Restaurant Marketing in a Down Economy

It would be impossible to get away from the doom and gloom that may or may not be our current economic situation depending upon which station you watch or which blog you read. It’s different for everyone. What we do know is that we all have two options: (1) quit or (2) press on. The question for many restaurants and bars is how do I stay alive, and in fact, grow my business in a down economy?

Here are 5 things you can do to market your restaurant in this economy:

(1) Evaluate What You’re Spending Now on Restaurant Advertising.

Print advertising has been the mainstay of restaurant and bar advertising since the two began, and is difficult to determine value because it’s largely based upon “hope”. You hope the ad is written well, you hope the consumer picks up the paper, sees your ad and wants that steak sandwich combo platter RIGHT NOW. Evaluating your current print advertising is the first place you want to look to trim or redeploy costs. You might consider reducing the size of your ad from ¼ page to 1/8 of a page, but keep in mind the first rule of print advertising: you have to do it consistently and regularly, and you want to always be in the same place.

(2) Repeat Customer Cards

This isn’t new, but in this economy consumers are always looking for a discount. Think about expanding, or implementing, a “Repeat Customer Card”. It’s not expensive, they’re just business cards with checkboxes or punch holes. To reduce fraud, think about getting a little stamp made for $20 and have the hostess stamp the cards as your customers exit – like validating parking. This also gives the hostess the opportunity to alert the customers about a happy hour or lunch special they might not be aware of.

When the customer has say 10 boxes checked, offer them a free entrée of equal or lesser value, or free desert, or a percentage discount.

You could also go a step further and create “Frequent Diner Cards” entitling the holder to a flat rate discount during your slower times – for example: lunches or weeknight dinners. Put an expiration date on the card like 12/31/09 because the recession won’t last forever!

(3) Turn Your Staff Into a Promotions Team

Your neighbors are your best potential customers, especially after last year’s “gas crisis” still has diners reeling about going out. Go traditional door hangers, but not just to the residential areas, don’t forget about the lunch crowd in the corporate offices. Slam them with a coupon, or create your own “lunch club” similar to your Customer Cards. Maybe even get creative with your staff, after all, it’s in their best interest for you to stay in business and to pack out the restaurant. Incentive them with a “code” on the back of your printed materials – something like $1 for every coupon that comes back. Turn everyone on your payroll into a promotions person.

(4) Pool Your Resources

You can minimize your printing costs and promotional expense, and cover twice as much ground by “partnering up” with your restaurant or bar neighbors. Think about printing on both sides of the “paper” one side with your offer and one side with your “competitors” – split the cost and mobilize your new “promotions teams”. Not everyone is going to want to eat at your restaurant every day of the week, but by partnering with your neighbor, you can double the number of eyeballs seeing your offer and create your own “dining enclave”.

(5) Get Creative

You don’t have to blow a lot of cash to put customers in seats. A little creativity can go along way. Think about playing with prix fixe menu with a creative name. Combine your inventory control goals with your sales goals. Offer sampler platters at half price during happy hour to drive in early evening business and “brand” your signature dishes. If you have entertainment, find a niche. Everybody has jazz night, or the house band, find an underserved niche market for music or entertainment. Cover bands are great for this. Let the record companies promote your entertainment for you. If you’ve got 3 Michelin stars you might not want to have “Headbanger Thursday”, but if you’re cooking up comfort food and selling beer by the pitcher – nothing beats a “Grateful Dead Night” for loyal customers who party every night – just make sure you’ve got some veggie dishes!

Just because the economy is in “dire straights” doesn’t mean it’s time to close up shop. Rich Dad, Poor Dad author and guru Robert Kiyosaki recently commented “Businesses that promote while other cut their ad budgets have a better chance of getting bigger….even if the economy is shrinking”. Get creative, leverage your resources, pull your team together as a marketing team and you’ll not only survive, but prevail regardless of what the pundits say on TV!