Whether your restaurant is quick-service or fine dining, open for breakfast or dinner, thriving or barely getting by, you probably aren’t putting enough focus on your restaurant marketing. It’s easy to let marketing fall by the wayside when you start to get busy with other priorities. But without effective marketing, it will be hard to keep your restaurant successful. Here are just a few of the reasons hospitality marketing is so important, and why you should be focusing on it more.
How Much to Spend on Marketing
Benefits of Restaurant Marketing
Marketing Increases Brand Awareness
Marketing Connects You With Your Community
Charitable donations, participation in events, and other local marketing methods can really connect you with the community around your restaurant. Local marketing is a great way to get to know people in your area and more quickly spread the word about your restaurant. And when people feel a personal connection to your restaurant, or remember the great charity work you did in the community, they’ll feel much more inclined to support your business.
Marketing Prevents Sales Declines
Marketing Drives Conversions
If you’re like most business owners, your main goal is to generate as much revenue as possible, and to continue to grow. All the marketing methods described above will help with that in the long run. But marketing isn’t just a long game: Digital marketing in particular can directly result in conversions and sales.
This is particularly true for restaurants that have an online conversion that matters to them: Reservations that can be booked online or online ordering for carryout orders. Paid digital advertising, when done correctly, can help you see big spikes in online conversions. These ads target your precise desired audience, and drive consumers directly to the page or website you want them to be on to make a purchase or reservation.
Marketing Increases Your Average Ticket Value
Not only does marketing bring in new sales, but it also can increase the value of sales you’re already getting. Just a couple of examples:
- You send your email subscribers a coupon for $5 off their next purchase of $30 or more. A customer who was planning to purchase one meal and spend $20 may now bring a friend and spend $40 so they can get their discount
- You create eye-catching dessert menus for each table in your restaurant. Diners who wre not originally planning to order dessert may see the pictures and not be able to resist trying one of your desserts
For all these reasons and many more, make sure your restaurant is spending enough on a marketing budget. To make the most of your marketing dollars, you may want to work with a specialized restaurant marketing agency that understands the business. This can greatly benefit your restaurant marketing and offer you the best chance of success. So don’t overlook marketing the next time you’re setting your restaurant budget: Increasing your marketing spend will help you out in the short term and the long term!
