Home Grown Marketing vs. Network Marketing

Home-grown marketing efforts are not only a good idea but essential to the success of your restaurant. You have to make sure that you're getting the "work" out to as many people as possible on a regular basis. Business may be good now but if there is a slow down of any kind, you can't be caught off guard. Some examples of home-grown marketing are flyers and/or menu distribution days, coupons for slower times/days, updating your website with current events, etc. Also, commenting on sites like Linkedin, Facebook, etc. will put your restaurant name out there. Network marketing is what we do. We don't own a restaurant but we promote them using a national directory that shows local results. The power of a directory like ours is worth its weight in gold. The exposure you get is much more than flyer distribution or a standard business directory because we're delivering restaurant content. When our users open a menu, they're either looking to be convinced to dine in your restaurant or they've decided but just want to confirm what they'll be eating. Now compare this to traditional advertising. Newspapers, magazine, etc. have circulations statistics matched with readership numbers attached. For example, a local newspaper may have a circulation of 100k but a 2.2 person readership. That means 2.2 people can read one copy (on average). The concern for you should be out of all of these numbers, how many people are reading/seeing my restaurant ad and how many will be a "buyer"? Network marketing is less expansive and gives you the "buyers" - not readers. You want people that are looking for a restaurant. You want people looking for a coupon. These are your current and future customers that will dine MORE than they have in the past. They need reasons to do so. Lastly, network marketing can help you market your restaurant to those new customers that don't know your restaurant's name or even that you exist. If a network directory can bring 50-100 new, recurring customer's each month/year, what is that worth to you?

Your restaurant "online" - get your feet wet

We've talked to hundreds if not thousands of restaurant managers and the reality is many don't completely understand the Internet landscape. They're still living in the world of "hits per month" or "I've got my own website". They don't know that search engine optimization, directory placement, inbound links and other strategies are what drive traffic to their websites (which translates to customers). They're not seeing that the landscape has changed. More people are blogging, creating myspace/facebook accounts and really embracing the social networks.

Just yesterday, I met with a restaurant owner and his objection to MenuSearch was that he doesn't know anything about the Internet. He doesn't have email. He doesn't have a website. He doesn't know how to get on to the world wide web. I've talked and blogged about this perception. What this owner won't accept is that 55-60% of his customers have email, surf websites, blog about or link their myspace page to their favorite restaurants. He's missing a vast group of customers by telling himself his "customers don't use the Internet".

Many restaurants "base" customer demographics are changing and the restaurant need to recognize this and adapt if they want to keep the doors open. Many restaurants are "buckling down" to ride out the economic hardships and we understand that but you can't freeze your operation. You'll be out of business (see next blog).

Here's "the" formula that will help your restaurant.

1. Implement a web presence - join a directory (or better yet, a network of directories) that will highlight your restaurant and your signature dishes. Approximate cost $100-300.
2. Let us create a temporary website - We have a solution that is affordable and less than a web development project but we know you will eventually want/need a website of your own. When that day comes, expect to pay between $500-2000 for a website to be developed and about $100 a year in hosting fees.
3. Incorporate your website and directory listings in your literature (menus, coupons, signage, etc.) so that people know where to find you. See us on www.xyz.com or something like it. There is very little cost to do so.
4. Once you've gotten your feet wet, you can now consider online ordering. This is something that is really catching on fast. We know this is the future of restaurants and we're partnering with an exceptional company to provide you a solution - when you're ready. Depending on the service, you can pay between $700-2000 per year with a percentage of the online sales being paid back to the service. When our solution is in place, we'll be below this estimate.

This is a lot of information to digest but in this day and age you need have a web presence and grow with the times. Start small and grow into tomorrow's web solutions.