how to market restaurant

im working at thai restaurant as their marketing.
i have some problem to market this restaurant for dinner.
lunch time this restaurant is very crowded as it located at central business district.
the problem is at nite is really dead.
i had tried:
happy hour 1+1 beer
gift certificate for dinner
free a bottle of house wine for minimum spend $60 or above.

is there any other solution to bring up some crowd for dinner time?

 

submit the restaurant site to local food directory sites

 

question: is your district also crowded at night?
mind you, marketing doesn't solve all problems.

 

Offline marketing ideas: Pretty girls standing outside, hire people to put flyers on cars/mailboxes, some kind of challenge ("if you can finish this meal then its free"), make deals with local cab drivers to bring customers for a commission.
Online marketing ideas: Social media (create a fan page, give people deals for "liking" it), SEO (lots of work but worth it in the long run), highly targeted Adwords campaign for your location, review sites (Yelp, Google, etc)

 

I would just caution that you might erode the prestige of your restaurant if you resort to certain "cheap" tricks such as eating challenges and pretty girls. Then again, if your reputation is more about "fun" then you can get away with it. I would agree that social review sites would help a lot if you're not there already.

I would avoid SEO - it's a lot of work and as a restaurant it wouldn't be as useful to you as other businesses. I would spend your time on other online efforts like ratings sites. If there is something else in your neighborhood (or nearby neighborhood) that people come to at night, then you might want to capitalize on that somehow.

 

this district at nite is kinda dead.

 

you mean we need to give a lot of food for challenge and if the customer can finished it, it'll be free?

 

why would someone want to market a restaurant online? But if you do, I suggest you advertise on websites that promotes yoru town or country

 

oooh i just remembered! You can use facebook invites!!

 

Not necessarily an eating challenge but some gimmick to get people in the door. It does depend on what type of restaurant it is. There is some restaurant where if you finish a 72 oz steak and the sides, its free. Most people don't though and end up paying the huge bill. I assume they make pretty good money from it considering its been open for decades.

If your restaurant is more upscale, turn the chef into a celebrity by listing him on promos, even if people have never heard of him/her they're more likely to assume they're good if you promote them.

 

why don't you try online marketing =)

 

i've tried to make a facebook page and post some promotion and restaurant background in some big forums and food forums.

 

It's great when people can find your restaurant's menu online, so before they go there they will know exactly what to offer. Also submit your website to variety of local and food directories, ask your visitors to write couple words about your restaurant and service there and of course freebie. Spread the word about your restaraurant in social media with pictures and videos. If you have some musicians which play live, you can ask hire some famous groups and make event on facebook. I guess this can bring a lot of visitors. Good luck!

 

With this one you really have to focus on local SEO.

-Make sure the restaurants address and number is at the top of EVERY page
-Have a detailed contact page with detailed directions. Explain how to get back car and which buses to take
-Give people fliers on their way out to encourage them to give your restaurant reviews online
-Get a lot of "citations." Meaning list the restaurant in yellowpages, superpages, etc.
-Register on Yelp.com
-Utilize your facebook fan page to the fullest. Have daily specials, switch out your fan page main pick with the special of the day (a pic on facebook fan page can be up to 600pixels high. make a post everyday with your special. you could use something like sendible.com to make the daily posts for you. you just schedule in advance. make the post about 4-5pm...right before people go out to eat.

 

Marketing research is the best way to go. Find out what kind of people are there for lunch (surveys can help), then target those same kinds of people for the dinner hour. You had mentioned that the "district" is kinda dead at night, but you can be the one to change that! There is no quick fix, just lots of research to be able to attract the right customers.

Good luck!

 

yes this is good idea, or submit on yellow pages

 

yes, by offering an unique, never-tasted-before, delightful dish AND nothing-but-the-best service.

so when someone will be hungry, he/she will think: 'Tonight i'm going to eat [your unique dish] at [your restaurant's name].'

P.S.

forget about the promotions, bonuses, cut prices, etc. why? because by offering those, people will think you are only after their money, and not 'after' their problem. so be a problem solver. what problem? hunger, of course. and maybe boredom...

remember, they don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care!

so only focus on delivering unique value, tasteful value, you know...value (you might even think to create an intimate atmosphere with some relaxing music, shady lights and dancing program).

and by doing so, you can even raise the price a bit...

also check out this article:

http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=77130

 

If you don't have a site to your restaurant, get one built. It will help you much rather than doing marketing manually. Do graphic advertisement of your restaurant in the city you are and get the people know about your business.

 

Hi Chiangmaipalace,

You should get a offline marketing consultant to assist you in your marketing efforts.

regards, LASSE

 

List your restaurant on a local business review site. Yellowpages or restaurantica are two viable options.