Restaurateurs Make Sure Marketing Leads to Exceeding Forecast Revenue

Sought-after young restaurant brands can brag that they don’t even have to advertise.

When I hear that claim I smile – because I know, one day, they will start advertising.

They inevitably cool off. Someone else will own the hot new brand that everyone loves to be Insta-ing about.

The most recent examples of this? Shake Shack. At one time, Friday’s bragged it did not advertise! 

Matthew’s Four Key Marketing Improvements

Most restaurateurs I work with have a love/hate relationship with the marketing line on their P&L.

They love it because something works in the way they carry out their message to the world.

They hate it because they don’t know what really makes marketing work.

At the end of 2022 I wrote you about your 2023.

The final piece of this relates to marketing.

• Learn What You Don’t Know. Let’s face it: Most restaurant company owners have had to learn marketing along the way. Being a marketing expert did not launch them or make them successful. Of all the categories in your 2023 plan, marketing remains the most mysterious and biggest opportunity for learning and improvement.
   
• Be Glad About Simplicity. The digital age has given you a few marketing avenues that actually work. Focus on social, digital, local store marketing, loyalty and events with outdoor in the right locations.
   
• Hone Your Message. Without an appealing message, your efforts are wasted. The owner of a market research company used to point out ads to me that were research driven. That would be most of them.
   
• Tie Everything to a Result. Marketing exists to help your restaurants reach or exceed budget. You forecast guest count, PPA, and revenue. When allocating marketing funds, challenge your vendors to explain to you how what they sell fits into that. Marketing people like selling an input without an output. Don’t accept that.
   

A vibrant brand must have new and repeat guests. When you focus on marketing, you ensure that formula works to strengthen your company.

You only have to move a small number of guests out of your competitors’ dining rooms into yours to make a huge difference to your revenue, profit, and net worth.  

Marketing even influences existing guests who decide whether they fit into what you say about your brands.
 
Over to you. Does your marketing plan connect to results? How do you measure success?