Restaurant Marketing, Coupons And The Economy

If there’s a perfect time to introduce coupons to your marketing, it’s during an economic downturn. CouponCuisine has tracked search engine statistics of people looking for coupons for over a year. In the past four months (since February 2008) we have seen a 325% increase in related traffic.

Restaurants that normally don’t use limited time offers, Outback for example, have done so recently to weather the storm. Only time will tell if the strategy reaps profits, but the fact that LTOs are being used says plenty.

Bottom-line: people are looking for value. Attracting new and return customers with coupons is not a difficult concept, but when other restaurants are also opening accounts with the direct mailer… it’s even more important to become familiar with Restaurant Revolution’s Clever Coupon process.

Restaurant Marketing, Menu Preparation and Food Variety

Howard Moskowitz has consulted many companies in the food industry to help them discover profitability through offering variety. Clients include Pepsi, Prego, Ragu and many others.

I recommend watching this video of author and speaker Malcolm Gladwell as he details revelations of Howard’s research and life experiences.

Things to note:

• People don’t often know what they want
• There is a great variety in what people like to eat and drink
• Don’t search for the perfect recipe. Instead, seek the perfect recipes.
• Offering variety will increase your audience, and your profit margins.

There are many considerations when crafting a menu. Experts will say to keep the menu small and centralized. My recommendation is to find ways to offer variety around your primary dishes, whether that’s through toppings, sauces, rubs, etc. Offering samples of these might also be wise to ensure guests are satisfied with the full dish.

FohBoh Video Tour - Restaurant Social Network

Find more videos like this on FohBoh

I had the pleasure of working with Ted Cohn and Michael Atkinson to produce this video tour of FohBoh, the premiere restaurant industry social network.

During production I interviewed people such as Doug Golden from AdvanceMe, Ray Villaman from the Tahoe Restaurant Group, Amanda Hite from Talent Revolution, Andy Swingley from Thomas and King, and Matt Urdan from Nantahala Outdoor Center.

If you haven’t already, make sure to join FohBoh and get involved. The amount of resources available are powerful and will do much for your business.

HelpMyBusiness.com - Maverick Marketing Video

Andrew Lock introduced HelpMyBusiness.com today with his first “Maverick Marketing” episode. He offers sound, actionable, wide-scale marketing advice.

For this particular episode, part three was the most impactful for me. Pay special attention to how Andrew addresses the marketing Disney uses for their ticket prices: largest prices at the top, with the greatest value (and most expensive) circled in red. From there, the prices get less expensive… and the least expensive ($60+) feels like a bargain after starting out with their suggested package.

While “Help My Business Sucks” only boasts one episode as of today, Andrew has assured me the pipeline is full. Be sure to check back for updates to this well-produced show.

RipCard - Business Card Referral System

The Restaurant Revolution is about creating systems, tracking and being pro-active with marketing. There are many ways to systematize your marketing processes, and one of the latest and best is a Patent Pending item called the RipCard.

I’ve personally spoken with Alf Marcussen over the phone about his new product, launched April 1, 2008. Now that I understand the scope of this project, I honestly feel you should take a serious look on how it could be used in your own business.

Reason being, it not only creates a system, but you can track the results and test different offers. These are the key features of any serious marketing strategy of the 21^st century.

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