Creating Restaurant Marketing Campaigns That Are High On ROI

Restaurants are always on the lookout to tantalize their customers with exciting and interesting marketing campaigns that will propel the customers to keep them ahead of the other restaurants in the market. However, merely crafting stellar restaurant marketing campaigns and not gauging the return on investment, is one of the biggest marketing mistakes restaurant owners are found to commit. Hence, whenever you as a restaurant owner is brainstorming to weave that innovative restaurant marketing campaign, before implementing them, try and analyze their ROI so that you don’t invest in something that will drain your restaurant dry.

Marketing is a very integral part of your restaurant’s operations, and hence you must squeeze out new ways to keep your customers hitched. From trying to capture the holiday season, reaching out to food bloggers, running campaigns on social media, partnering with local businesses, to organizing in-house marketing all are restaurant marketing campaigns which are high on ROI. 

Stellar Restaurant Marketing Campaign Ideas

Unless you market your restaurant well, there are chances that you will go out of sight and out of mind of your customers. This is something that you as a restaurant owner cannot afford to do. Hence read below and unearth the mantra of running lucrative restaurant marketing campaigns which will help you keep your cash registers overflowing.

1. Run Social Media Campaigns

Since the entire world is on social media what is stopping you from running attracting restaurant marketing campaigns online that will keep your customers hooked? Create a special #hashtag for your restaurant, and inform your customers to use it when they post a picture of your restaurant or food on their social media, and the picture with the hashtag that gets the most number of likes gets a free gift coupon or a 20% discount on their next visit to your restaurant. Such campaigns will increase your visibility on social media and will help you increase your customer trial base to a great extent.

While your investment in running this campaign, which is offering 20% discount to a selected few customers, will hardly you much, it will help you deliver customer satisfaction, which will help you build a band of loyal customers. In addition, when multiple customers will take part in the hashtag campaign, it will increase your reach, and you might end up increasing your customer trial base exponentially.

“We run hashtag campaigns from time to time, the Valentine’s Day, Halloween and the like. Such examples of marketing campaigns that Barcelos ran, in the recent past, were #saynotocrackers on Diwali.” Rohit Malhotra, Business Head, India Operations, Barcelos India.

2. Take part In The Food Bloggers Outreach Campaign

The best way to create your credibility is to let the people who know about food, write about your restaurant. Here comes the importance of reaching out to food bloggers, and letting them write for your restaurant. Organize bloggers meet at your restaurant and invite the best bloggers in the industry. Avoid calling bloggers who hardly have any knowledge about the industry. Once you get the credible ones on board, you can be sure that after the meet, they will surely review or blog about your restaurant, so you must make sure that they have a fantastic experience.

Organizing a bloggers meet can seem a little straining for many restaurant owners out there, and many newcomers even feel like staying away from such events. Even then, it must be mentioned, that in order to establish your position in the industry, you got to make the influential people of the industry talk about you. And organizing a blogger meet is a great way to penetrate into the industry. While investment in running this campaign might make your frown, nonetheless, if done properly, this campaign can increase your on the restaurant review and blogging site tremendously, which will increase your credibility and brand image to a great extent.

3. Tap all the Holidays

Just like in every part of the world, people here in India become a little more spendthrift during the festive season, and this is what you need to capture. This is precisely something that Domino’s did during the Navaratri when they introduce all veg Navaratri special during those 9 days. You can take your restaurant a step ahead, by not restricting yourself to the mainstream festivals like New Year, Christmas, Navaratri, Diwali, and Valentines Day, on the contrary, you can try and utilize the lesser important ones as well. These include the National Ice Cream Soda Day, Fathers Day, National Chocolate Eclair Day and just a few to name.

For example, on the National Chocolate Day you can distribute small chocolate hampers to all who visit your restaurant, or on the National Ice Crean and Soda day, you can innovate with some interesting flavors which will be available only on that day. Harness these festivals with such innovative ideas and be sure to increase the special quotient of the day. This will surely help you receive more than the amount that you have invested in running this campaign.

Running this marketing campaign might not involve a lot of monitory investment, however, this demands a lot of strategic thought, precision, and the knowledge of customer behavior. Once you have these in place and sit with you executive chef to make those special few items for the festival, you can be sure to attract happy customers. Return of investment in running this campaign is rather high since customers will hardly shy away from diving in some extra pleasure during the festive season.

4. Host Events

Hosting events is one of the best ways to attract that extra crowd. From ladies nights to karaoke nights, from a live screening of movies, matches to organizing comedy nights everything will help you compel your customers to visit your restaurant. Hosting events and theme nights that celebrates the local festivals with the special festive menu, are a great way to bring in the customers who are away from home and might miss the festive local food.

Be sure that hosting events in your restaurant will cost you a lot. However, ones you have your brand image established, organizing these events and attracting customers will be a cakewalk. All you need to do is some stellar online marketing for your event, or send personal invitations to your customers using the CRM database. Hence, although your investment in running this marketing campaign will be high, ones you get the customers walking in your restaurant, you will surely acquire more than your investment.

5. Run In-house Restaurant Marketing Campaigns

This type of market helps you create brand value and to encourage repeat visits. While traditional marketing will help customers to walk into your restaurant, it is the in-house marketing that will compel them on returning back. Restaurant theme and logo plays a vital role in the branding purpose. Hence make sure that the theme of the restaurant is clearly portrayed through your ambiance, through your staff uniform, the music that you generally play. Your brand logo must be clearly visible everywhere, right from your staff uniform, to the napkins to the menu placed on the table; everything must resonate with your restaurant theme.

You can also create your own line of brand merchandise. Several big brands like Cafe Coffee Day uses this marketing strategy quite brilliantly. They have created their own brand cups which they offer for sale. This not only helps the brand to generate revenue, but it also helps the customers recall your brand whenever they drink from the mug. Similarly, Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts have their exclusivity that helps create a buzz.

In-house marketing is the best way to attract the first times and turn them into loyal ones. Hence, make sure you do it right. Making the ambiance, the interiors in tune with your restaurant theme is a one time process, and this makes it all the more important for you to do it just right. You will receive the return for this investment only with time, but trust us, it will be worth the wait.

All the above-mentioned, restaurant marketing ideas, if implemented well will help you garner more profit than what you have invested in running the campaign. Hence, if you want to create that outstanding brand image of yours, what are you waiting for, strategize well and execute these marketing ideas and see how it bolsters your sales report.