Does Your Restaurant Need Advertising?
Would you be interested in what benefits an advertising campaign can bring your restaurant, if so you are best talking to a few advertising agencies that have restaurant marketing experience. Just fill in the form opposite to get free advice and quotes from local advertising companies that have experience in doing advertising for restaurants.
Do Restaurants Need To Advertise
In the UK, there are tens of thousands of restaurants, of varying kinds; all (without exception) facing the same problems, that with the UK recession, less people are going out to eat. The need therefore is to advertise, to encourage more people to go out to eat, to offer deals to entice customers to come to your restaurant rather than someone else's.
Restaurants are faced with the difficulty of competition (with other restaurants) and with the issue that less people are going out to eat (at any time in the year).
The need for advertising is there for almost all restaurants in one form or another. Depending on the kind of restaurant, would dictate the kind of advertising that would be most effective for them.
There are various forms of advertising that are available for restaurants to make use of throughout the year:
TV Advertising
TV advertising for restaurants is possibly one of the most expensive forms of advertising, but does have the most impact. Larger chair restaurants (such as fast food restaurants) find that TV advertising works well (McDonalds, Burger King etc.) but for independent restaurants (such as high end fine dining or smaller high street Indian restaurants) TV advertising would not really be practical in terms of being a cost effective form of marketing.
Radio Advertising
Radio advertising for restaurants is very popular, as it can be done locally, nationally and seasonally. Radio advertising is a lot cheaper than advertising on TV, but can capture a very broad audience. Many restaurants use radio advertising to promote openings, special events, seasonal events and wedding functions alongside general advertising.
Visual Advertising
Visual advertising would include billboard advertising, posters, digital advertising etc. and this tends to be used more for brand awareness purposes rather than targeted advertising. Fast food restaurants find that visual advertising works well (on bus stop shelters, visual banners on houses, digital advertising on the tube etc.) for them in terms of raising the profile of the restaurant chain. Visual advertising works better for larger restaurant chains rather than independent establishments.
Sponsorship Advertising
Many businesses do use sponsorship advertising to promote their brand and raise awareness, but like TV & visual advertising, this tends to work best for larger restaurant chains (such as fast food companies like Subway) rather than pubs, high street restaurants etc.
There are different kinds of restaurants around the UK all reaching out to different audiences; all advertising can be used for promotion, but it is a case of choosing the right form of advertising for the restaurant in order to create the best returns for the investment.
Types Of Restaurant
The UK has tens of thousands of restaurants and each one is different, but each can be broken down to the various different types of eatery:
- Fast Food - Places like Subway, McDonalds, Wimpey etc.
- High Street - Zizzi's, Nando's, Pizza Express, Piza Hut etc.
- Foreign - Chinese, Indian, Thai, Mexican etc.
- Pubs & Hotels
- Fine Dining
Different kinds of advertising will work for each kind of restaurant, so talking to an advertising agency is wise to find out which form of advertising will work best.
Choosing The Right Advertising Agency For A Restaurant
For any restaurant considering advertising, the problem exists on which advertising agency to use, there are hundreds around to choose from, how do you find the right one that will produce profitable results?
The best thing to do is to chat to a few (giving you different ideas and opinions to weigh up and compare) before deciding on which one to work with; but the most important thing is talking to a few that know about marketing to restaurants. If the advertising agency has restaurant marketing experience and have worked with restaurants in the past, they will be much more likely to know how to promote you effectively.
By looking over the portfolio should give you a feel for the kind of businesses the advertising company has historically worked with; but meeting them will give you a much better idea of what they can offer. By meeting the advertising team, chatting to them about their experience should give you either warning bells or piece of mind.
If you are unsure, you can always ask to talk to some of their current clients; as how their advertising campaign is going, is it fruitful, is it producing results, is it worth the money invested?
Compare Advertising Costs For Restaurants
When considering advertising agencies to work with, one thing to bear in mind is that they are all private companies, all in business to make profit and all seeking to grow their agencies from the profits they make.
Paying a high price for an advertising campaign will not guarantee results, only that the advertising agency is getting more money (for a new holiday, house extension etc.). By taking time in researching a few advertising agencies that know and understand the restaurant market, should ensure the best chances of success. Certainly if you are investing a lot into an advertising campaign you need to ensure that you choose the agency with the best chances of success.
For free advice and quotes from advertising agencies that have experience in doing advertising campaigns for restaurants, just fill in the form above.