You only get one chance to make a first impression. A restaurant opening can be a unique opportunity to attract attention and win customers, but it is essential to announce your venture at a time when potential customers can truly pay attention, and in a way that effectively communicates your restaurant's mission and essence. Find an interesting angle to use when announcing your opening, craft your marketing materials thoughtfully, and reach out to individuals and journalists most likely to appreciate what you offer.
Media outlets can be essential allies when announcing a restaurant opening. Neighborhood magazines and blogs are usually eager to cover restaurant openings in their areas. Develop a story that will be intriguing to journalists and bloggers, such as your rise from humble beginnings selling food from a street cart, or your struggle to overcome the odds and open a new restaurant in a difficult economic climate. Target your outreach toward people who are particularly interested in what you offer. For example, if you are opening a restaurant with an impressive dessert menu, email a news release to journalists and bloggers who often write about sweet treats.
According to the Quantified Marketing Group, 80 percent of a restaurant's customers live within a 10-mile radius. A grand opening is an effective way to announce your new restaurant to your immediate community and get your neighbors in your door. Make eye-catching signs and run ads in targeted periodicals and websites that provide news and information for your immediate community. Make sure that your restaurant is well prepared for the grand opening: The food and the environment should make potential customers want to come back for more.
Introduce yourself personally to your neighbors and tell them about your new restaurant. Take a day to walk around and meet the owners of neighboring businesses. Remember their names, and brainstorm about ways you can cross market your businesses. Developing a successful working relationship with neighboring business owners will ensure that they tell their customers about your new restaurant. In addition, people who work in close proximity to your restaurant are especially likely to become regular customers.
Announce your new restaurant by offering coupons that neighbors and other potential customers can redeem during the first few weeks you are open. Coupon mailer services are particularly eager to work with new restaurants because restaurant coupons tend to be especially popular with their customers. Mail coupon services tend to be sent to residents of particular zip codes, so they are especially easy to target toward customers who live near your restaurant.
