your aesthetics work for you.
One way to attract more customers is by improving how your space looks and feels. The colors and design elements of the decor should complement your brand. Are you going for a vintage or rustic look? If so, opt for custom furniture with neutral colors, and textures. You can find a good number of quality pieces in specialist online stores. Alternatively, engage with a design specialist and skilled craftsmen to come up with a custom piece of furniture for the space. Select styles to make the space as memorable as your meals.
2. Update your website with a fresh, new look.
B2B buyers and consumers use the internet as their primary means of finding potential customers, which a website upgrade is vital. A restaurant website design company can help on that front. In designing your site, they’ll ensure that it’s well equipped to do all the heavy lifting when leading customers to you. Don’t forget to include your location, contact information, reviews from past customers, and the services you offer. YOu can also employ a restaurant marketing agency to review your search engine marketing and optimization techniques for better results.
3. Don’t forget to collaborate with local businesses.
Local businesses are known to put on countless events all year round. Provided you have the expertise required, there’s no harm in contacting local businesses and pitching your restaurant services to them as a means to market yourself to them and their clients.
When catering for a local business, you should make some considerations to ensure you make the best impression possible. The first thing you can do is tweak your existing menu a little to suit your corporate setting better. Also, think about whether you’ll need extra equipment, where you’ll be making the meals, and whether or not you’ll need to provide staff for serving food. Once you get a contract executed well, you have a higher chance of expanding your customer base.
4. Entice customers with promotions.
Using promotions is another way to get customers trooping in. The trick to success with promotions is to think them through well enough. A good promotion is more than slapping a five percent discount on drinks. Though this might be enticing to many, it’s not guaranteed to hold their excitement for long.
Take advantage of events and holidays, offering set meals or special offers on those days. Days like Valentine and Mother’s Day work well. You could also use events such as the Olympics or the World Cup, where you can introduce buy-one-get-one-free drinks.
5. Ask for referrals from past customers.
If you’ve built a strong relationship with a number of your customers, now’s the time to make use of their loyalty by asking them for referrals. There are great marketing strategies around, but one of the best and resource-free methods is using current customers. However, the trick to making their loyalty work for you lies in your ability to actively solicit referrals instead of waiting for them to bring in people.
One way to take control of the referrals is by incorporating them into your sales process. You could ask them for a review of your service, after which you follow up with a message, asking for referrals. You can include incentives like discounted drinks or meals for every new person they refer to encourage them further.