If you are trying to open a new business, congratulations! Although it can be stressful and time-consuming, the payout will be well worth it in the end – in more ways than one. Not only can you gain an extreme profit by being your own boss, but you can gain satisfaction from making people happy and doing all of the business steps yourself.
Let’s see one of the main components of the business plan for your new eatery and why it is important. Use our three tips to simplify this process and make it as easy as possible for your business to get up and running!
Restaurant marketing strategies for new owners! Here are foolproof tips for you
If you are now in the phase of writing your restaurant marketing plan, you need to combine your overarching business plan with your marketing ideas, see more here. For your new plan for your upcoming business, make sure you add pieces from your business plan that can translate into an easy-to-understand and succinct plan for your marketing strategy
1. Create and solidify your brand
Before you can begin even thinking about writing down your business strategy for marketing, you need to first solidify your brand. What is your brand mission statement? Who is your target audience? What are the value propositions of your brand? Although these should already be important points in your business plan, you need to include them in your new marketing strategy.
If you are unsure of where to begin with these basic bullet points, here are some examples of what you might find with a mission statement, vision statement, value propositions, and positioning statement.
- Mission statement – This statement should state why your restaurant should be open, why it is important, and the gap in the industry you are trying to fill. Although you need to be concise and get to the point, your mission statement can be up to three sentences long if you need to better explain your business idea. The main points in this statement include the value, inspiring statements to your clients and employees, realistic goals, and specific points.
- Vision statement: the vision statement needs to answer the question of what your restaurant’s goals are for the future. Although you want to be realistic and data-driven, these goals should still be inspirational and motivational. Use these statements to describe how your new restaurant will be the best choice on the market and beat out other options in the competition.
- Value propositions: in this proposition statement, you need to describe why your restaurant is unique when compared to the millions of other restaurants in the world. What group are you catering to, what are you providing, and why is this better than other restaurants in the local area?
- Positioning statement: the final part of solidifying your brand includes the positioning statement, which describes how you want your business analyzed and viewed by the public, competition, and employees.
2. Figure out your target market
The next step is to figure out your target market. If you don’t know who you are catering to, you won’t be able to direct your making strategies to the right group of people. If your restaurant is a bar that is for over 21-year-olds, make sure your marketing strategies are for adults and not teenagers.
Furthermore, you can break down your target market more specifically by using data and your own personal preferences. Do you want your business to appeal to the younger crowd and generation? Consider using modern marketing practices and jokes to get the millennials interested in coming to your restaurant.
You can come up with a basic list of questions so you can solidify your stance on the target audience for your business. Some of the basic questions include
- How do your customers communicate with one another? Do they use email or social media sites to post about businesses?
- How do customers choose where they want to dine at a restaurant? Do they read online reviews, check websites, or do they ask people in person about their preferences?
- Do customers prefer to eat inside of a restaurant or would they rather take their food to go?
- What kind of events and extras do customers enjoy in a restaurant setting, such as live music, ambiance, and games?
You can also add more questions that are specifically tailored to your target market. If you want to attract the 25-40-year-old crowd, you can ask questions specific to this target market, such as:
- Is my restaurant more geared towards couples or groups of friends?
- Do people who come to my restaurant tag us on social media sites and post with their location on?
- What is something that the young crowd wishes were on the menu that has not been added yet?
3. Perform an analysis of your competition
The final step and tip we have for creating your restaurant marketing business plan is to perform an analysis of your competition. Your competition should be those in your local area, not just competition across the entire state or country. Make sure you are smart with the competition you choose – be honest about who your target market is choosing over you.
For each competitor, you need to analyze them based on the following qualities:
- Strengths – what are your competitors doing that makes the target market go towards their business instead of yours? Understand the steps they are taking to get customers through the door and try to emulate their success.
- Weaknesses- what is this business doing wrong that is causing customers to go to other restaurants? Avoid these mistakes for your restaurant in the future.
- Opportunities – how can you use the competition’s weaknesses to bolster your business?
- Threats – do your competitors have special offers and deals that make them more ‘special’ than your business? If so, should you consider offering something special for your restaurant?
Conclusion
Using these three tips makes it easy for you to come up with a comprehensive and effective restaurant marketing plan for your new business! By identifying your brand and mission, analyzing your target market, and scoping out the competition, you can tailor your marketing strategy to gain new clients and fight off the competition.
