Whether you’re looking for new customers or just trying to boost sales, your restaurant should always be exploring new marketing ideas. But finding your next big marketing push can often be quite challenging.
To help make things a little easier, we’ve put together a list of five unique restaurant marketing ideas. Check ‘em out below.
Food Trucks. With food trucks, you’re killing two birds with one stone. Not only are they a great way to attract new customers to your restaurant, but (if they prove successful) they’re actively making you money at the same time.
Food trucks aren’t necessarily the cheapest endeavor, but they have a ton of benefits. If you’re looking to develop a new location, they’re useful for gauging what the demand might be like in other areas. (Much cheaper than starting a new location and watching it fail.) On top of that, they’re great to have for any events in the community you’d like to participate in.
Meal kits. Have you ever been to a restaurant and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I could make this at home?” I know I have. And apparently, I’m not alone either. According to the National Restaurant Association, 41% of consumers would be willing to purchase meal kits from their favorite restaurants for preparing at home.
Merchandise. It doesn’t matter if you have dozens of locations or just a single establishment. Merchandise can work for restaurants both large and small. From T-shirts to koozies, there’s no limit to what you can slap your restaurant’s logo on. For more ideas on figuring out what types of merchandise your restaurant should sell, click here to check out an article I’ve written on that exact subject.
As I go on to highlight in the article linked above, the benefit of selling merchandise runs far deeper than just making a profit off of what you’re selling. Once merchandise is in the hands of customers, it helps spread brand awareness. In a sense, it never stops marketing for you..
Events. Has your restaurant ever tried hosting an event? If you haven’t given it a shot, I highly recommend it. Every event can accomplish something different. They can bring in new customers, bring back lapsed customers, boost sales, and even give your restaurant some good press. Here’s a few examples that work well for restaurants.
- Cooking classes
- Holiday parties
- Live band
- Wine tastings
- Charity event
- Trivia night
Locally sourced goods. Sourcing food (and beverage) from the community has become a big deal for customers everywhere. In fact, according to the National Restaurant Association, 62% of customers say that serving it would actively cause them to choose one restaurant over the other.
Locally sourced goods aren’t just a selling point because customers prefer it. It’s because customers like to support the community. From the same research cited above, 58% of customers like local goods because it directly supports community food producers.
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Have any ideas to share that have worked well for your restaurant? Sound off in the comments!