A good start-up public relations campaign is arguably the most important part of your marketing plan and critical to the long term success of your business. Same goes for a new restaurant which is looking to make a mark in the food sector.
Food industry has changed since past so many years. Years back it was not that critical for a restaurant to publicise the way it is today. All that was needed was to open a restaurant, invite people to let them know you exist and rest was taken care through word of mouth. The situation is not the same in today’s competitive hospitality and food service sector. With the technological advancements apart from the e-world, media is the word of mouth.
In the last decade there has been explosion in the food media. There are food critics, renowned food bloggers, exclusive food shows and food channels & food apps to name a few. Every newspaper and magazine has food columns and there are also dedicated food magazines today. Highlighting your restaurant in a way that it reaches people can get your restaurant the right kind of exposure and increase footfall. In communication, there is a theory called Selective Retention. It means that we retain messages that we can relate to; the messages that hold some value to us. Also, the readers remember those messages correctly that they have just read about (as they say out of sight, out of mind) – all the more reason to keep talking about yourself in a way that the other person remembers and further talks about it. Recall value is equally important if you want people to think of your restaurant the next time they are planning to dine out.
The race is not just amongst the restaurants but one has to be on the toes to make the cuisine as amongst the top recalled ones. Its like ‘what should I eat today’ – pizza or Chinese? The authenticity is what a foodie looks for.
It is noteworthy that the exposure doesn’t begin with your customers; it begins with the media and food bloggers. Positive media exposure and media relations clubbed with your marketing plan is the key to a successful running of a restaurant. Your target audience needs to hear about you, talk about you, blog about you. A well designed mix of all the communication tools is a critical part of a good PR plan. Your publicist needs to completely understand your business to understand your audience so as to design a well timed plan.
An experienced Publicist with understanding of your audience needs to time well what follows what for a restaurant PR.
I would rather say that have a well designed professional PR plan in place even before you are ready to open the doors of your restaurant.
Cheers!!
