Restaurant advertising
I own a great restaurant in Huntington N.Y. which got great reviews from The Times, Newsday, as well as some local papers. I need to spread the word about the restaurant so how should I advertise? What advertising gets you into a restaurant let me know.Thank you,
Joe
9 Comments
Speaking as an average person for a standard go-to-daily restaurant, a simple, uncluttered advertisement in a local dining or entertainment section in the newspaper with clearly printed name, location, phone number, and short (less than 5 words) food niche/theme, if the name isn't obvious, should suffice.
If the restaurant is named Blue Gorilla, I kind of want to know what I'm walking in to before driving 40 minutes, meanwhile passing all my favorite restaurants...unless what you're serving is supposed to be a little mysterious.
Extremely fancy script or really unusual (read: ambiguous) font/typefaces are a little frustrating. I do realize it is great to keep the theme the same so you can recognize the sign while driving by, but if I can't read the name of the restaurant in the ad, I probably won't make the effort to go. I'm not saying use Courier -- although, quite honestly, I like that in some advertising since it's not overly used these days.
I feel that pictures of dishes put me off unless it's a great quality, fairly large color ad in a magazine, to avoid making great food look like grilled cardboard with creamy vomit over peas.
Perhaps a booth at an appropriate event/fair serving your best, or the most unusual dish that sets you apart from other restaurants in your niche, may get a few more people interested.
It probably won't hurt to run an occasional buy one full dinner get one free (or $$ off 2nd meal), in whichever newspaper your clientele will read or dining club publication, if that's fine with your image.
Another thing I can think of is contacting appropriate local tv or radio stations and supplying them gift certificates for the staff to use a few and to give out as gifts for winning whatever contest/shows/charity drive they are running.
I'm sure all of this has run across your mind, so not sure if this helps...
Good luck with the restaurant!
I passed on a restaurant last night because their website did not have a menu. I knew it was Italian, but I wanted more information. I don't use a phonebook anymore - the web is easier, easier to read and gives me more information. I know I'm not alone in that. Don't let them just skip past your name!
If your meals, service and cleanliness are outstanding, word of mouth is your best advertising, bar none.
I don't think most people are looking for music to start up with a ton of flash animations to wait through -- I actually find that rather annoying, but really popular with contemporary/chic restaurants. *roll eyes* Bleah. Even then, that's not very complicated to do with the web design packages out.
If I am reading a paper, I'll notice an ad that is attractive (Courier, Helvetica, and Times New Roman suggest lazy/amateur/ cheap to me, fwiw, unless its strictly limited to smaller text, not the restaurant name), that mentions high ratings from local press, that gave me some sense of whether I could afford it ("fine dining" usually tells me no, half-off apps during happy hour tells me maybe).
Basically, unless you skew really upscale, a clean ad with press praise and any kind of special will draw my interest. No coupons, though, unless you're casual.
You have to be easy to find online.
Word of mouth is the best, though. I guess if your current clientelle remains happy, the word will spread.
It would also help to offer yourself as a contributor to a local magazine or newspapaper to highlight some dishes in an editorial... it shows off your cuisine, your taste level and gets people talking.
I am not familiar with your type of restaurant, but from a marketing point of view, don't do any promotional offers - that just cheapens your restaurant to the level of a fast food joint.