How To Run An Advertising Campaign For Your New Restaurant

On our last restaurant startup article, we took a deep dive into restaurant management systems and how they can take your business further. Today, we're moving on to another important milestone in your restaurant's life cycle: the initial advertising campaign.

It's said that first impressions make or break the way others perceive you. The same can be said of restaurants as well, and that's why it is so important to come out of the gate with a strong advertising campaign. When starting a new restaurant from scratch, it can be quite a challenge to develop this campaign in an organic and engaging way. The best method to properly structure the campaign is through careful assessment, reflection, and planning.

The first item of importance when creating an advertising campaign is to decide what identity your restaurant should have in the campaign. This identity will govern your marketing efforts and give you the unique personality required to truly capture your audience. Subway, for instance, is a chain that prides itself on the customizability of subs and the freshness of the ingredients, hence the slogan of "Eat Fresh." It's not enough to identify yourself as an "fine Italian restaurant" or "burger bar"; pick colorful adjectives, active verbs, and any catchy words or phrases that add character to what you do and produce. The more specific you can get with your identity, the easier it will be to sell your business and distinguish it from competitors.

Social media access and maintenance are also extremely important to making the advertising campaign work, as explored in our article on branding. Keeping up a healthy social media presence will make your restaurant better known to the masses and hopefully will attract new customers. You should also create and maintain a website that users can visit to gain insight on your menu, your identity, and what location or locations are available. The more information you can give to customers about your business, the better.

Another option an owner can take is to get listed on a restaurant app such as Yelp or TripAdvisor. These apps not only increase online presence, but also allow users to share personal insights about your restaurant. Ideally, positive word-of-mouth from these insights is a surefire way to get more people into the restaurant. If possible, it is a good idea to respond to reviews as well with an acknowledgement of constructive criticism and gratitude for feedback.
And speaking of feedback, you could also consider reaching out to bloggers and critics online to review your restaurant. Even if they don't work for a local news site or a big publication, their review could help boost awareness about your business and serve as a "seal of approval" on your menu. Good word of mouth from a variety of critics is a great way to build a healthy reputation among your target market.

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Whatever you decide to do in your campaign, always remember to be true to the identity of your business. Take pride in and express your culture, your values, and your direction to really show customers how you are unique and why they should visit. It is also important to take full advantage of today's many technologies to widely broadcast your business. With reach, passion, and creativity, your advertising campaign can truly flourish and deliver a winning first impression of your new restaurant.

Published by:
Christian Dantes

REWrite Blog