Restaurant Promotion – Some quick tips for success

The popular belief earlier was that 9 out of 10 restaurants close within first year of opening. But it is now reliably established that over 26% of Restaurants close within first year of opening and about 60% shut shop before they are three years old. Such figures can scare off any new entrepreneur from taking the plunge into this business. Many restaurateurs believe that lack of advertising has little, if any, bearing on the failures of their business. They invariably depend on the word of mouth to bring in customers. This probably was true in the days when restaurants were few and loyalty was in fashion. People today continually seek newer experiences i

n everything including food. There are various ways by which you can consider promoting your restaurant in the market and some of these ways are described below.

If you are interested in starting up your own restaurant, then you must first build a proper restaurant business plan. You can also switch over to various restaurant promotion or restaurant marketing systems.

Mass Media is of Little Help

Advertising through mass media usually does not help a business like a restaurant because:

• Its reach is too diverse rendering cost per target audience very high
• It may bring customers in hordes instead of a steady stream
• Your ad has to be large and regular enough to attract attention among many other

Restaurant is a business constrained by both time and space. It needs the Right people to come at the Right time in Right numbers. Unfortunately there is not magic wand which can do it for you. It does not mean end of the road. Modern technology allows you to do a lot of thing which were not possible just a few years ago.

Adopt Targeted Approach

If your restaurant is new, you need to "inform" your target customers of its coming up and call them to experience it. If yours is already an established one, then you have to "keep in touch" with your existing customers while attracting the prospective ones. In both cases the focus should be on communication rather than bombardment. This calls for space as well as ambiance for your message to be effective. It can be best achieved through:

• Using one-to-one communication
• Using niche publications
• Using electronic media
• Piggy riding on local events

It is very important that your customers feel comfortable in acknowledging their patronage of your place within their circle. For this, the concept of your restaurant has to be well defined and well communicated. All this may sound cumbersome, but needs to be done if you plan to succeed. Taking the help of professionals to do this is a worthy exercise and may cost you less in the longer run. All these ways will eventually help you with restaurant promotion and turn your ordinary restaurant startup into a huge success.