Restaurants, bakeries, delis are feeling these tough economic times. If you’re in the business and feeling it, check out the marketing idea I have that will save you.
Have you noticed? People are starting to eat-out more, and signs of a good value are all around us. Eating out is cheap and getting cheaper. For one, Dominos Pizza has come out with the tremendous value of a $5.99 two topping pizza. That value is practically unmatched in the industry, and not to mention their SUPERB quality. They have started pushing much of their advertising towards social media. They catch you when you’re on Facebook, when you’ve got on your profile that pizza is one of your interests. You’re chatting with your friends and that Dominos ad shows up and you think, man that’s a good deal. You get your friends to meet you at Dominos. Social media advertising works.
Another chain has a sweet deal too. Chili’s came up with their 2 for $20.00 menu. You get plenty of good-quality food for two. You would be hard-pressed walking out the door for any less these days. I drove past just the other day and the parking lot was packed! Looks like it’s working.
So how can price mavens be beat? You know when the New Year rolls around, it means everyone has a waist-line on full alert! Now’s the perfect time to implement my marketing idea. Offer portion-controlled meals for families of 3, 4 or 5 for a set price. And you’ve got to use social media to get the message across. A parent can order for the whole family, knowing they will get the balanced meal with the right portions and all for a reasonable price. You can even see a hint of this in Dominos Pizza’s marketing campaign that pushes families sharing meals made from all-natural ingredients. Weight loss is hot. And family portioned meals are even hotter.
If you think that’s already been done and you want to try something brand-new, how about partnering with a local gym. Everyone who eats at your restaurant gets a voucher to try out the gym, or discounts on a year-pass. Combine this gym voucher with a calorie-count menu, and you would absolutely grab the attention of those people who have little time but a bit more income to burn.
Now how do Dominos and Chili’s get people in the restaurants for a meal? Easy. When the type of food they serve is in the interests section of someone on Facebook, or when someone searches for food on google, an ad for their restaurant pops up with a deal that can’t be beat. CEOs of restaurants like these have taken interest in social media and online advertisements to get people interested and hungry. They market their deals and healthy ingredients through groupon and other online advertisements. Once one person comes in to their restaurant and sees what a good deal they’re getting, they’re going to tell their friends, or bring their friends next time they come in. This is the most successful method of advertising of our time. Create an online presence and the people will come. Word of your great restaurant will spread from person to person until it’s reached viral status.
By helping customers fight against their growing waist lines, you could improve your own bottom line in 2011. You know, many companies are getting more profit with less product. Coca-Cola and other soft drink companies have been resizing bottles and pulling off the seemingly impossible: giving the consumer less and getting them to pay more for it! You’ve seen the drinks section in gas stations where the smaller bottles cost only 10 cents less than the big bottles. When it comes to meals, smaller portions usually mean fewer calories. For you smaller portions, pre-portioned family meals, healthy ingredients, and the incentive to exercise will leave you with bigger profit, and a healthy bottom line.
