Inside of a long-winded article on restaurant marketing I saw this little gem of an idea:
With a digital camera in hand, the question might be “Are you celebrating something special?” Any reason to take a photo to create a memory of the occassion.
“Can we send it immediately to your email address?” opens the door to do more than a transaction. It will become a memory.
I thought that sounds like a pretty good idea. Chances are a good portion of the people in a restaurant on any given day will have something to celebrate even if that isn’t what they came to the restaurant for. Did you know that it’s extremely probable that in a room of 30 people it will be someone’s birthday? Do you ever have more than 30 people in your restaurant one time? I hope so!
So how can we flush this idea out just a little bit more? What if one of the standard questions in your server’s introduction is to ask whether or not anyone at the table is celebrating anything in particular today? Even if the answer is a round of no’s just the fact that they came in and decided to eat together could be cause for celebration. It can be the starting point of a memorable conversation beyond the simple question of what would you like to eat and can I get you anything to drink?
It turns out there is a reason to celebrate or they simply seem to be in good spirits and the server can follow up with an offer to take a picture of the group and e-mail it to them. This does several things.
First it gives you the opportunity to get the contact information from at least one if not several or even all of the people at the table who would like a copy of the image. Using this contact information not only can you send them the picture as promised but you can also then invite them to join your e-mail marketing list to get future notification of promotions, discounts another invitations to return.
Second, in about 10 seconds you can put a nice title on the image you send with the name of your restaurant And even a note about the event the group is celebrating or something else memorable and personal. When the people in the group inevitably upload the photo to Facebook and share with their friends they will all see the name of your restaurant. You would do well likewise to post the picture to your own restaurant Facebook page as more proof of the good times had by all who visit.
Third, you’ve taken just a tiny amount of extra time to create truly memorable experience that is directly associated with your restaurant. The people whose picture you take will undoubtedly relate the story of their unusual experience not only by sharing the picture but also by telling their friends about it. The more they talk about the more they’ll remember and of their overall experience was equally positive it’s no doubt they’ll be back.
This is an extremely simple idea that you can use to both create unique and memorable experience as a very convenient excuse to capture their contact information and encourage them to come in again. Great restaurant marketing doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated to be effective and successful you just have to put it into practice.
Quoted Article Source Link: Marketing Ideas
