Restaurant marketing success relies on the owner’s ability to highlight the location’s best features in way that guests can find them. The Internet is a great opportunity for this, but simply putting up a website with no information does nothing. Using social media to get people excited and engaged and providing clear and easy to understand info on your website brings in more traffic.
Millennials are shoppers and consumers under the age of 34 and they require different marketing tactics than other diners. Nearly 70% of this demographic relies on recommendations and information from friends when picking a restaurant to eat at. Social media and cellphone use has made it easy for friends to share their likes and dislikes in dining very quickly.
Consumer confidence is still declining, as it has been for the past five months, so the expected restaurant spending for the rest of the summer is looking down. The Restaurant Spending Trajectory shows that a small improvement occurred in May but the rest of the season isn’t looking very healthy. Consumers are spending less money as the job market fails to recover.
The National Restaurant Association has made their concern clear over the new credit card fee cap imposed by the Federal Reserve recently. The association is in favor of the cap, which helps small restaurant owners retain more of their profits, but feels that the new 21 cents per transaction limit is still too high. The group pushed for a 12 cent cap.
Famous Dave’s sent their Traveling Rib Team to the Cleveland, Ohio Great American Rib Cook-Off and walked away winners. The team took home the People’s Choice Award for Best Ribs in America. The company sends its best pit chefs and rib experts to competitions around the country and has won over 500 awards for their mouth-watering barbeque.
Salad Creations has joined a new partnership with ARAMARK to develop food service locations in educational institutions and businesses. The chain offers fresh and healthy made-to-order salads and is a better alternative to traditional fast food. This new partnership has lead to one university location and two more in development.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers is working on a few serious management changes. The chain has lost its senior vice president and chief financial officer Katie Scherping. The chief marketing officer, Susan Lintonsmith, is also leaving on July 15th. The company is already searching for qualified individuals to replace them.
America’s first California style pizza chain, Straw Hat Pizza, has opened a new location in Dallas. The restaurant is over 3,000 square feet in size and follows the new Straw Hat location design. The salad bar offers healthy dining options and diners with gluten allergies can enjoy a freshly made gluten-free pizza.
McAlister’s Deli is inviting customers to beat the heat of summer with their new Tea Town promotion. July 28th is Free Tea Day with any visitor receiving a free 32 oz serving of iced tea with no purchase necessary. Tea fans can also help their town win a charitable donation by checking in on Facebook each time they purchase an iced tea from McAlister’s Deli.