Restaurant Marketing Blog

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

1. Discounting is the penalty you pay for being unremarkable and not differentiating your restaurant from all of the others with an experience that’s memorable.

2. The best loyalty “card” ever will be those restaurants that have Apps that are on consumers’ iPhones and Blackberrys. Got yours yet? Without one, in the minds of the consumer, you will cease to exist. That’s how powerful of a marketing tool they are.

3. A sign in a restaurant lobby: “Please Complain To Us!” Bring on the complaints! Complaints can be like a gift. Research shows that customers who complain and are satisfied with how the complaint was resolved are up to 8% more loyal than if they had no complaint at all.

4. Retro-Marketing still works. Retro-Marketing? That’s the traditional old-fashioned way of marketing. No one ever talks about it any more because it’s not the “in thing” to talk about. It’s not glamorous. Contrary to what many pundits are saying, I strongly advocate that when targeted properly, Retro-Marketing still works.

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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Restaurant Marketing: Here’s what other restaurant marketing wannabees won’t tell you about. The true value of a Facebook Fan is zero—yes ZERO—until he/she actually buys something from your restaurant. You can have all the fans you want, but until they buy something, they’re worth nothing. It’s up to you to make them valuable. Can you do that WITHOUT DISCOUNTING?

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Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Restaurant Marketing. Three of us were dining at Montana’s  in Toronto. After dinner, I noticed a table tent for hot fresh mini donuts. But, they only came as 8 donuts for $5.99. There were three of us and we only wanted one each. They couldn’t “break” the order. They couldn’t give us what we wanted. We all thought this was stupid. Here was a restaurant that was empty for dinner and we wanted to spend more money. I offered them $2.99 for three donuts, plus we’d all buy coffee and the server would get a higher tip.they wouldn’t budge. Couldn’t break the corporate rule. Montana’s owned by Cara Operations in Toronto, should understand that this was a huge missed opportunity. Some restaurants just don’t “get it.”

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Monday, July 05, 2010

Restaurant Marketing: Amazing that some restaurants still don’t get it. Wi-Fi and electrical outlets for computers. Customers want Wi-Fi. You would think the (at last and finally) decision by Starbucks to go all-free WiFi would prove to some that that’s the way to go.

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Friday, July 02, 2010

Restaurant Marketing: Here’s the final 5 questions you need to answer to crack the restaurant marketing code:

21. Is your restaurant a place to eat, or a place to enjoy an experience?
22. What are the five reasons that make your restaurant different than others?
23. Does your restaurant have a story to tell its guests?
24.Is there something interesting at every touchpoint that guests can remark about?
25. What’s the amazing last impression you give your guests so they remember you?

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