By Vlad Matveeff, Contributor
Writing a good marketing plan can be intimidating. You know you need one, but you simply don’t know where to start. You shouldn’t feel like you need a special degree or training, just maybe some guidance to help you plan how you manage and execute your marketing vision.
One of the main aspects of a good restaurant marketing plan is to keep it straightforward and simple. In this post we will share some secrets that will ease the process of building your marketing plan. We also throw in some tips on how to rev your promotions engine.
Analysis of Efficiency & Your Current Situation
Before you start to create a successful restaurant marketing plan, you must do an analysis of your restaurant’s current situation, as well as answer the following questions.
Q: What exactly do your customers like about your restaurant?
By answering this question you will identify your greatest strengths which you’ll be able to leverage in your marketing plan.
Q: What are the reviews left by your guests saying about you? What are they uncomfortable with or dislike?
No doubt it will reveal your weaknesses, but that’s the only way to get stronger. Analyzing the reviews on sites such as Yelp, Tripadvisor or Google will give you a list of information about what problems are plaguing your business regarding your service or food.
Q: What features can you add as an advantage over competitors?
It can be special dishes on your menu or the availability of free Wi-Fi, for example.
Q: Are there any external threats threatening your business?
This can be external factors affecting your restaurant, such as a poor economy, competitors in your area, major construction in front of your business, environmental threats, etc.
This practice is called SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats). It takes a lot of time, but it delivers a real return by allowing you to identify both the weaknesses and strengths of your business as a whole.
Research Sample Restaurant Marketing Plans
First, you need to pay attention to the existing marketing strategies of other restaurants. To get some initial ideas you should look at the example from Mplan's. This is necessary to obtain a sample template, which may well be useful for the development of your future strategy.
In order to understand the perfect scenario and the process of direction as clearly as possible, you need to read the information from the "picture" section. They also clarified all the most important issues regarding the development of your detailed budget according to your plan.
Create an Ideal Customer Profile
Talk to any operator who has leveraged marketing for growth, they will all say their success boils down to one thing -- knowing their ideal customer.
First of all, you should understand you can’t attract everyone to dine in your restaurant. However, by focusing on a more narrow target clientele, you will save you a lot of time and money on your marketing efforts. Better to please a niche group than trying to be all things to all people and failing in the end.
In this case, the profile of your restaurant will be useful.
Before you begin to build a perfect restaurant guest profile, you need to collect significant data about your current customers and the types of customers you are going to serve. As a rule, you need to mind the following methods:
● Survey your current guests via your email marketing list.
● Prepare comment cards and place them on your tables or delivery with the check.
● Getting data by exploring different online communities on sites such as Quora or Reddit. There are various communities in which people share their invaluable experience. Based on this, these sources are a great place to gather information about your ideal customers.
Set a Restaurant Marketing Budget
So, in order to determine a specific budget for your marketing strategy and avoid wasting resources, you need to take a step back and analyze past campaign successes and failures. What lessons did you learn and can implement to your next marketing efforts?
One of the most acute issues regarding restaurant marketing is the financing of the campaigns. Many restaurants typically set aside a too small percentage of earnings to pay for their marketing efforts. Take a look at your current earnings and decide how much you can honestly invest into marketing efforts. Investments should not be fruitless, so consider what has worked previously, what has failed, and what you want to try in the future. Look for ways of getting the most bang for your buck and the best ROI.
Build Your Restaurant Marketing Strategy
After you’ve come up with a basic plan, it’s time to build your restaurant’s marketing strategy.
Based on the guest profiles, your marketing goals, and your budget, you need to choose a strategy. Will you just email your restaurant’s email list? Will you hire social media influencers to try to draw new guests into your seat? What about social media ads or, perhaps, more traditional marketing efforts?
Not every marketing medium is perfect for your plan, so it’s important to decide which avenue will make the most sense. Your customer profiles, budget, and previous efforts should help guide you on deciding what medium to try next.
About the Author
Vlad Matveeff writes for australian assignment help and professional writing services on a wide variety of subjects to do with business. As an expert on entrepreneurship, he loves to write and advise on matters relating to finance, start-ups and all aspects relating to digital marketing. Twitter