A strategy for profit
Good marketing relies on careful planning and targeting, using available budgets in a cost-effective way. To do this, you will need to spend time gathering information about your business which should include:
lTimes when you are most likely to need extra business.
lThe clients you need to target.
lThe most productive methods of promotion for your hotel or restaurant.
DECIDE WHEN YOU NEED MORE BUSINESS
By looking at trends over the previous few years you should be able to identify the times when your restaurant or hotel is likely to be empty.
It is far better to plan ways of avoiding this in advance than relying on last-minute discounting or panic pro-motions.
Leisure travellers nor-mally stay in hotels at holiday times and business travellers eat business lunches only during weekdays, so it stands to reason that if you need to increase custom outside these times, you will have to create reasons for eating in your restaurant or staying at your hotel. It is a good idea to use particular themes, events or special interests in order to do this.
DEVELOP A LIST OF PROMOTIONS
With careful planning you should be able to develop a calendar of events and themes which fit into the times when you most need extra business.
Some promotions will be very date-specific (such as anything to do with Easter), whereas others can be slotted into quiet periods at any time - a promotion geared towards families, for example.
A good desk diary will provide you with some suggestions. Some dates, such as Valentine's Day, Guy Fawkes' Night or Hallowe'en are natural choices for themed events, but there are many others.
Here are ideas to help you theme promotions:
lTraditional holiday dates which used to be celebrated but are now almost forgotten such as Midsummer, May Day or Michaelmas.
lFocus on the seasons of the year, for example dishes celebrating the coming of spring, or reminding us of the benefits of winter (those delicious school puddings).
lNational days celebrated in other countries, such as Bastille Day. Special menus or weekend breaks themed around national days can be used to attract both British and overseas visitors.
lSpecial interests and hobbies. A quick glance at your local newsagent's shelves will provide plenty of ideas. Sometimes unusual hobbies do not attract large crowds of people but they do generate press coverage, so are useful for raising your profile.
lLocal events and festivals. Tourist information centres keep lists of forthcoming fairs and other special events.
lConsider a promotion with your local theatre, perhaps renaming rooms or dishes to link in with theatrical themes.
lUse particular market segments as themes, such as families or grandparents. These can be targeted using relevant interests - children could be attracted with dinosaur dishes or themes which link with computer games, for example.
DECIDE ON YOUR TARGET MARKET
Once you have drawn up a list of promotions and themes you will need to decide what sort of clients will be most interested in each one, and how you will approach them. In some cases it may be worth while writing to existing clients to tell them about your plans.
Other promotions will provide an opportunity for you to attract a wider range of clients. For example, if you are a restaurant and have chosen a theatrical theme for a promotion you could try writing to amateur dramatic groups within a 30-mile radius (your local library should have a list), inviting them to dress up and come to your restaurant.
If they do come in costume, don't forget to use the occasion for some free publicity - get some photographs taken and sent to your local newspaper.
By entering deadline dates in a diary you will avoid last- minute planning for promotions, which then cost more and produce fewer results. It will also allow you time to allocate jobs to staff.
There's no need to be caught out and left with empty rooms and tables.
It's simply a matter of planning properly and allocating resources in advance so that you are fully prepared and one step ahead of the competition. o
