How to Maximize Earnings with Marketing Mix for Restaurants

You could own the best restaurant in your area with amazing food and great service, but if you don’t market it, nobody will know about it, and you won’t have many clients.

But to truly achieve success through your promotional methods, you need to implement a cohesive marketing strategy. In this article, we will focus on the marketing mix for restaurants and how to take advantage of this framework.

In 1960, marketing professor Jerome McCarthy came up with the concept marketing mix that includes a variety of focus areas which led to the creation of a comprehensive marketing plan.

As the concept’s purpose is to market products and generate revenue, the marketing mix is a great approach for any restaurant trying to make it in such a competitive industry.

In the beginning, the marketing mix for restaurants only included four main elements, known as the 4ps:

• Product: involves clearly defining what your restaurant sales and what makes your menu items special and better than your competition;
• Pricing: the price of your menu items has to be both attractive for your target audience, but also sustainable for your business, so you can consistently make a profit;
• Placement: the location of your restaurant plays an important role in your long-term success as most customers aren’t willing to travel a lot for food;
• Promotion: you must analyze your target audience to decide what marketing channels and methods will work best in attracting them to your restaurant.

With time, as marketing evolved to be more consumer-centric, the 4ps became 7ps by adding:

• People: your employees are the face of your restaurant, so their behavior and quality of service can easily grow your business’s reputation;
• Process: marketing starts by offering great products and services. The better your operational processes are, the more satisfied your customers will be and they will soon become unpaid ambassadors for your brand;
• Physical evidence: one of the factors that influence a client’s decision to come back is the ambiance of the restaurant, such as décor, lighting, comfort of the chairs, and much more.

Check out these tips that will help you build excitement around your menu items and create a unique experience for your clients:

Check out these tips that will help you build excitement around your menu items and create a unique experience for your clients:

If you want to reach a bigger audience, you need to cater to their needs. Add a few dishes to your menu that are gluten-free, dairy-free, or halal. You can use the menu creator from GloriaFood to signal that the dishes on your menu are any of the following: Hot, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Halal, Nut-free, Dairy-free, or Raw.

You can also add allergen and nutritional information to each menu item so clients can see at a glance if the dish is fit for their dietary requirements.

Having the same menu is great for consistency, but loyal clients may get bored of eating the same thing and might look elsewhere. If you want to keep customers entertained and offer them new taste experiences, try out a seasonal menu or just a few seasonal menu items.

Cooking with seasonal ingredients has the bonus of being cheaper, so you can also enjoy a bigger profit by selling these new menu items.

Clients who enjoy the food you serve at your restaurant would surely like to be able to eat your food during their special events. If you want to increase your sales and expand your business, consider offering catering for office parties, friend gatherings, baptisms, engagements, and other events.

While not technically a food product, merchandise is still a product that plays a double role. You can use it to enhance your sales by offering cutting boards, mugs, aprons, knives, and caps, while also promoting your business as the items will be branded.

Finding the right price for your menu items is like walking a tightrope. You must find the perfect balance between profit and value for money for your clients. Use these tips to choose the best prices for your restaurant:

There are some tricks you can utilize to persuade customers to order more:

• Use psychological pricing: by erasing the $ from the end of the price, you take away the constant thought about cost. Moreover, by writing 14.99 instead of 15, you make people believe they are paying less;
• Arrange high-profit menu items near expensive ones: people will be tempted to order the cheaper item that brings more profit for you.

Analyze your direct competitors’ pricing and try to price your items in the same range. A considerably bigger price will shock customers and make them hesitate to try your restaurant if you don’t obviously offer something more like bigger portions.

You can change your pricing according to demand. For example, during the low hours between lunch and dinner when your restaurant is mostly empty, you can increase sales by organizing happy hours when you offer certain menu items at a smaller price.

If you want a constant stream of customers, you must choose a location that is easily accessible to your target audience. This is how you can maximize earnings with a marketing mix for restaurants:

Ideally either in the city center or near landmarks or that is a lot of foot traffic that you can take advantage of to attract people to your restaurant. Depending on your audience, you can also consider positioning your restaurant near office buildings.

Moreover, look out for places that also have a utilizable outdoor space you can turn into a patio during warm months so you can serve even more clients.

Even if you have a great location, you can only serve a limited number of customers in a day. Therefore, if you want to significantly increase your profit, you must start selling your products online.

Using third-party delivery apps implies big commissions and fees and your restaurant can get easily lost between countless competitors. The best solution is to use an online ordering system, like the free one from GloriaFood.

Clients will be able to order food in just a few clicks on your website, leading to increased customer satisfaction. Watch this video to learn how to add an online ordering system to your website in less than minutes:

Don’t have a website? Don’t worry, you can generate one for less than the cost of a pizza with GloriaFood. You will get a sales and SEO-optimized restaurant website that ranks you high in Google searches where more customers will find you.

If you are just starting, it is best to experiment with a variety of promotional methods and channels to see which one works best for your audience. Here are some of the tried-and-tested ones:

Restaurant promotions are a great way to attract new customers and increase the average order value. Free delivery? Free item on orders over $60? 10% discount on the whole cart? These are all great contenders to get people interested in your business.

If you are looking for an easy way to add promotions to the top of your menu, check out the Promotions module from GloriaFood. It will only take you seconds to set up a variety of deals:

When people research places to eat, they sometimes do it on Maps so they can see the options in the area they are interested in. If you want to appear high in these searches, you must complete your profile with:

• A link to your website and menu
• A lot of positive reviews
• Updated working hours, especially for holidays
• A variety of pictures of your food and interior

A great marketing mix for restaurants will also target previous customers to persuade them to come back. Use the Autopilot module from GloriaFood to automate your email marketing and deliver customized messages to clients that:

• Encourage second orders
• Prevent cart abandonment
• Re-engage clients

Build a community of loyal customers around your restaurants by offering them something more on top of the delicious food. Check out these event ideas you can organize at your establishment:

• Wine and beer tastings
• Trivia nights
• Local artist showcase
• Themed party nights

Start by choosing the channels your audience uses and post frequently to reach your followers and persuade them to make a reservation and place an order. Follow these tips for success:

• Create a social media calendar: for two weeks, so you can schedule them ahead of time and don’t feel pressured to come up with ideas on the spot;
• Interact with your clients through direct messages and comments;
• Link to your menu to increase the conversion rate;
• Organize competitions to reach a broader audience.

While most of the elements of the marketing mix for restaurants focus on the people outside of your establishment, the clients, this section draws the attention inward, to your employees.

Happy and satisfied employees will keep your costs low because they will decrease staff turnover and will create a great experience for your clients by providing excellent service.

Here is how you can get and keep the best team members:

• Have a thorough interview process: to ensure your values align and that the candidates know and are up for the responsibilities their position requires;
• Offer benefits and bonuses: to keep employees motivated to be their best every day;
• Provide training: to offer staff the knowledge of their jobs and improve operational efficiency.

Even though you manage to use marketing to attract first-time customers, if you can’t convince them to visit you again, you won’t make it big. It is important to also focus on your operational processes and try to make the dining experience as seamless as possible to get repeat customers.

Here are a few ideas:

Mistakes happen but they happen more often if you don’t have standard operating procedures in place. With SOPs, every person knows their duties and who to turn to when they need help.

Implement procedures to ensure you have a set recipe for every menu item and that the preparation and quality of the dish are consistent, no matter the number of clients served.

Increase the speed of service with the GloriaFood POS system that enables you to place orders and accept a variety of payment methods in no time.

What’s more, the POS system comes with a valuable Reports module that gives you access to important analytics, such as number of orders, preferred promotions, best-selling items and categories, and much more.

During busy hours, clients will have a hard time flagging a server down to place an order or pay. The more they have to wait, the more disgruntled they become and you risk getting bad reviews.

To prevent this problem, enable an on-premise ordering system via QR code that will enable customers to order as soon as they are seated by simply scanning the QR code on their table. Afterward, they can leisurely browse the menu, order their items, and pay, all using their phones.

When clients rate their experience at a restaurant, they don’t just look at the food and service, they also analyze the physical elements that create the atmosphere. Here is what you can do to enhance the physical parts of your restaurants:

• Use Ambiental lightning: instead of one big cold light overhead reminiscent of a hospital, use small warm lights throughout the restaurant to create a cozy atmosphere;
• Comfortable chairs: even though you want to increase table turnover, you can do it by providing speedy service. Comfortable chairs will make people feel welcome and convince them to return;
• Sturdy eco-friendly packaging: so every order reaches your customers fresh with no spills, without hurting the environment.

Understanding the marketing mix for restaurants is the first step to running a successful establishment long-term. Take advantage of technology and get to know your audience so you can use targeted marketing strategies that deliver results.