Is "no news, good news" for your restaurant?

If you want your restaurant to excel above the competition in today’s competitive hospitality industry, you need to have visibility and public exposure. Don’t think that a public relations strategy is only for large restaurants and franchise chains. Whatever type or size of restaurant you own, creating a simple public relations strategy can benefit you in reaching out to potential and existing customers.

Money isn’t everything in public relations

Putting money towards an expensive advertisement isn’t always the best use of your resources, especially if you’re working with a limited budget. An ad can only convey a limited message and is often scanned or completely ignored by your target audience. Many people are skeptical of ads because the goal with advertising is to sell the product. With public relations, the goal is to inform the potential customer about the product and not make them feel that they must buy.*

Below are some suggestions of ways to develop a public relations campaign for your restaurant that are inexpensive and have the potential to favorably affect your operations.

Leverage your local media

Be proactive and take control of your restaurants’ publicity. Inform the local media of news that would be of interest to their readers. Create a press release that gets the editor’s attention and contains all the main points of the story. Is your restaurant up for an award? Celebrating a milestone? Using sustainable practices? These are all press release worthy story ideas that make great local news. People who read the article will be inclined to visit your restaurant to “see what it’s all about,” for themselves. There are plenty of resources online to help you with writing a successful press release.

Host events at your restaurant

Associate your restaurant with social events or charity fundraisers by hosting parties at your venue. Working with the organizers, you can host events that will showcase your restaurant and allow you to benefit from the event’s advertising. Hosting a successful event at your establishment that exceeds the expectations of the organizers and guests, will generate a “buzz” and positive word-of-mouth about your restaurant.

If your restaurant does not have any upcoming events planned, you can always host your own to attract customers and the media’s attention – 

• Grand opening parties 
• Anniversary celebrations 
• Charity fundraisers 
• Themed nights 
• New menu item launches

Restaurant reviews

A great public relations tool for a restaurant is to have a favorable review of your menu, venue or service published in the local media. The publicity and interest a good review can generate will stimulate a lot of new business and bring customers back to you. After people read a great restaurant review, they are inclined to try out the restaurant and find out what all of the buzz is about.

There are many forms of reviews – newspaper, online, television or printed dining guides. Be persistent in approaching the media to review your restaurant. Creating new dishes or having signature dishes are good ways to get the attention of food critics.

Other elements for a successful public relations campaign

It is important to also do things that might not immediately get the attention of media, but are appreciated by your customers and the community. Some ideas include –

• Giving out small samples of your restaurants food
• Giving coupons to try different menu items
• Publishing recipes of simple dishes
• Donating leftovers to a food bank
• Supporting local causes or fundraisers

All these actions will help you to generate positive word-of-mouth for your restaurant, and bottom line, there just isn’t a better public relations tool than happy and satisfied customers! Besides, you never know if a satisfied customer happens to be the good friend to a food editor of a large newspaper!

* Quantified Marketing Group, 2008