Marketing is one of the most important aspects of your business to get right. It also pays to keep on examining your strategies during the running of your restaurant and to keep re-evaluating your strengths – and weaknesses. As the restaurant market is such a varied one, you need to demonstrate what kind of an establishment you are running so that no mixed messages are sent out. A clear, concise message to potential and existing customers is your goal.

The market is steadily becoming more sophisticated and the numbers of good restaurants to choose from are increasing quite considerably. It therefore isn’t enough to sit back and think that your good cooking and beautifully situated, attractive restaurant will pull customers in without some extensive marketing on your part. This is where the first-time restaurateur can become unstuck. Get a strategy, allocate funding and do your homework.

This chapter covers:

• the choosing of a name;
• advice on signage to attract customers;
• your business cards and stationery;
• the menu design
• and web pages.

In short, your promotional material.

It also tackles technology via the website, as the internet is increasingly important in marketing – indeed, some say it is vital for survival.

The chapter also discusses the vexed question of advertising and how to launch yourself onto the market. It gives tips on getting a media profile and the importance of getting into the guides that matter.

Constructive advice on dealing with critics, and possible expansion of the business via various routes including cookery classes, corporate lunches and cookbooks is also examined.

A Business Link or Chamber of Commerce in your area may also be useful for assisting you with some of your marketing needs. Costs vary. A well-devised, professionally prepared marketing strategy can be an obvious financial advantage.

FINDING YOUR TARGET MARKET

First you need to identify your initial target market.

• 1.Your customers – age, income, occupations, local businesses.
• 2.Your customers’ needs – business lunches, outside catering, Sunday evening openings which may be an untapped market, for example.
• 3.The competition – what attracts customers to other restaurants, what are their strengths, their market share? Is there a reason why there are few restaurants in the area?
• 4.Trends – changes in local tourism, lifestyle changes, population shifts.

How to get this information:

• via the business section of a good, local library;
• tourism authorities;
• your local Business Link office;
• local commerce or traders’ groups;
• professional market research services;
• talk to prospective customers, restaurant staff and suppliers.

CHOOSING YOUR RESTAURANT’S NAME

Do you see your restaurant as a neighbourhood one, a potential crowd-pleaser from afar, a brasserie or bistro, an ethnic restaurant, a gastro pub or café? The name is all-important to attract the type of customer you want to enter your doors.

Choosing a good name for the restaurant is crucial. Avoid gimmicky names at all costs, if you wish to have a reputation as a good restaurant serving quality food and offering good service.

Consider what messages you are sending out with inscrutable, rather questionable names such as Kitch ‘n D’Or (oh, yes, it exists), Bizarre Bazaar, ThaiTanic, Cup ‘O’ Chino and Kwizeen (they do too). I would suggest not very professional ones. It does depend on your market, should you go for a name that incurs a wry smile. Or choose another which fits your aims and personality.

Nor do you wish to choose too bland a name that no one remembers. Or a complicated, tongue-twisting one which a member of staff has to answer the phone to. This vital word-of-mouth marketing tool is also affected if customers can’t pronounce the name to pass on to their friends and colleagues.

Obviously choosing a very French or Italian name will pigeonhole you. Potential customers may possibly be put off by the narrow menu it might suggest. Your menu may start off in a French or Italian vein when you open, but if it branches out into Thai, Bangladeshi or fusion cooking of any global kind, passing trade – and customers who haven’t been for a while – will not get that broader message. They may walk on, not wishing perhaps to choose from an entirely French or Italian menu, without realising the treasure trove of dishes available.

Equally you may wish to celebrate these types of cuisine, by offering the best of authentic Italian or French food the area has to offer and keeping the menu resolutely to these genres.

Should you be fortunate enough to have a property by a river, capitalise on the location by calling it The Restaurant On The Bridge or equivalent. This does draw people to you who read the guides, write-ups and advertising, always on the lookout for a restaurant with a good view. But call it appropriately and only if there is a view of the water (in this instance). A feeling of being had won’t win over new custom. Do avoid clichéd names.

SIGNAGE

Signage, proper signage, can have a huge impact on your business if you rely particularly on passing trade or on new customers, having booked, actually finding your restaurant.

• Make first impressions count.
• Never skimp on a professional sign-maker’s expertise by making your own signs unless you have the gift.
• Choose an unfussy, readable font to promote your business.
• Match the design and font to your other promotional material.
• Match the sign to your building. If it’s modern, do modern. If it’s Georgian, avoid going Gothic. Just keep it simple.
• Add the number of the street in lettering large enough to be seen by a passing car.
• Light the signs.
• If you come across a sign in your area which appeals, find out from the business who the sign-maker is in order to contact them.
• If you have a gate, fence or wall by the entry to your premises and use any of these to place your signs on, make sure that bushes and other foliage don’t obstruct the signs.
• Consider carefully the colour of the sign and of the lettering for the right impact and legibility. One poorly made sign of dark red with black lettering in my area is illegible; the business has shot itself in the foot before even opening its doors.
• Can your business benefit from several signs for customers approaching from more than one direction?
• Contact your local authority for permission for signage and lighting prior to having the sign made. It may not be passed due to size, colour or lighting so play safe.
• Signage within your business too may be necessary. For professionalism, it may be advisable to pass on the cutesy ‘boys, lads’ and ‘girls, lasses’ room approach which many customers find wince-making.

Contact the local authority for brown tourism signs to which you may be entitled. This signage can have a good effect on your business.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

This includes:

• business cards;
• printed paper;
• flyers;
• menus;
• sample menus to take away;
• newsletter
• and web page.

Depending on the type and size of business, you may not want or need all the above promotional material, but some will be obvious essentials. Decide what is necessary for you. A small restaurant may only need business cards, and make their own menus and headed paper via a computer. Or a menu board, clearly written, may be your choice.

Go through fonts very carefully as your choice will demonstrate your professionalism. A funky, angular one will merely be difficult to read. A clean, clear one will show respect for business and customer alike. Choose the same font for all promotional material.

Business cards

Put information on business cards such as restaurant name (it has been seen to be omitted), address, complete telephone number, website (if applicable), days of openings and times, perhaps bullet points of strengths (fresh local fish, sea views, log fires, in the Good Food Guide) plus a map on the back if your location is challenging. Will you have a logo?

Keep it simple yet as informative as possible. Make your business cards stand out via design and perhaps colour.

Stationery

Printed paper needs a heading, registered office (if applicable), address, telephone/fax, email, website and logo.

Compliment slips are useful for sending menus or confirmation of a booking or other information by post. Position the ‘with compliments’ so that you are not forced to write all around it.

Publicity

Flyers

Flyers are useful for leaving information at various sites, for handing out and for passers-by to take away with them. Have all the relevant information (where, what, when open) plus a sample menu and bullet points of strengths (see business cards) on the flyers. They can be A5 or compliment slip size.

Brochures

Brochures are increasingly being used as a market tool by more upmarket restaurants. Add photographs, sample menus and information with opening times, a map and perhaps private dining facilities, car park facilities, outside dining or bar area. A big ‘don’t do’ in my book is photography of smiling people, usually models, who look like the cat’s pyjamas as they gaze at one another over a perfectly groomed table awash with lobster tails and stemmed glasses, but not like real people really enjoying themselves at your restaurant. Of course you wish your restaurant to look its best, but you don’t wish to alienate people by inferring only ‘perfect’ people or a younger crowd eat here.

Newsletters

Newsletters can be an invaluable help to the small restaurant, keeping regular customers informed of local and calendar events with suggestions of menus to match the event or time of year. Or they may describe a special menu that ties in with a tight schedule, menu changes, new produce, a range of wines new to the list, a celebration of the first year of opening. They can be as personal or restrained as befits your market and can keep your business in your customers’ thoughts. Results often come from a mail out.

Menus

Menus are best kept simple, with the name of the restaurant as a heading. Options include printed ones if the menu varies little or seasonally, or clearly hand-written or computer-printed ones if the menu is small and changing daily.

Thanks to computing skills, it is easy to create your menus and print them off on a when-needed basis. Do check menus constantly and discard those that are at all marked. Covers for menus or wine lists must also be kept scrupulously clean and unmarked. A messy menu gives out the wrong impression immediately and may indicate a less than sparkling kitchen.

Sample menus are an excellent marketing device. Don’t forget to put the name of the restaurant and other relevant information on these slips. Have these, flyers and business cards, accessible and replenish the space taken up by these marketing tools regularly. As a compulsive collector of menus and flyers I am surprised that these details – name, address, number, website (if appropriate), times of opening – are often omitted, the information therefore useless.

The internet

A website is a boon for business. It is relatively cheap and good for small businesses which have a minimal marketing budget. Research other people’s websites and either design yours yourself or choose a designer whose work appeals to you. Ask about the success of the designer’s work, i.e. how many hits the website attracts. Look at a variety of websites for design inspiration. Get several quotes before committing yourself. Choose the background colour with care so that the website is readable. Some designers can be too ambitious or funky, and irritating to read so the customer gives up.

For simplicity, have the relevant information on the website, including times and days of opening, how to book a table, sample menu and wine list, a map, a good photograph of the restaurant’s exterior (if it merits it) and of the interior. For bigger players, a virtual 360 degree view of the restaurant and other public areas can be a real bonus.

Keep the website updated and either do the upkeep yourself or agree on a monthly/retainer fee with the web designer. Above all, keep it simple and easily navigable. A static website, i.e. one which doesn’t change or update, can send out the wrong signals and can arguably be worse than no website at all as it may demonstrate a slack approach. Don’t do as some restaurateurs do to make themselves look up to date and add a website address to their promotional material, which, when you visit it, contains nothing. This gives off bad signals.

Customers are increasingly looking to the internet for information. In 2003, an estimated 42 per cent of UK households used the internet, making the necessity of tapping into this market self-explanatory. The traffic to your site is dependent on not only the website address on your promotional materials, but also on search engines which will make your marketing endeavours even more productive. Searchers will either have your website address or may key in one specific word or group of words such as ‘restaurants in Norwich’.

ADVERTISING

To advertise or not to advertise, that is the question. Look through your local papers and you will see the same restaurants’ ads. In my area these are generally ethnic restaurants or ones belonging to chains that can afford the luxury of advertising.

Christmas, Mothering Sunday and Bank Holidays bring out a rash of ads too, from low to middle range or chain restaurants, rarely from those who aim to offer top quality food and service. These ads tend to offer meal deals, the menus often identical, with kids’ food at vastly reduced prices.

In my experience as a restaurateur of a small, independent upmarket country restaurant, it simply doesn’t pay to advertise. It is far more effective to use other marketing skills to get your message across: via Yellow Pages, media relationships, guide books, mail shots, a newsletter, handouts, website, internet, local tourism publications. Word of mouth is one of your most effective marketing tools. It has been estimated that every one satisfied customer will in turn tell between five and ten people.

Targetting the audience

Should you decide to advertise, look carefully at the many local newspapers to see if you are targetting the right audience. Most local newspapers have sister publications more suited to your area. You can obtain a media blueprint from your local publications which will give you a lot of research information. But make sure it is up to date. Look at the website www.jicreg.co.uk (Joint Industry Committee for Regional Press Research) to gauge the readership statistics of the majority of UK newspapers.

When contacting the advertising department ask pertinent questions about:

• The circulation.
• The readership: age groups, for example, and standard socio-economic categories:
  • A = higher managerial, administrative or professional;
  • B = intermediate managerial, administrative or professional;
  • C1 = junior managerial, administrative or professional;
  • C2 = skilled manual workers;
  • D = semi and unskilled manual workers;
  • E = those at the lowest level of subsistence.
• Shopping patterns: taking holidays abroad, buying new cars etc.
• Paid or free papers.
• The best day to place an ad if a daily paper. Your ad might well be best placed on the entertainment page, for example, which only comes out on Thursdays.
• The best section. Always stipulate where you would like your ad and if it appears in an inappropriate page, ask for it to be reprinted at no charge.

See a copy of your ad beforehand to agree it and proof-read it thoroughly. Also look at local magazines and ask the same questions.

Other ways of advertising

These include paid for and free:

• Yellow Pages.
• Posters.
• Local tourism publications.
• Local Tourist Information offices or Visitor Information Service websites which may have an eating out list.
• Direct mail.
• Newsletters for promotions, seasonal information, menus, staff changes.
• Internet (look at your area for online restaurant sites).

Advertorials

A mix of public relations and ads takes you down a contract route with the paper you choose. The deal is this. You agree to advertise a set number of ads of determinate size, or at least a quarter page ad, and for this you get a glowing report of your restaurant written by you and the advertising department. You will be persuaded to take a series of ads out, the argument being that it isn’t worth your while having just one.

The advertorial may include a visit by a staff member for a meal at your restaurant. The style of the place, virtually the entire menu, wine list and character of mine host will be given a 100 per cent thumbs up. This frankly fools no one and is seen as a very cheesy way of going about business. Best avoided if you are aiming at a good, discerning clientele who may run a mile.

Advertising nationally/internationally

Consider advertising in appropriate magazines. Try specialist interest magazines if, for example, your restaurant is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, a boating area, walking, hill-climbing areas or an architecturally stunning city.

Go to your local library and look up the following publication guides:

• Willings;
• Benn’s Media Guide;
• BRAD (British Rate and Data).

These will guide you to what publications are on the market, their approximate advertising costs and how to contact them.

Other possibilities may be to place ads in brochures and programmes allied to sporting events, such as Glorious Goodwood in Sussex, and their associated seasonal events. You are looking for a cut in this lucrative world.

Go to your local Tourist Information office to research brochures and programmes for festivals, theatres, art galleries, art house cinemas and the like to gauge advertising possibilities and their merits.

Advertising wording

Your advertisement is selling your business so it must:

• Grab the reader’s attention.
• Stimulate interest.
• Plant the idea firmly in the head of the reader that this may be the place for them and that they should react promptly.
• Be concise and give out the appropriate information – who you are, where you are, what you are offering, how you can be contacted, why they should book and when you are open.
• If your restaurant is in the Good Food Guide or any of the better guides, put this information in your ad.

Don’ts:

• Don’t be pushy, arrogant or personal.
• Don’t brag.
• Don’t use flowery language.
• Don’t contravene the Trades Descriptions Act by offering something you can’t deliver.

Other advertising tips

If you have taken over someone else’s business there may be an existing advertising contract. Do re-evaluate this.

When people book, ask them how they heard about your restaurant and compile this information to help you gauge the effectiveness of advertising – or is it a word of mouth booking?

Don’t knee-jerk react to a cold call from a sales person offering advertising. They will always try to persuade you with a must-have special offer or deal. Either ignore the call as politely as possible or ask them to send you details and then check the publication to see if the expense is worthwhile.

Do stick to your budget.

Other marketing tips

If you plan to offer a discounted or good value lunch, target retirement establishments and sheltered housing. Distribute or leave menus and flyers in lobbies if permitted, or in lobbies of community centres and other similar places that the retired may be more likely to visit. Lunch is a booming part of business as more and more retired people prefer to lunch and drive/walk home in daylight.

Leave a slip of paper on tables for recruiting names and addresses from customers. Or enclose it with the bill so that you can remind them of your existence via a mail shot of a new menu or a newsletter, updating your customers about special events.

Make sure you put your restaurant’s phone number and address in the Yellow Pages and in the telephone directory. You can, of course, put an ad in the Yellow Pages too.

THE MEDIA PROFILE

Before you can decide how to attract the media you must first recognise your unique strengths and what you are offering the public – and the media who you would like to woo. Consider what your style is. Is it purely culinary? Mainly looks? Based just on the character of the owner and/or chef? Ideally it’s a mix of all three. An independent restaurateur must find his or her own voice, own style to project, to sell to the media.

Free advertising – for this is what you will achieve by having a media presence – must be convincing, otherwise you are treading on dangerous ground when being visited by the guides and critics. If it is all hype and no substance, the damage to your business can be substantial by a bad review.

Before toting for new business via media coverage, you must believe in yourself and be committed to being able to offer what you say you can. Can you deliver the goods? Think about what makes you unique and makes people want to come through your door. It is almost like a unique blueprint fingerprint: no one does it quite like you do, hence the popularity of your restaurant.

Don’t latch on to other people’s style. You should be true to yourself, otherwise your restaurant may look self-conscious, out of synch, out of place.

Media coverage: who to target

• local and national media;
• restaurant reviewers, local and national;
• restaurant guides.

How to achieve media coverage

Achieve media coverage via personalities who work for you and what is special about your restaurant:

• A high-profile chef just taken on or one with an interesting pedigree or background.
• A sommelier who knows his or her business and who has worked in a high-profile place, or has an unusual background.
• Your produce – perhaps it’s unusual or sourced via an unusual producer.
• Your building if historic, renovated to a high standard, or on an interesting site.
• If you have changed from being a commercial city high-flyer, or nun, or are the first Alaskan to open a restaurant in the area.
• Has your restaurant changed hands after a 20 year or so period in the hands of a much-loved, local personality, for example?

This is all newsworthy.

Research

Research your area’s newspapers, magazines, radio and television at your local library. Ask for help via your librarian about the publications available. Also, consider reading/buying The Guardian Media Guide, and looking up publications in those useful guides, Willings and Benn’s.

Compile a media list of local and national newspapers, magazines, local and national radio programmes, and trade magazines, with contact numbers and emails.

When writing to a newspaper or magazine, phone to find out who to contact first. Write down the correct spelling of their name and send them a press release (see below on how to write one) with a photograph of the interior, the chef, a dish, the new owner. A picture tells a thousand words. But only if your budget can stand the cost of such an exercise. It is a waste of time and money if you don’t find out exactly who to target as your press release will simply be tossed out and not forwarded to the right person.

To call or not to call after sending a press release. Journalists are incredibly busy and some find it a distinct irritant to be called. Others don’t. It’s a gamble and if you do decide to throw caution to the wind, call them within a week or ten days of sending the release to establish first-hand contact.

It pays to keep your media list up to date and to talk or send a press release on a regular basis to keep you in their focus. But not with non-newsworthy items as they will go straight in the bin – or, worse still, you will be seen as a nuisance. Keep it professional, short and newsworthy.

Press releases

Press releases can be an excellent tool for business promotion if they are properly written and presented. They are not a page-long ad, nor are they a novel. Neither are they a promotional piece full of detail.

One common error is not to have read the publication you are targeting before sending the press release. Do some homework and visit their website and look at the style, the content and, if possible, buy the publication. As a result of your study, you will be able to understand the readers’ needs and get a better response from your press release.

Golden rules of writing press releases:

• Use headed paper with contact name, address, phone, email.
• The date of the press release should be prominently displayed.
• State Press Release at the top of the release.
• Write For Immediate Publication or Embargoed to July xx (if there is a reason for keeping the news until a later date) also at the top.
• Use double-spacing or small paragraphs divided by a space.
• Keep it short: one page, the length between 400-500 words.
• Use one side only of the paper if you must go onto another page.
• Always finish with ENDS.
• Choose your font carefully. It must be easily readable and not quirky.
• Write with the journalist in mind. They are not looking to buy your product or service but to fill a news need.
• Write a press release asking the question: ‘Why should readers of XYZ care’ rather than ‘What’s in it for me?’
• Start with an underlined heading encapsulating your reasons for sending this press release: e.g. Tom Glanville, award-winning chef from The Savoy to join The Dining Room, Bristol, as head chef.
• Develop the press release with newsworthy items, such as what strengths Tom will bring to the restaurant due to his culinary style and background. Tom may be hosting a sample menu tasting or he may be holding a charity promotion or offering cookery courses.
• Finally, add other details at the end, i.e. Notes for editor: The Dining Room, owned and run by Jessica Yates, opened in 1999, is in the Good Food Guide and has two rosettes in the AA Guide. For further information and for photography contact Jessica Yates – with full contact details.
• Re-read your press release for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
• Send the press release by post. If sending via email it may just be ignored or deleted.