Restaurants' Recipe For Success: Get Smarter
Davis
Everyone likes and knows how to eat. So it stands to reason that anyone can run a restaurant, right?
Well, no. Of course not. But that doesn't stop people from trying. And that may account for the high number of restaurants that fail.
Unfortunately, things aren't getting any easier for restaurant owners, according to Don Bonci of Holden, who recently started DB Solutions Food Service Consultants after a career in the restaurant business, which included a stint in management at the Piccadilly Pub restaurant chain. Restaurant owners, he said, can't rely on hope as a strategy, which may have worked in the past.
"There's such a razor thin margin in the restaurant business," he said. "If you're hoping and they (customers) don't come in, you may be out of business."
Strategic Thinking
So what's the solution? Well, Bonci recently teamed up with two marketers — Deb Buckley and Christina Chatalian — to deliver their recipe for success at a North Central Chamber of Commerce event last month, a program that they're repeating for a Worcester Regional Chamber event today. Their message is simple: Start getting strategic about how you do your marketing, which had better include an online component if you have diners under the age of 65. And simply setting up a Facebook page isn't enough.
"The restaurant industry is a prime target to harness the Internet and really grow," said Buckley, a former corporate marketer who now runs her own Leominster-based firm, eMarketing4Us. Buckley is a big proponent of restaurants using the latest technologies to market and work efficiently.
"The technology has evolved," she said. "There are tools out there that you can use to monitor and track consumer behavior and leverage that information."
One simple example Buckley points to is having a mobile website. If a customer is looking up a restaurant on his phone, and that website isn't formatted to display easily on a mobile device, that customer may move on to another restaurant. And a mobile website doesn't have to be an expensive investment. It can be a few thousand dollars, compared to an app, which can run you in the tens of thousands pretty quickly.
Meanwhile, Chatalian, a former news anchor who recently started her own Leominster-based firm, Say It New, is pitching the idea that restaurant owners need to get in the business of not just producing food, but also producing video.
Customers "want to see the fresh food experience, they want to see what other people are saying, they want to see what customers are experiencing." In this way, video can be a perfect restaurant commercial venture. Screen Saving
But again, it comes down to cost. Many restaurant owners, and business owners in general, think of video and see dollar signs. But Chatalian says a simple video can be affordable. And if you post on YouTube and your website, there's no cost for distribution.
Bonci said the key is to understand who your clientele is and making sure your marketing plan mirrors that audience. For example, if the majority of your patrons are of a more advanced age, then maybe you can stick with a print-and-billboard ad buy. But if you want 20-somethings coming through the door, then a more mobile-friendly strategy is called for. And if you want a mix of both types of customers, then you need a mix of marketing techniques to reach them.
"You really need to identify your client," he said.
What's interesting about this point is how this wide difference between generations and how they consume information is really a problem for all businesses. In a perfect world, all types of people would engage with the exact same types of content. But now, technology has allowed all of us to dig into niche interests. An advertiser who bought an ad during the finale of M*A*S*H in 1983 reached 106 million people. By contrast, buying an ad during today's top-rated network comedy — The Big Bang Theory on CBS — will be watched by only 17 million viewers.
With the greater variety of entertainment options, it's just getting harder to sell stuff today. Which means all business owners — including those who own the local pizza shop down the street — have to get smarter and more strategic. n
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