Fill your restaurant with fun promotions.
The restaurant industry is highly competitive and requires not only a great concept but a high level of creative execution. You and your team need to devise ways to keep customers interested in coming to your establishment on a regular basis. From focusing on your amazing menu to loving your ambiance, promote your restaurant in a way that is memorable and inviting to customers of all types.
Pressworthy Events
Create events that will draw a crowd and the press to your restaurant. Consider hosting a chef cook-off or amateur cooking tournament at your place, where a lucky chef will get her item displayed on the menu for a month or two. Get the community involved by allowing them to come sample some of the items and vote for their best picks. Send a press release to the media and even ask one of the food critics to sit on a judging panel.
Get In Business
Make it a point to follow the new businesses that come into the neighborhood and send them a welcome kit with a coupon or certificate for a free meal or appetizer. Check your local city planning, chamber of commerce or newspaper for updates on the new kids on the block. Take a step further for larger firms like a law firm or ad agency and hand-deliver a few treats right before lunch to their office. Giving them a little sample of what you have and some coupons or flyers will help funnel them to your place for their lunch and happy hour needs.
Get Out There
Venture out in the community and participate in local events such as food festivals and outdoor food fairs. Festivals where you can sell signature sandwiches or your specialty breads give a large percentage of the population a chance to taste your offerings, make purchases on quick eats and get to know that you exist. Perhaps you're in an ideal location but haven't marketed yourself enough, and you may have customers who have wondered if you're worth a shot but never took the time to stop by. Get out in the community to put a face to your restaurant and food.
Face Time
Reach out to your local media and offer to host a short segment on their morning show on cooking. Each week you and your team can showcase new items such as cook healthy or the perfect meal for Valentine's Day. Create a contest within the station where lucky viewers can win dinner for two at your restaurant. This free publicity is the perfect alternative to paid advertising opportunities and the partnership can work for you and the media getting out to the community.
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