Category: Blog

Social Media Marketing has been a quick spread trending marketing style that uses popular social media apps and websites to reach out to their customers and potential customers. More than ever people are turning to social media to leverage the massive power of the internet in their marketing efforts. If you’re looking create a bigger more well-known brand it’s highly suggested you get onto the Social Media Marketing trend. Here are a few reasons why:

 

1. Increased Visibility

When you use social Media Marketing, you’re throwing more hooks in the water. You’ll be visible to people who otherwise would have never seen your business otherwise. And as you know, these people gotta eat some time.

 

2. Better Search Engine Rankings

Google has a mathematical equation that determines the quality of a website. This equation is impacted by your presence all over the web, and this now includes social media. Google has concluded that large in demand companies are on social media. To keep their customers happy, google likes to keep the large and in demand people in their first page slots. You might not be the biggest and the baddest, but you can sure fake it till you make it. And today, that means being on social media.

 

3. Higher Brand Authority

Have you ever noticed people snapping pictures of their food? They’re sharing these pictures on social media. Usually, Facebook or Instagram. People are (hopefully) sharing these pictures because they’re happy with the food. This is word of mouth on steroids. When people see good things on Facebook, they want them too. And if it’s a good picture, or a new product or a new location, that picture will get shared with their friends. All of this is good and costs you nothing.

 

4. Decreased Marketing Costs

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that advertising on Google an Yelp has gotten pretty expensive, and has been returning diminishing results. For a while, we were wondering where everybody went. The answer is Facebook. They went to Facebook, but even that’s starting to change. People are starting to spend more and more time on Instagram lately. This is great news for a restaurant, because Instagram is largely image based, and you already know what a good picture can do for sales. And it’s cheaper. If you’ve not got on the Social Media Bus, you are not alone. Facebook and Instagram are the better deal at the moment because everybody’s not yet figured it out. Once they do, the price will go up.

 

5. Improved Customer Insights

With social media customers are more inclined than ever to give criticism or their opinion on how things could work differently, how they were treated in their last experience, and the overall quality of your business from their eyes. This is priceless information-stuff they’d (probably) never say to your face, but you really need to hear. Don’t get angry when you receive negative feedback. Think of it as an opportunity for improvement. People wouldn’t take the time to write the review if they didn’t feel strongly about what happened.

 

6. Improved Customer Experiences

Social Media is wonderful because you can directly interact with complaints and compliments from your customers showing publicly how seriously you take your customer service. For example when you receive a complaint about something you can quickly respond creating a public apology and then have an action to make it right with that customer giving them a mutual or good standing with your company once more. In the past, they’d leave happy or upset, and you’d never have a chance to thank them or apologize. Now you do.

If a customer compliments your employees or your company, you can offer public recognition to that employee. It’s good for moral, but the public always loves a company that’s good to it’s workers.

 

7. Increased Brand Recognition

Every time you can create and spread your content increases your visibility which is vital to a growing company for turn overs. Social media is now a bunch of new tools serving under one big name, they easily spread your content and your brand’s voice. Social media makes it easier for customers to find you and makes you more accessible to them.

 

8. More Opportunities to Convert

When people like you on Facebook or follow you on Instagram, you gain future access to them potentially forever. We aim to make at least one post everyday. Something that will make you smarter, more profitable, or just plain happy. We do this because we know that people don’t want to be sold all the time. They turn to social to have fun, unwind or maybe learn something. And this is what you need to provide-laughs, smiles and information. Companies who only post the sales pitch are destined to fail.

 

9. Improved brand loyalty

When brands are active on social media they have more loyal followers as proven by a study published by Convince & Convert. The study found that 53% of Americans that follow a brand on social media are more likely to make repeat purchases brands. Consistent posting is the key. Every time you post, your name and imagery flash before their eyes.

 

10. Higher conversion rates

Social media, when done right, converts better because it humanizes a business. Consumers can finally reach out to companies and get replies, from real people! This is almost as good as the owner or manager walking the room and befriending the customers. You don’t see this much anymore, but it makes a huge difference for those that do it. Meeting the guy or gal in charge makes people feel good, and good feelings always improve conversions.

 

Social Media Marketing is a booming tool, that every company big and small should be using to increase their customer loyalty, click through and conversion rates, and customer service rates.

 

 

 

 

 

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What You Need to Know When Selecting a Restaurant Location in Phoenix AZ

 

Parking or transportation is a must.

People can be lazy. Some, may opt to go somewhere easier if they have to walk a bit. If you live in an urban area where everyone walks and there is public transportation, it’s not as important. If you are thinking of a restaurant location out of town, in a place that requires you to drive to get there, you’d better have parking available. If your restaurant location doesn’t come with a large parking lot, is there a municipal parking lot nearby they could use?

 

 

Visibility is important

Do your due diligence. Check out the traffic for a few hours. Look at the people and determine if they’d be customers or not. Setting up shop in a location with either high foot or car traffic is ideal but only if the right kind. Then making yourself visible to the public is like free advertising. It reminds them that your restaurant exists and they should stop by sometime. Another option is EASI Demographics. For around $20 you can see if a restaurant at the location is feasible.

 

Bigger IS Better, But Know What You Can Afford

No matter the size your restaurant will require adequate space for a kitchen, walk-in refrigerator, dry storage and an office for paperwork. Your dining room needs space for a wait-station and possibly a bar. What looks like a huge space for rent can quickly fill up quickly with the necessary equipment needed to operate a restaurant. It’s critical to understand how much your restaurant will realistically bring in before you commit. A good rule of thumb is to be able to pay your rent off one days worth of business. If the rent is too high look elsewhere.

 

Learn From Other Restaurants

Did it have a restaurant operating there for 20 years? That would show a community can support a place. Were there several owners in the last four- five years? How did it fail? Was it location? Management? Turnover? These things can tell you if this is the right location for you. A commercial real estate agent that specializes in restaurants may be the answer. CREArizona is a company that works in Phoenix. The Restaurant Brokers and Phoenix Commercial Advisors are others.

 

Put Safety First

One of the first steps in choosing a restaurant location is finding out if the building is up to code. Does it have proper wiring, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, handicap-accessible doors, restrooms, ramps? A walk through the building with your local code enforcement officer will help you determine what needs to be done to a space before you open a restaurant.

 

Know Your Neighbors

When looking for a restaurant location, consider who else is doing business nearby. Too many restaurants with the same concept as yours will factor into your restaurants traffic. Is the area busy or full of empty storefronts? Successful businesses attract other successful businesses.

 

 

The How and Where of Restaurant Financing.

 

Credit cards are a major source for sole proprietor and LLC’s. But read the fine print. If the interest rate is too high it may not be worth it. Avoid applying for multiple accounts. Set realistic goals for paying them back and stick to it.

Friends and family and the second choice for many although to prevent those awkward family dinners make sure to treat the process like you would if you were meeting with a bank official. Make sure you know reality from myth. You must do a great deal of number crunching and most of all it is a family affair. If your spouse is not supportive, one of them will be doomed.

Personal savings will start your business without taking on debt but if the restaurant fails you’ve lost your job and your savings.

Home Equity Loan/Second Mortgage using your home as collateral. This option helps you build up capital but if the restaurant goes under you’ve lost your job and your home.

Your Landlord may be another option. When you’re shopping around for the ideal location for your restaurant, you may want to ask your landlord if you can strike a deal. In return for equity or a portion of the returns, they might be willing to reduce your rent.

If you are going for a loan do a Business Plan with a complete Standard Operating Procedures. This will show you know your Restaurant Financials.

The Small Business Administration  may be able to help as long as you have a strong business plan. There are several options as well. With the 7(a) the SBA guarantees most of the value of the bank’s loan making lenders feel more secure. You will need to put up 20%-30% of the cash up-front. SBA Express provides loans up to $350,000 and the approval window is 36 hours. The maximum duration is 7 years and has a higher interest rate. SBA microloans are backed by the SBA for an average amount of $13,000 and must be paid within 6 years. The lender is obligated to help you start up your business by providing training and guidance.  This isn’t as common because the lender is required to do so much more for a smaller gain but worth looking into.

If you have a good relationship with your credit union you can see what they would offer. Most offer interest charged on the balance of the loan so if you can pay on the principle each month your interest will go down as well.

Merchant Cash Advance is another way to go. You get cash up-front and pay them back over time. These do have high fees anywhere from 22% to 40% of your credit card revenue until you’ve paid them back plus fees.

Peer-to-peer lending from sites such as prosper.com or lendingclub.com can help you with individuals who will lend you money. It’s complicated since you are borrowing money from an intermediary who is providing the security to the lenders. The interest rate is usually a bit lower at 13.5%. If you don’t want use your savings and your business plan is good, you should be able to convince others to partner with you.

Millennials are night owls, they want their food at any time day or night and they don’t want to be limited to just a night menu or early bird menu. They want convenience at all times sometimes even at three in the morning. Capitalizing on the late night food market is a smart idea to bring in profit day and night.

 

Get A Fourth Meal Menu.
More than half of diners under 35 are looking to get food past the typical dinner rush. Fast food restaurants have been catering to these late night cravings for years but you don’t need to be a chain to get into the business of a fourth meal menu. Some may still stick to healthy choices on their late night runs but most the time they are swayed into making not so healthy choices. You want to cater to snack or shareable foods like mozzarella sticks, Nachos, or pretzels. Easy prep meals for those fourth meal cravings makes it easy and quick for your staff.

 

Offer 24 Hour Breakfast.
A lot of people are too busy for breakfast at the “typical” breakfast times. Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day even though it’s commonly missed. Seven out of ten diners want breakfast served all day, this may be from their busy schedule. You can keep the menu items simple such as breakfast favorites like burritos, sandwiches, simple platters, and healthy morning juices or milk such as apple juice and chocolate milk as well as smoothies to accompany those who prefer a healthier breakfast option. No matter what theme or cuisine you focus on you can make delicious and easy breakfast options available all day.

 

Offer Desk Meals.
Desk meals work well for businesses close to the offices and business districts. At times the office will be moving fast and there isn’t time for lunch, this introduces desk meals. Desk meals are when you’re making money to put food on the table and you don’t have time to go out and grab something you’re working so hard. Offices will pay to have food delivered often, it’s up to your business website to keep those employers on it. It is a great opportunity for your restaurant to be able to market desk meals, you could be getting great profit from this offer. The hungry diners are depending on your food be delicious, your service being fast, and simple online ordering if you do offer this service.

 

Office Catering can Become Repeat Customers.
Every time the office caters for the building there is normally left overs the employees go back for when their eyes start to glaze over and the 4PM exhaustion hits paired with their low blood sugar. They go in search for their leftovers of the lunch meeting and luckily it’s your restaurants delicious food. These businessmen are more likely to try something outside of what they’d normally get on a regular menu because there is limited food choices. There’s a higher likelihood that they will choose you over competitors the next time they order office lunch.

 
 

Put Your Hours in a Clear Place.
Typically if a customer is looking up and on your website, they are looking for specific things, one of them being your hours. Customers like to learn about your restaurants beliefs and the back story of how you began, but normally they are there to see your menu or hours of operation. You want to make sure when customers google your business they can find the hours before even clicking onto your website. If they don’t bother with that make them front and center on your websites home page to make them easily findable.

 

Take Advantage of Online Booking.
Often times people are busy throughout their days and weeks making calling a restaurant very inconvenient for them. If you’d like to open up your restaurant to a larger niche of customers the best thing to do would be to utilizing online booking programs such as “open table”. You can make it easily found at the top or bottom of your website or your menu bar. The easier it is to find the more you can convert reservations.

 

Sell Your Restaurant.
Some new customers may be looking at your restaurant as a new dining experience, this is where you convince them to dine at your restaurant. You can tempt your new customers with high-quality photos of your best food and drink. Make sure to place your accomplishments and awards on your website so they know you make quality dishes. You can also offer enticing discounts for new customers that sway them towards wanting to try the food.

 

Offer A Mobile Site.
When your website isn’t mobile friendly it instantly discourages customers. Customers don’t want to struggle through a full website on a tiny mobile screen when it’s meant to be on a full screen. Your website should be mobile accessible because mobile phones are how millions of customers look up information. Without a mobile website, you lose a huge opportunity to convert customers.

 

Invest in a custom Menu Page Template.
PDF uploads can often be unimpressive and make you seem lazy. PDF uploads are used a ton everyday but that doesn’t mean they’re right for your menu or website. Investing in or creating a custom menu template will make your business look more put together and like you put the time into going that extra step for the customers. The reason PDF uploads are what you don’t want is because it’s hard for customers to work with. They have to move the web page on mobile so many different ways on a limited screen. This instantly will turn customers off and can likely lead to them leaving your web page not converting to orders or reservations. This can easily be prevented by creating or commissioning a custom menu template this improves functionality of your website for your customers and gives your website a nice touch up due to the quality of the menu. Not only that but you’ll be ahead of your competitors who likely are using PDF uploads and those customers will leave their site and stay on yours because of your responsive menu.