Every restaurant owner should be focused on increasing sales year over year, but figuring out how to meet the challenge can seem difficult and confusing. So let’s try to clarify it.
From a true marketing standpoint there are, in fact, only four ways to build restaurant sales:
1. Reach new customers who have never visited your location;
2. Build frequency among existing customers;
3. Grow the average party size;
4. Increase the average check size.
The strategies to accomplish each of these objectives will vary greatly, but they can be executed simultaneously. Every marketing strategy you develop should identify at least one of these goals, and bear in mind that each strategy should, in fact, involve more than one of the goals.
Before we define how each of these can be executed, we must first understand that overall success depends on providing a value to your customers that matches or exceeds the perceived value provided by your direct competition.
Doing this is more complex than simply executing the four strategies for building sales. Other key components for overall value are products, service, ambiance/environment and price. And for each of these components, there are key attributes.
Specifically, for products, there’s the quality of the product and its presentation. For service, there’s the greeting, friendliness, product knowledge, and speed of service. For ambiance, it’s about the ease and comfort of choosing and buying the product for eat-in or takeout. And lastly, the price paid for all of this is important, while you remember that it makes no difference what you charge for something that people don’t want!
Value can actually be thought of as a mathematical equation, where changes in the numerator or denominator directly affect the overall customer value. This is what the formula looks like:
Value = Products + Service + Ambiance
Price
So, given this baseline of determining customer value, let’s look more closely at the four marketing strategies to build sales:
1. Reaching a new customer for the first time involves many strategies. It’s important to make extensive use of the media, including doing promotional marketing, while also leveraging the visibility and accessibility of the building. Think of it this way: you can’t build a “share of market” without first building a “share of mind.”
Of course, it’s critical to understand your target buyer’s demographic traits, with the key ones being age, income, household formation (single/family, kids/adults) and ethnicity.
As you determine the message and channels you want to use to reach your desired demographic, focus on telling the story of what differentiates you from the competition. Then, understand that what people actually see from the street — the visibility of the building and signage — and the ease of parking and safely entering your building are fundamental to your success.
2. Building frequency of existing customers becomes a separate effort from reaching new customers. You have gotten customers to try you out, but what’s their rationale to come back? To start with, this requires a strong value statement that ensures customer satisfaction. Also, consistent promotional activity plays a major role in enticing repeat visitation.
As you develop a target buyer profile, remember there are light, medium and heavy customers, the latter two being the core of the desired buyer profile. Promotional activities should partly be focused on providing returning customers a special deal, such as a discount or free product. Many brands offer something for free after a specific number of repeat visits.
3. Building party size is based on a number of factors, with a focus (depending on your format) on creating specific promotions designed to appeal to adults alone, adults with kids, or kids alone. First and foremost, promote your product options, and then the physical comfort of your facilities to welcome the different demographic groups.
How you tell your story applies here, too, with use of the media and focused promotional activity that should consider the specific needs of the target audiences you want. Targeting customers for such promotions in today’s digital environment is highly trackable and can be extremely effective.
4. And last but far from least, increasing the check size involves determining what customers will pay for the product, the service, and the environment, with consideration of the direct competition within the trade area.
What is the most effective marketing strategy that has helped your restaurant build sales? Join the conversation in the comments below.
Managing and measuring price and value against a defined customer base is critical to this strategy. And there are specific ways to adjust pricing in a way that will help profitability without negatively impacting customer traffic. It is extremely important to understand how price changes could impact customer demand at an item-by-item level.
So that’s the baseline. To build sales, you first need to identify what differentiates you from the competition, and then focus on these four marketing strategies to accomplish your goals.