5 Simple Ways to Promote Your QSR
Tips from Mario Siliato, Sales Manager at Nextrend Furniture
With restaurants popping up everywhere these days, it’s become even more important than ever to ensure your promotional activities are up to scratch. But how can you set yourself apart from your competition without having to invest a fortune or alienating your market? To steer you in the right direction, here are several ideas that can help promote your business.
Social Media Marketing
One area of marketing that remains mostly untapped by the majority of restaurant owners is the use of social media. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become more significant to business managers as a way to promote their business. Using social media effectively will boost the accessibility and awareness of your establishment, which will in turn increase the number of visits to your restaurant.
Leverage these platforms by uploading videos and photographs of your establishment, as well as the food and drinks that you serve. If you’ve just refurbished, make sure you show off your new restaurant furniture and décor. People love rich media, not just walls of text so make sure you keep your feed active with a mixture of offers.
Launch Online Deals
A great and easy way of promoting your restaurant is to launch online deals on websites such as Foursquare or Groupon. The popularity of these sites has skyrocketed in the last few years, with more and more people on the lookout for a great deal. While the deal you offer may not generate hugely significant added profits, it will give you the chance to promote your restaurant and build up a greater customer base.
Support Local Businesses
An innovative way of boosting your business in the surrounding area is to support local businesses. This can range from buying locally sourced meat and produce to redesigning your layout and restaurant furniture with a local interior designer. What this kind of scheme will do is to promote your business through word of mouth as well as getting local media attention, all of which will vastly promote your business in the local community.
Organize Themed Nights
Trying to drum up business from groups of people your restaurant might not otherwise target can be difficult, but if done successfully can have a dramatic effect. By adopting various different themed nights, such as family nights or bingo nights, you get a chance to increase the diversity of your restaurant. The range of services you offer will appeal to many different types of people, which will obviously increase your potential customer market, thus improving your business.
Keep Employees Happy
This factor can be easily overlooked when trying to consider ways of promoting your business. However, once you get customers through your door you want them to keep coming and the attitude of the staff will have a great bearing on that. They are the ambassadors of your restaurant and their level of happiness will be reflected in the service they provide. Some great ways of keeping staff happy include rewarding them for doing good work and planning work parties for them to let their hair down.
There are a lot of other ways to promote your restaurant and these can be used as platforms for future success. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone by experimenting with various methods – just make sure you track your results and leverage the ones that lead to a tangible increase in business.
Nextrend Furniture is a hospitality furniture specialist in Australia, helping people transform their venues into a practical and creative environment.
