Marketing on a local level must be a process.

Almost all of the restaurant owners, operators and managers I work with in the trenches discuss marketing as an “event” or a “series of events”, designed to produce instant sales and instant gratification.

They search for the magic bullet.

The promise of this magic bullet comes as a trojan horse from the advertising sales reps that hammer them with terms like “saturation”, “shelf life” and other such sales tactics. Sometimes the magic bullet suggestion comes from an advertising agency hired to boost sales quickly. These agencies like to throw around concepts such as “branding” and “image building.”

These magic bullets begin to get expensive. And any results that come in are very short-lived.

Eventually the truth sets in…you can’t purchase a magic bullet for marketing your restaurant, nor is there a short cut to this magic bullet.

Ah, but notice- I didn’t say there isn’t a magic bullet for marketing your restaurant.

Here’s your magic bullet- Commit, right now, to building a marketing plan for your restaurant that operates as a process. Stop marketing and advertising by the seat of your pants. Create a local marketing action plan that is based on a logical strategy of identifying targets, networking those targets and measuring the results.

I didn’t say it would be easy, nor did I say it would be quick. But if you draft this plan correctly, the tactics will become a regular part of your weekly routine and the results (more customers) will be just as predictable.

We help a lot of clients with our IntriMail Email Marketing program. This consists of designing EMail blasts and sending those out at strategic times to promote events, display lunch menus and generally just keep in touch.

But the purpose of this message is to open you up to a new idea that we are launching for a client right now- Email Drip Marketing. As a way of staying in touch with all the local business owners, fundraising connectors such as Principals, Superintendents, etc., let’s take a look at what email drip marketing is and how it can be effective for you…

One to one Direct Email Marketing

Drip marketing is a one-to-one marketing method rather than a one-to-many method of communicating with prospects. This is often confusing to would-be-marketers who don’t understand the difference between a drip campaign and an e-zine or e-newsletter campaign.

What makes a drip email campaign so effective is the fact that it consists of a series of pre-written emails sent out in the timing and sequence you choose. Each subscriber gets a series of emails in the same sequence, usually based on the date they subscribed. An email newsletter, by contrast, is sent to everyone on the list at the same time.

Both methods of marketing have their place in the e-mail marketing world, but the advantage of a drip series is that the information presented can be designed to refer to the previous one. A newsletter, on the other hand, is more difficult to do that, because a user who joined a list today did not get the message sent to the list last week.

Ideally, an e-marketer should have a platform that can do both. This way, a message can be sent to everyone that is seasonally-based, like this:

Hi John,

With the snow melting and Spring coming around, you might be considering putting your home on the market. With tax refunds going out, many home buyers become motivated to go home shopping this time of year, and if you’re wanting to get your home sold, now is the time to get it done.

I’d love to talk more about it and discuss how much you may be able to get for your home.

Sincerely,

Jack Black
Anytown Real Estate Agent

Or sequence-based, like this:

Hi John,

Thanks for downloading my free report on Selling Your Home For Top Dollar in Any Market. Let me know if you have any questions at all about how I can help you get the most from your real estate investment.

Tomorrow I’d like to send you a free Checklist For Preparing Your Home For the Market. My clients have found this very helpful.

I’d love to get your home sold at top dollar for you when you’re ready!

Sincerely,

Jack Black
Anytown Real Estate Agent

Email relationship building

The competitive advantage of communicating frequently using a drip campaign is hard to overstate. Despite public dislike for email marketing messages, studies have shown that more frequent communication is more effective than less frequent communication as long as permission has been granted for the email.

A reader who has opted into a list chose to receive that content. Sending to them once a week or even once a day is actually better than sending once per month, because the relationship and trust can be build faster.

While the goal of most email marketing is of course to sell something, any good salesperson knows that sales increase exponentially the stronger the relationship. A publisher who takes that time to build a relationship with readers through email drip marketing will be rewarded over the one who doesn’t.

Let me know if you would like to lean more.

Just got off a l-o-n-g conference call with a Local Store Marketing client. He has a casual food restaurant in North Carolina. The town he is located is very limited economically. They just lost a large auto manufacturer and all the wages that went with it.

The only real economy that’s left is mostly tourist’s passing through on their way to the coast. Not the greatest place to own a restaurant. After working with the restaurant for a few months on conference calls, I was able to slowly, but steadily improve sales. Actually got a 15% improvement.

But slow and steady growth isn’t good enough when the building owner is ready to call your note from two years prior of being behind in payments. So, the owner and I worked out a deal to cover my expenses and some of my time for me to pay a visit.

The first evening in, on a Thursday, I visited five of his competitors- three of them were crowded, one was jam packed.

Finally I walked into his restaurant to no greeting. A female bartender just looked at me while I stood behind the “Please Wait To Be Seated” sign. After 3 more minutes I approached the bartender and asked if there was a host on duty, and she said, “I think so.”

I sat myself.

After a few more minutes, a server appeared to take my order…. and the poor experience continued.

The next afternoon, I called my client from my hotel and invited him to lunch at the competitors restaurant that was busy the night before. We met at the door at 11:30 am and walked in. The host greeted us immediately and said there may be a slight wait, but offered to grab us a drink while we waited.

We were seated and the excellent service continued… the server asked if we worked in the area, and if we had been in before.

All the while, my restaurant owner was complaining about the auto manufacturer leaving town, and the corrupt city officials, and the poor service he received from his franchisor and about nine other things.

All the while, customers were filing in and out of the restaurant we were in.

I suspect that if I met the owner of the busy restaurant- his disposition would be a bit “sunnier” than my client’s. My guess is that he or she understands Local Store Marketing.

Moral: Reality is what you make it.

On occasion, I need to depart from my thoughts on Local Store Marketing and restaurants. Now is such a time…

Most everyone is familiar with the stereotypical used car salesman. The guy who would swindle his mother into buying a car that leaked oil. It’s refreshing to learn that the spirit of those used car salesmen is still alive in cyberspace.

Tonight, I just received a text based email which flew under the radar of my junk filter. The subject line read: ” Top Net Inc”, which is not bad, because it doesn’t mention purchasing gold before its too late, or a new male enhancement drug, or anything like that.

So I view the email and find out that this guy is a millionaire who has a burning desire to reveal all his trade secrets to ME! And the best part is – it’s FREE!!!

BUT- alas, if I don’t move with lightning speed- the opportunity of a lifetime will pass me by like two ships in the night.  Never to return. (Unless I save the email and open it again tomorrow).

Here are some direct quotes out of the email and you will notice I left “Shawn Casey’s” name intact. My fear of reprisal is small, mainly because I don’t believe the author of this is named Shawn Casey…

“Okay, let me catch my breathe while I type this because you’re not going to believe this…First off, thank you so much for taking a minute to read this, my name is Shawn Casey, and I’m a millionaire that was dared to do something insane tonight and tomorrow morning, and if you’re interested in knowing what it is then read below, but you’ll need to hurry because you may only have a few minutes to take advantage of this…”

Wow.

It continues…

As part of an insane marketing test, I’m giving away an in-depth Internet “Business-In-A-Box” to 250 people today. I should be selling this for $497, but…I’m flat out giving it away. Your cost is zero… zip… zilch!

Press here before you become the 251st person:

Shawn, can you insult my intelligence anymore?? And it concludes…

Press here to Grab it quick – right now – before I change my mind…

(Darn, I hit the delete key, I hope he didn’t change his mind.)

In all seriousness, I’m a firm believer that a successful business creates a transaction that results in three wins…

Your Client Wins,

You Win and

Society Wins.

The word is value.

Your number one demographic for restaurant marketing would be children from 6-12 years old, unless you are on an island with all adults!

If you had a treasure chest inside the entrance to your restaurant, there are a couple of things you could do to motivate the children…

1. Monthly Treasure Chest Grand Prize:

You simply keep a jar of keys at the door, one of the keys in the jar opens the treasure chest. When the kids come in, each one gets to reach in- pick a key and tries to unlock the chest. The lucky devil who wins gets a nice prize or selection of prizes. (Have boys and girls prizes available.)

2. Birthday Prize:

If you are collecting childrens birthdays and emails- send a email to let them know they can collect their Birthday Prize out of the treasure chest when they come in to eat their free kids meal (mom and dad must pay). Keep inexpensive prizes in the box, let them unlock it and choose!

Local Store Marketing can be fun!