How to Market Your Restaurant From the Inside Out

In the restaurant business, there is perhaps no better time to build business than when your customers are seated in your restaurant. Whether your goals are to build repeat patronage or to increase check averages, you can advertise, promote, and sell within your four walls in ways that are affordable, effective, and yield a reasonable return on expense and effort.

Consider how other businesses market themselves on the premises. When you buy a movie ticket, you are often given a coupon for the concession counter. "Coming attractions" pique your interest to return to the theater at a date in the future. In a hotel room, a table tent might show the availability of in-room pizza delivery. The bellman may include a pitch for the restaurant, spa or nightclub as he walks you to your room. In a department store, a salesperson will try to spritz you with the latest perfume hoping to turn you into a buyer.

Take advantage of your restaurant's voice mail system to create one additional marketing impression for your customers and prospects.

New restaurateurs may be wise to start their marketing efforts within the four (or more) walls of their own restaurants. If you think of your restaurant as a marketing laboratory for your efforts, you can see what works and what doesn't when it comes to marketing before you take bolder steps in the outside world. Your marketing efforts within your restaurant have some benefits; for example, unlike other marketing ventures, internal marketing is more controllable, more easily changeable and most likely less expensive.

With internal marketing, the customer is often there -- at your front door, ready to spend money, maybe even ready to spend more money. You already have the customer -- the challenge of internal marketing is to make that person a better customer. And that's the first question you want to ask yourself: What do I want my internal marketing to accomplish?