Use Restaurant Promotional Items to Market and Build Sales/Loyalty

Will Your Restaurant Guests Pay to Advertise for You?

Here's a restaurant sales-building/marketing idea used very successfully by a concept I used to work for. Use promotional items both as a revenue center and a method to market your restaurant. Whether you own a pizza restaurant, a family casual concept or a high-end steakhouse, giving or selling your guests your own restaurant's branded promotional items and products can be an effective and inexpensive way to keep your restaurant's name in front of your patrons when they're not in your dining room. 

Imprinted restaurant promotional items such as glassware, t-shirts, hats, even branded children's toys can remind them of their last great visit to your restaurant, prompting more frequent future visits.  If your guests are raving fans, they will even pay to advertise your brand to others!  Some brands such as Hard Rock Cafe and Eskimo Joe's have built very profitable retail empires doing just that.

Promote these items in your restaurant, both as add-on sales and as giveaways to regulars or for special occasions.  If appropriate to your concept, when giving away promotional items, make it an event for all guests to see, prompting their interest as well.  You can also use the items as giveaways for local store marketing programs.  The local community groups who solicit freebie donations for their causes will be happy to spread the word for you as well.

If you’re considering using printed promotional items to market your brand, do your due diligence first and check out several companies that specialize in promotional items for restaurants.  Identify a reputable company that you can order promotional items from, one with good references that uses quality products.  You don't want to associate your name with cheap or dangerous materials.  Have fun and good luck!

For more restaurant marketing ideas read these posts.

Comments

[James Kohn]

As a restaurant owner I have always found that expressing heartfelt appreciation to customers is incredibly powerful. I always set aside a few minutes each morning to make random "thank you" calls to customers. Each call takes about a minute, but the response is invaluable. I make it clear that I recognize that customers have a ton of options regarding where to spend their dining out dollars, and I genuinely appreciate their decision to spend those dollars at one of my restaurants. This not only expresses appreciation, but it also nurtures relationships.

More recently I discovered a wonderful tool for using personal cards to enable me to touch more customers, but still keep it on a personal level. These are real cards, NOT e-cards, and they arrive via US Mail. The tool is called SendOutCards. I can now "touch" more customers, build more personal relationships, and do it all on a more consistent basis. SendOutCards is a fabulous tool that I am now sharing with friends and colleagues. If you understandd the value of saying thank you and nurturing relationships, I encourage you to visit https://www.SendOutCards.com/JamesKohn to learn more.

[promo items]

Every business tradeshow, exhibition, event or a campaign has a theme. Nearly all marketing campaigns focus on promoting the business through selling their respective products and services. However, they are backed by exclusive themes to promote the business in a particular way. Not all campaigns have the same theme even though they have similar products for a display. Using a promo items that fits in the theme can create wonders. Your potential customers will appreciate your creativity and you will shave higher chances to pursue them to buy your product.