If you’re working in the food service industry, then you’re probably very aware that every dollar counts.

According to Chron, full-service restaurants spent roughly 32% per dollar on food and beverage costs, 33% go towards salaries and wages for employees, and between 5% and 6% are spent on restaurant occupancy costs.

By my estimate, that leaves about 29 cents of every dollar for well, everything else.

Take marketing for instance. How much money should you really spend on it? The answer is probably more than you’d like to. According to a CMO study over at Food Newsfeed, smaller companies (meaning restaurants with revenue less than $25 million), spend an average 11% of their revenue on marketing costs. Depending on how large or small your company is, that number can surely vary.

The point is this. Everything adds up. If you want to maximize growth, but also ensure that you’re netting a healthy profit, then there’s a few things you can do to save money on your marketing. Let’s take a look at 3 different ways you can do that.

Cut Traditional Advertising (Where It Makes Sense)

Do you pay for billboards? Radio ads? Commercials? It’s time to reconsider all of your marketing expenditures that aren’t tied to digital media. My advice isn’t necessarily for you to cut all of your traditional advertising out, but rather to reexamine the cost-benefit that these avenues provide you.

For example, if your restaurant is just off of the highway, and you get a lot of traveling customers, then you might still want to keep paying for that billboard. On the other hand, if you’re paying for weekly radio ads on the local station, just because you’ve been advertising there for years, then maybe it’s time to consider whether or not that money could be better used elsewhere.

Embrace Digital + Social Media

Funneling marketing efforts into the digital sphere isn’t just a great idea, it’s smart business. One of the biggest advantages of embracing digital marketing is that it’s much more measurable than traditional advertising.

Social media is totally free. You can build a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter page for your restaurant without spending a dime. Sure, it takes time to post. And sure, if you’re too strapped for time, you may need to hire someone to create content for you. But in the long run, taking advantage of social media can be a very worthwhile effort for your restaurant.

Revitalize Marketing With CoGoBuzz

Embracing digital marketing on a significant scale may sound like a daunting task – both in terms of time and money given. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an affordable solution?

As it turns out, there is. And it’s called CoGoBuzz. Our incredible service brings your restaurant’s marketing into the modern age. Utilizing state-of-the-art WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions, we promote your restaurant’s brand directly to your customers using the devices that they use the most: the mobile ones.

It all starts when your customers first connect to your in-restaurant HotSpot. After a one-time login through Facebook, Email, or phone number, they’ll receive Internet-access and arrive at your business’s custom landing page, where they can check out your menu, sign up for your text-based Loyalty Program, and more. From every single customer that logs in, we’ll automatically create a customer profile to aid in your marketing efforts. To learn more about what CoGoBuzz can do for you, including getting you more followers on Facebook automatically, check out the rest of our website.

How do you save money in your restaurant? Sound off in the comments!