A Marketing Plan for Restaurant Success. By Jose L Riesco Sunday, 5th April 2009

A marketing plan for restaurant success is essential for attracting new customers to your eating establishment and for promoting repeat business. An effective marketing plan should incorporate several components to attract a broad range of people and be measurable so you can track its results.

Once a restaurant is open and doing well, a marketing plan for restaurant fluidity ensures a healthy profit. Your marketing plan can be a combination of direct mail, promotions, community activities, and effective and traceable advertising. In-house promotions are also effective, such as themed dinners or early bird specials.

A marketing plan for restaurant business includes programs that promote repeat business. For example, a marketing effort that honors customers on their birthday with a special promotion encourages a larger group of diners to join in the celebration. This leads to more people knowing about your restaurant, which in turn, leads to more referrals.

When developing a marketing plan for restaurant stability, evaluate the dynamics of your overall business. This includes identifying your market, comparing your competition, defining your customer base, exploring other customer based opportunities, implementing focused marketing efforts for new and repeat business, identifying your competitive edge, determining menu price points, and implementing up-sell strategies.

A marketing plan for restaurant lifecycles should address busy and slow months. Establish a marketing budget in proportion to your sales. A good range is 3% to 6% of sales. Have a marketing plan that includes advertising in all mediums, as well as promotions on-site, at special events in the area, or in partnership with a charity or other company. Get to know your local media and find ways to encourage free press. Think creatively and consider every opportunity a way to market your restaurant.

A marketing plan for restaurant development can include targeted mailings, coupons, customer loyalty cards, an e-newsletter, a website and gift certificates. Gather customer's emails in the restaurant or through your website for an email marketing campaign. The email campaign can inform customers about specials, send them holiday wishes, or offer them incentives for dining with you on certain nights. Consider efforts that will better connect you with the customer so that they feel part of your family and want to support you.

A marketing plan for restaurant continuity should be easy for all staff levels. They are the ones with direct contact with diners, so they need to be an essential part of carrying out any type of marketing effort. A trained staff is the best marketing strategy because they set the tone for a customer's experience and whether they will return and refer your restaurant to others.

Enhancing customer expectations through the dining experience is an inexpensive marketing effort.

Happy Sailing,

Jose L Riesco

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