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One of the building blocks you must put in place before starting a restaurant is market research. Just like a well-crafted mission statement will help guide your business decisions, identifying and understanding your target customers and competitors through restaurant market research will give your business a competitive edge.
I have a varied background in sales, marketing, and HR. I knew I wanted to own my own business, and I was familiar with franchising in general Since my shop is the first Capriotti’s in Alabama, and there are really no others close to me, I had never tried the food. How do you engage with customers in person and online?
The pandemic has ravaged many businesses in the country and few industries were hit as hard as the restaurant industry. Consumers and customers have changed their behavior due to the events of the previous year. So it makes good business sense to revamp your marketing strategies. The Pandemic and the Restaurant Business.
Seventy-eight percent of smallbusinesses that run ads on TikTok have already realized a positive ROI–the majority within just six months. according to Capterra’s TikTok Marketing Survey. Given its success rate, 52 percent of TikTok marketers surveyed plan to spend more money on the platform in 2023.
Understanding your target market is the foundation of making smart decisions for your menu, pricing, and overall guest experience. Without a well-defined target market, restaurants risk wasting resources on strategies that dont connect and menu offerings that dont selltrying to appeal to everyone, but standing out to no one.
Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine surveyed marketing experts to find out the best ways restaurants can market themselves now. Customers are going to be hesitant to dine indoors. Basant Baruah, Senior Content Marketer, Beaconstac. Keegan Brown, Marketing Manager Easy On Hold & Brand Music.
The restaurant experience isnt just about great service and ambianceits deeply tied to ingredient sourcing and food costs. Pressure on Small Operators Small and independent restaurants, which often operate on razor-thin profit margins, are especially vulnerable. With new U.S.
Whether for operations expansion, equipment upgrades, staff recruiting, or more marketing activity, growth calls for resources. A well-utilized smallbusiness loan gives the financing required to scale your restaurant effectively and turns prospects into real outcomes.
Nowadays, running a successful restaurant takes more than great food and good service. Let’s explore 26 proven online marketing strategies to help your restaurant thrive. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you could be losing out on potential customers.
We get it, you’re busy. The idea of using social media marketing to attract customers, all the while managing inventory and payroll, can be exhausting. A well-thought-out social media marketing strategy can earn you additional customers and increase your overall income. But how do you get started?
In the modern dining landscape, where convenience and customer experience are paramount, restaurants increasingly rely on electronic payment systems to facilitate transactions. As fees accumulate, restaurant owners often have difficulty managing cash flow and may be forced to cut essential services for their employees or other overhead costs.
If you feel that digital marketing isn’t giving your local restaurant the results you need, then it's time to explore more targeted strategies. Local restaurant marketing can help you reach your target audience more effectively. Local restaurant marketing can help you reach your target audience more effectively.
This guide will teach you everything you need to know about getting started with restaurant marketing. By the time you finish this article, youll know how to approach restaurant marketing the right way and not waste time doing guesswork, crossing your fingers, and then hoping you see new customers walking through the door.
The quicker businesses can feed that information back into operations, the better, whether for personalized dining, staffing optimization, or advertising and marketing. Restaurants are already experimenting with using AI to handle drive through orders to allow human employees to focus on customer interactions in the restaurant.
Scaling an artisan food business is no easy feat. Many small food businesses reach a critical point where they must decide whether to remain small and exclusive or expand into wholesale, manufacturing, and broader distribution. As business owners, we know how expensive turning a gray shell into a gorgeous restaurant is.
The research found that businesses worldwide – particularly restaurants – intend to experiment more in 2025, especially with customer retention programs like loyalty, as they face the triple challenge of sustained high inflation, shrinking consumer wallets and the need to raise prices across the board.
Valentine’s Day is often a busy time for restaurants, but many are now dealing with various challenges amid the pandemic, like no indoor dining or limited capacity as well as more customers opting for carry out. With the Marketing Rule of 7 , it takes an average of seven interactions with a brand before a purchase takes place.
This new year is a perfect time to begin shaping a long-term vision and identifying opportunities for growing your restaurant or food servicesbusiness over the next ten years. The sheer market size of Gen Z and their discretionary spending dollars should make restaurants and food servicesbusinesses sit up and take notice.
Growing a restaurant or catering business is no small feat. If your catering business isn’t growing as fast as you’d like, you might be facing some common roadblocks. Inefficient Operations and Workflow One major hurdle that can slow down the growth of your catering business is inefficient operations and workflow.
As a restaurant owner, digital marketing can be a daunting task that takes up valuable time, energy, and resources. Day-to-day demands – coupled with all of the FOH and BOH duties – can be simply too overwhelming for many small restaurant owners. Can customers find you? Can they view your menu online?
This system utilizes real-time data to forecast demand and adjust production accordingly, thereby reducing food waste and enhancing service speed ( Emerging, 2024 ). On the marketing front, restaurant owners are expected to promote their business while managing day-to-day operations.
Pizza restaurants are poised to continue their evolution this year and incremental changes, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence, operational efficiency and customer preferences, will create both challenges and opportunities for pizzeria owners. This not only frees up labor but also reduces order errors.
With all the challenges on your plate, implementing a robust marketing plan might not be on your radar. However, taking steps to increase your loyal customer base will ensure your restaurant flourishes during this difficult season. Here are a few unique marketing ideas designed to boost customer traffic and develop loyal customers.
Also, there is no other marketing medium that can reach your customers as best and as affordable as email marketing. In fact, 65 percent of smallbusinesses use email to communicate with their clients. Video email marketing makes a lot of sense. Video Email Marketing: What is it and Why Should You do it?
Though there are plenty of customers who will continue to enjoy restaurant delivery—as it’s become ingrained in our weekly way of life—the off-premises’ percentage of sales is likely to slide. So, what can marketers of fast casuals do to bring people back to their brick-and-mortar locations?
More than half (54 percent) of independent restaurant owners report making half as much or less than this same time last year, according to a report from Alignable with 51 percent saying customer spending is “much lower” than 2024. Tariffs, attracting new customers, and inflation top the list of concerns.
Businesses have long searched for ways to optimize communications to specifically target people in close proximity with advertisements. It’s why marketers will spend up to $38.7 billion on location-based marketing in 2022. Eighty-four percent already use this type of marketing because it works.
Tableside caviar service A prosciutto cart An authentic kaiseki tasting experience and members-only Japanese whiskey lounge Tableside s’mores These are just a few examples of ways restaurants across the country are hoping to attract guest by elevating the dining experience and creating a vibe highlighted by superior food and presentation.
Food bloggers and influencers are modern-day critics that can wield enough persuasive power to make or break a hospitality business. Any restaurant or F&B business can leverage this form of marketing to their benefit, it just requires a little know-how in the realm of digital networking.
This makes business tight causing a hard look at any extra costs. One of those costs is with partnering services, with many food service operators relying on purchasing groups to help them make category-specific strategic purchases. There are many areas where we have seen food service operators benefit!
In recent years, consumer behaviors have drastically changed to now preferring delivery services and an increased willingness to pay a premium for a seamless experience. The data revealed that 60 percent of consumers surveyed prefer human staff versus AI-managed customer support, despite the potential for increased service efficiency.
Hospitality vs. Service Though often used interchangeably, hospitality and service arent the same. Service is about accuracy and efficiencytaking an order, delivering food, clearing a table. In a world of automation and fast-paced service, hospitality remains your restaurants most humanand most powerfulasset.
Across the United States, businesses are suffering from unprecedented staffing shortages in the aftermath of COVID. With a critically shrunken talent pool, restaurants are racing to fill positions in every part of the business — front of house, back of house, and corporate teams. Enter digital tableside ordering.
First, we seek a deep understanding of the restauranteur’s vision and values, as well as their target audience and market positioning. Finally, we look at the launch strategy and marketing plan. We want a new brand to hit the market with impact. First is standing out in a market more crowded today than ever before.
Restaurants collect a ton of customer data. Think about it: What if you could automatically send a special offer to a customer who hasnt ordered in a while? When used strategically, customer data can help you personalize marketing, streamline operations, and create a better dining experience for your guests.
” The food and beverage industry is faced with this demand, yet there are very few pickle-flavored sauces actually available in today’s market. This follows a new love of customization, indulgence, and comfort in the US. Move over “swicy.” ” “Swalty” has entered the chat.
As the impact of the pandemic wanes, restaurant owners should evaluate the contactless service options they implemented to keep customers and staff safe to see how they can help drive sales. To go contactless, customers scanned a small black and white square called a QR code on their mobile device to see a digital copy of the menu.
Though many of the market forces that shaped the restaurant industry in 2021 were closely linked to disruption from the pandemic's onset in 2020, 2022 brings new challenges — and opportunities. When there is a mass awareness of a social issue, people will look at what businesses are doing about the problem. Ghost Kitchens.
If youre one of the thousands of restaurants that added online food delivery in recent years, you might be wondering: is it actually helping my business grow? The only way to know for sure is by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive business growth.
Heres how to craft an experience that leaves customers delighted and eager to return. Staff should be knowledgeable, offering helpful suggestions based on customer preferences and dietary needs. High-Quality Food and Presentation Delivering dishes that match or exceed customer expectations is critical.
From my experience, it is difficult to experience a dinner for two in a moderate full-service, independent restaurant for less than $120 without gratuity. These are your friends and neighbors; they are cornerstone businesses that support local little league teams, charities, and causes that unite the people around you. Do the math.
Regular customers make up the backbone of any restaurants sales , but if you put a group of restaurant owners around a table, the conversation inevitably focuses on growth through new customer acquisition. But first, why is customer retention such a big deal? Thats huge! All you have to do is keep them happy. And when you do?
This new site is a one-stop hub of critical information for restaurants, employees, customers and industry partners. Hundreds of restaurants are already taking advantage of this offer in Cox markets nationwide, with presence in ads similar to this one from Pensacola that is running today.
Photo: Shutterstock Delivery and a take-home meal deal drove a lot more customers to Olive Garden this spring. The offer allowed customers to buy an in-store meal starting at $14.99 Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants had long resisted third-party delivery, preferring to serve customers in its restaurants and control the experience.
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