THE MIDDLE EAST'S NUMBER ONE RESTAURANT CONSULTANTS
Like any other business, restaurants have their peak and offseasons. And now that the Christmas season and all the euphoria that comes with it are over, it’s time to devise sustainable restaurant marketing strategies.
So if you are looking to beat the slow start to the year, here are few offseason restaurant marketing strategies to help sustain your profit, position your business for growth, and prepare it for another peak season:
Utilize the Traffic to Grow Your Email Database
With peak seasons comes increased online traffic and footfall. While that is an opportunity to earn as much money as you can, remember that seasonal profits will not be enough to offset the entire year’s expenses.
So, it is only wise that you utilize the opportunity to gather customers’ contact details; especially emails to enable you to keep in touch long after the peak season is over. There are a few simple ways to accomplish this.
First off, talk to your website manager to have attractive call-to-action (CTA) and signup forms placed in different sections of the website. You can offer coupon codes in exchange for emails. This is a proven tactic that is ageless and will help you stay on the top of your customers’ minds at all times.
You can also make the most of the increased footfall by offering paper coupons that your customers can fill to redeem discounts. If you don’t want to go the paper route, you can direct them to fill the form online.
Keep in Touch Via Email
Now that you have an email list, it is important to stay in touch with your customers.
To make sure that your email marketing is effective, endeavor to produce tailored content that your audience will be interested in – recipes, new menu, loyalty programs, and so on.
In addition, bear in mind that having their emails isn’t a reason to bombard them with emails every other day. The less frequent you send those emails, the better your chances of retaining their email. Remember they can opt to unsubscribe to your list if it becomes frequent and less useful.
Solicit for Customer Reviews
Whether it is on your website, social media accounts, or third-party platforms like Yelp and Zomato, customer review is a powerful social proof in the digital space. This is because people tend to trust recommendations from their fellow humans more than they trust an advertisement.
So, asking for reviews should be an all-year-round strategy to keep your feeds fresh. Having good reviews and recommendations from happy, satisfied patrons will not only increase footfall during offseason but also encourage people to come around during the peak periods.
Have an all-year-round marketing strategy
It’s common to see restaurant owners increase marketing efforts during peak season. This is quite understandable but you don’t expect a customer to forget a restaurant that has been in constant communication throughout the year.
A good way to keep winning loyal patrons that will come around during on and offseason is to create a consistent marketing strategy.
Keep in mind that good marketing involves providing beneficial content to your audience, even before selling them anything.
Promotion and Loyalty Programs for Locals
Peak seasons are often characterized by the massive inflow of tourists and visitors. However, immediately after that, your business will fall back on the patronage of the local community.
So, if you want to beat the slow season, devise marketing tactics to keep the locals happy.
Rewarding regular patrons through loyalty programs, and having promo from time to time are good ways to maintain seasonal hype and keep your patrons happy.
Revise Your Menu/Pricing to Suit the Local Consumers
While tourists and seasonal patrons may be comfortable paying high prices as long as your food and services are top-notch, revising your menu and pricing after peak season is a good way to keep your local patrons happy.
These are season-proof restaurant marketing strategies to ensure that fluctuations do not kick you out of the market.
Have more questions about offseason restaurant marketing strategies or restaurant management, drop us a line.
