Restaurant Marketing: Do you know your customers?

Do you know your customers? No really; do you?

Often restaurateurs market to the wrong people instead of trying to target their message to their core customer base.

Again, who are your customers? Think about it, this is important for your marketing.

If you have a fast food place, your customers could be almost anybody (even Warren Buffet eats once in a while at McDonald's) but they all have some common expectations such as:

• They want a quick meal
• They want a cheap meal
• They want it delivered fast

If you, on the other hand, have a family friendly restaurant your audience is looking for something different:

• Kids menus
• Good food for adults also
• Perhaps some alcoholic beverages for the parents
• Moderately fast service
• etc.

What about if you have a medium to upper scale restaurant? Then your customers will be looking for:

• Good food
• Quite environment so that they can talk and converse
• Perhaps romantic or elegant ambience
• Soft background music
• Good drinking list: wines, beers, spirits, etc.
• Slow service so that they have time to enjoy their meals and conversations,
• etc.

So you see? If you have a family restaurant, it is probably a waste of money marketing to singles or professionals looking for a quite atmosphere to conduct their business... And viceversa. Families don't care about fancy restaurants where they will be uncomfortable with their kids and will make the rest of the customers uncomfortable as well.

If you know your audience, you can totally target your marketing efforts to them: your advertising, your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), your offers and discounts, your communication... they should all talk directly to your customers. They should be totally targeted to your core audience. Don't waste your money, your time and your customer's time trying to offer them something that they are not interested in.

You will both benefit.

Happy sailing,

Jose L Riesco
© Riesco Consulting Inc.
www.twitter.com/jlriesco
http://www.myrestaurantmarketing.com