Promotion Video

Combining traditional and “E” marketing strategy to maintain success for restaurant business

These days, restaurant managers are pay too much attention on the day-to-day management that they almost forgot how to implement or run a simple marketing strategy which is an essential element in making a particular restaurant to achieve its goals. In fact, make use of digital technology to go e-marketing has become the trend for cuisine industry and should not be overlooked.

In order to maintain success for your restaurant business, while you are establishing and running a restaurant you have to implement a specific marketing strategy both online and offline. Try to learning and gradually become to know how to deal with your customer base in a digital way, it is necessary for managers to realize the importance of digital technology of modern business and build up perfect marketing plan which suits the theme of your restaurant.

Strategy positioning and audience target:

First and formast, operators have to raise awareness of restaurant brand in the first 6 months of the business, find the correct positioning and major audience of your restaurant, high or general grade. Then providing customer support and service through both online and offline, and eventually to make sure there will be a amount of customers to come back and generate long term sales is two mainly marketing strategies in the modern business.

Tactics for offline promotion---- traditional marketing:
The traditional advertisement should be considered for advertising your restaurant in local newspapers and magazines. Manager can also place menus and informational brochures in different places such as hotels, schools. It is a better way to hold on a sporting activity or a charity sponsoring events to make the brand of your restaurant being circulated in the huge community, and eventually enhancing the influence.

Tactics of online promotion----“E-marketing”:

Managers have to realize the super power of the internet and related technology to help your business to promotion. So that set up an official website and using different digital skills has become necessary.

Ming Dynasty was pointed out

·Google maps

For a restaurant, operators could make use of different marketing tools for online promotion by Google to attract local customers and clients to the area where the restaurant is located. A free marketing tool that Google provides is Google Maps, which allows manager to point out their restaurant name, phone number, address and website by free. As an added bonus, the Google local listings also show up at the top of a Google search and receive a pinpoint on the Google Map. People could directly add Google map onto their restaurant website or any social networking channel. This is really convenient for them to catch audience and express awareness of popularity.

·Email and newsletter marketing

Keeping communicating with your patrons is an effective way to stay front-of-mind with your audience. Collect email addresses on your restaurant website from either comment cards that customers complete at their table or from a drawing giveaway that requires them to register their email. Such as provide their email address by offering to send coupons and specials as a member of your mailing list, this tactics could incentivize customers to come back to your restaurant. Then, using auto-responder series automatically sends emails to your customer list which subscribe or register on your website.



© The co-operative



In a short, having an email marketing strategy in place keeps your restaurant in the minds of your audience. If you communicate with patrons on a regular basis and provide them with an incentive to come into your restaurant, you will maintain to catch the audience.

·Social media marketing
The emergence of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, has already completely changed the way of traditional business. Establish social media page for your restaurant and then utilize these to share hare notes, photos, videos, newsletters and links, all about your restaurant information with potential customers and patrons. This would be a highly effective way to push new visitors to your restaurant and enhance your business. Moreover, you can also use your existing friends and followers as your own restaurant cheer, and then leading to publicize your page to attract more fans onto your social media channels.

Image by Intersection Consulting via Flickr


·Online discount promotion and e-coupon

As well, make sure you promote your daily specials and any other discount special on the website. An E-coupon or gift certificate should be uploaded on your digital platforms. Ensure your customers could directly go to website to download the E-coupons and spend it in your restaurant.



© YUBZ via Facebook

In summary, there are a lot of tasks involved with properly managing a restaurant. Having a good management plan or strategy and realize the super power of digital way, and then following them to help with keeping your restaurant a thriving business.

Reference:

Ehow.com (Kristie Lorette, 2011) "Restaurant Marketing Strategies"

http://www.ehow.com/list_6163603_restaurant-marketing-strategies.html

Myrestaurantmarketing.com (2010) "Online Restaurant Marketing"

http://www.myrestaurantmarketing.com/restaurant_online_marketing.html

Managing Your Restaurant Inventory Wisely

In every business there is the need of listing and inventory to record all the supplies and merchandise which involved in the specific business. A clear inventory management strategy could help the manager of a restaurant business to maintain a store of material and foodstuff.

However, this works only if the manager can predict the needs of his customers, such as a manual estimation is possible but it's very difficult to get an accurate result.

A clear inventory plan providing great services to the customers of any potential business is become essential in modern cuisine business. So that, manager should adopt cost controlling practices, establish weekly costing list and use “two steps” to calculate your inventory level in a right place.

Record a weekly food costing list can lower your supply cost:

“Establish a weekly food costing list could lower your cost; you’d better do it once a week to plan your purchases.” Said by Huang who is head chef of Ming Dynasty----largest Chinese restaurant in Preston.

Huang, the boss and also the famous head chef of Ming Dynasty which is the largest Chinese restaurant in Preston

As a Chinese restaurant manger, Mr Hunag also thought that marketers should pay attention for deals when they deciding to purchase. Try to remember that don't order too much of a martial as it will either spoil or end up sitting on the shelf for months. As well, operators have to determine how much they will be using each day, and then to determine what they will need to order.

Determine your inventory level in two steps: 

Jim Laube who is a specialist of restaurant operator

“Regardless of the type of restaurant you operate, adopting the two steps calculating will in all likelihood result in lower food cost and a more profitable restaurant.” Said by Jim Laube. Read more…

According to theory of Jim Laube, an easy way to get an instant gauge on whether you're carrying an appropriate amount of inventory is to calculate your "number of days of inventory on hand." It tells you how many days your existing inventory will last based on how much food you're using in an average day, which translates to your average daily food cost.  Calculating your "number of days of inventory" on hand is a two-step process:

Assuming you're carrying the right mix of products:

Number of days in the period = 30

Food cost for the period (from the profit and loss statement) = P30,000
Ending food inventory (on the balance sheet) = P10,000

The example tells us that having 10 days' worth of inventory would probably indicate that there's too much food on the shelves. If operationally feasible, lowering inventory levels to 6 or 7 days of sales would cause food cost to drop immediately, everything else being equal.

Efficiently arrangement of working time for your staff:
As well, make use of staff wisely could also effectively help managers to adapt cost controlling, such as reducing staff during your slow times and bringing in extra workers during your busy times.

In summary, operators should adopt cost controlling practices, establish weekly costing list and use “two steps” to calculate your inventory level in a right place; finally efficiently arrange the staffs’ work time to maximum making profit and low the cost to operate your business.

Designing “Unique Feature” of the ambience for your restaurant

The success of any restaurant design will depend on theme, decoration, layout and background music. Pay attention for these elements could make a great reputation and a thriving long term business. Actually, set up a special theme and display unique decorations meet the theme of restaurant could catch people’s sight and give customer a good impression.

In fact, designing an ambience of restaurant to make your customers feel welcome would be first step of marketing. Producing a creative theme of restaurant, at the same time, make sure the decor and the consist of furnishings or design should matches the theme of your restaurant. In fact, marketers and operators should have features of their restaurant that are professional and appealing to your customers. It is essential to considering such features about the paint color, seats, carpet design, type of tables and music; such as pictures, lighting, view of the wall furnishings should also be not overlooked.

Unique decorations meet the theme of restaurant:

Sometimes a special theme and unique decoration could make your restaurant become more attractive to catch customers’ eye at the first time when they come. The Gourmet therefore show the most interesting and featured restaurants in the world, as be seen of the pictures below:



Chinese Kung Fu & Chinese Food

Chinese Kung Fu restaurant:

Kong Fu and food are the two key elements represented China in the world. Feng Bo Zhuang is the first restaurant to participate Chinese culture into Chinese food business, combing Kung Fu, martial art chivalry and Chinese food together to become one of the most popular chain restaurants in China!

Creative layout show the Chinese martial arts chivalry, waiters dress up as martial artist and every dish has their martial arts name. Read more...

“Taste food, feeling the Chinese martial arts chivalry, every customer is a Kung Fu master!”

Ithaa Undersea Restaurant:

As the pictures shown, it is the first underwater restaurant in the world. The Conrad Maldives Rangali Islands aquarium-style restaurant locates in 16 feet under the Indian Oceans surface between a lagoon and a coral reef.

Image by Suraark via Flickr

There are only about a few seats in the restaurants, and customer could have dinner with the fishes and blue full color sight. You can bask in all that blue as the tables are surrounded by an arched, clear, acrylic ceiling which can give you 180º view of the sea.

The food is definitely worth the visit as those live sea creatures envy everything that put on your plate. The Maldivian chili and banana mascarpone which is plated with cream and crushed basil is also worth trying. Read more…


Image by suraark via Flickr

In summary, pay attention for the decoration, layout, choosing the suitable background music, design your own style and ambience to a restaurant; as well, creative idea and concept of theme could make your business easier to become successful.

Opening Restaurant in Bad Economy

Opening your own restaurant in economy crisis may be the rewarding investment or the riskiest also. Make use different strategy to marketing your business and adapt to survive even in a bad economic environment is this article will present.

In fact, it is not just what it appears from the outside looking for beginning your work in cuisine industry, but ask for related business knowledge, effort, determination as well as experience in the particular industry since you have learned that 9/10 new restaurant were failed during their first year.

The Gourmet therefore collects information from the interviewer by our website, the top chefs and successful entrepreneurs as well. We will share their advice on how to help your newly-opened restaurant survive in food business world.

Louis, 39, the manager of Taiwu Cantonese manager and he also has already doing Chinese food business over ten years as a manager.

To be honest, we can’t stay here and does nothing change, try our best to provide the best service and make sure the customers are happy and they gonna coming back. We always following the new policy and waiting what happen for the new situation for the unknown future of UK economic. Try your experience at others' restaurants first, so when you open your own, you don't have to pay for those mistakes and will be better off. Be patient, work hard, creative and waiting for the right time to open yours.


Huang, 36, the boss and also the famous head chef of Ming Dynasty which is the largest Chinese restaurant in Preston.

A business can go well if only you raise enough money for the first three months without expectation of profitability, so a careful business plan with sound finance source is a must. Make sure you can control well the cost of rent, food and payroll. If you tend to open a restaurant, you should have something special to offer your customers - an image or restaurant reputation - to make them come back again and again.

Specifically, cut price, improve service, add Chinese Sichuan cuisine and providing variety choices of dishes and tasty to face the recession challenge.

Tracy, 29, the manager of Kwong Fatt oriental supermarket which is the largest Chinese supermarket in Preston.

Choosing an appropriate location is the key words for opening a supermarket, meeting customers’ need is also important. The most important thing is fitness so keep it small, value-driven, and in a beautiful setting so you can control it and create something of value. Success will come to those who know how to create extraordinary value, based on a pure formula, so never forget to do extra research, create new and fine service.

Annie Somerville, 56, the head chef of Greens restaurant in San Francisco. She has earned a national reputation for imaginative vegetarian cooking and is an author of several bestselling cookbook

Customers come to your restaurants for food, but besides being a fine cook, you have to have a great business sense, too. If you find that you don't know well how to control the money flows, find an experienced partner. Another advice is when you start go into an existing restaurant space - it helps you save huge of capital. Read more...



Chef Todd English, 45, run Olives restaurant and Todd English restaurant chain from NY to Las Vegas. He was named best chef in the Northeast by the James Beard Foundation in 1994 and restaurateur of the year by Bon Appetit magazine in 2001.

Make sure you have enough finance to cover your first several months, and your first year if possible. If you do not witness profitability in your first months is not a big problem, but if it lasts for 6 month, you are in big risk. Read more...

Mario Batali, 48, the chef-owner of a series of 14 restaurants in New York City, the former host of the Food Network's Molto Mario and Ciao America and the author of six cookbooks.

When the economic dives, the good and bad restaurant business will be divided clearly. So you have a chance to success if you can define your customer base, always remember to create food and service from the heart, not the textbook. Read more...

Video by quepasa100 via Youtube

Reference:

Bloomberg.com (2011) "Top Chefs on Opening Shop"

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/10/1024_chefs/5.htm

Photo credits:

http://www.blogger.com/goog_23732818

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/10/1024_chefs/7.htm