We Need Better Marketing
Marketing an American Restaurant
A profitable American restaurant is about more than supply and demand. It's about designing ways to entice new customers to engage with your products and to encourage existing customers to increase the frequency of their purchases.
A single characteristic divides today's best American restaurants from companies at the bottom of the food chain.
Business savvy entrepreneurs usually have a solid foundation in marketing. Unfortunately, it's takes more than a basic business mindset to achieve total market visibility. You will also have to become a student of specific marketing strategies for an American restaurant.
Marketing Ethics
Some marketing strategies may be effective, but don't make the grade in the area of ethics. Successful American restaurants avoid marketing tactics that exploit their customers. If direct mail is part of your marketing mix, you should also make sure your mailing list provider adheres to ethical standards in the collection of contact information. Premier vendors are safe bets since they have established themselves as reputable mailing list providers.
Generating Buzz
All business owners want to generate buzz about their products, services, and brand. Whether you call it viral marketing or word-of-mouth advertising, a lot of ground can be gained by encouraging positive conversations about your company. For an American restaurant, meaningful brand conversations have the ability to transform the impact of your marketing efforts. The process begins with developing communication vehicles and mechanisms that invite discussion. As you begin to promote brand discussions, you will need to also develop systems for monitoring the things that are being said about your company and using positive mentions to your advantage.
Loss Leaders
The majority of American restaurants are willing to sustain a slight loss or breakeven position on certain products and service offerings as a way to attract customers. Moreover, a loss leader marketing strategy can compensate for dead periods when customers tend to making purchases. The key is to know your profit margins and use loss leader pricing to undercut the competition in targeted product categories. For the majority of American restaurants, the real benefits of loss leaders emerge through the careful marketing of other products, usually offered at a much higher margin. Also, it's important to carefully consider the quantity of discounted products you are willing to offer at the loss leader price since stockpiling or a high volume of loss leader sales can negate the revenue benefits of this strategy.
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