One of the great benefits that the New Year brings with it is one of opportunity. You get an all-too-rare chance to take a long look at your marketing efforts and answer three key questions: “What did I do that worked?” “What did I do that didn’t work?” and “What can I be doing better.”
If you’re a restaurant owner or a franchise operator who is already hard at work on your 2019 marketing plan, your focus should now be clear. Your goal isn’t just to get the word out about your business. It’s to fill those empty seats in any way that you can. This, of course, requires you to keep a few key things in mind.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
When putting together any analytics driven direct mail campaign, you first need to set an objective for yourself. In this case, yours involves generating the best possible response and getting as many new people in the door as possible. This is good because it’s something you can measure – it’s tied directly to your ROI and ultimately, every night you’ll be able to see how your restaurant marketing plan is doing.
At this point, you’ll also want to take a chance to properly define your customers – this will influence every decision you make with regards to your targeted mailing, especially voice. Remember that different people have different interests and while you don’t want to narrow your target too much, you do want to get as specific as you can.
Finally, dig deep into your customer’s needs – what is preventing them from coming in and having a nice meal at your restaurant or franchise in the first place? Do they feel like they’re far too busy? Do they feel like your prices aren’t in line with what they’re looking for? What are their available resources?
Based on the answers to those questions, you can then craft marketing collateral that addresses those needs and shows them how their life will be better after doing business with your brand than it was before. At that point, all you have to do is sit back, relax and watch the steady stream of new patrons start rolling in.
To find out more information about how to create a restaurant marketing plan for 2019, or to discuss your own needs with a marketing consultant in a more detail, please don’t delay – contact us today.
