Traffic Jam

Getting more people through the front door is a restaurant’s number one goal for increasing store-level sales. But, what’s the best way to go about it? And, where do you even begin?

The answer is simple: be where the people are.

Restaurateurs need to have a presence where people seek out information about restaurants. According to a 2011 study from the Pew Research Center, 51 percent of adults turn to the Internet, 31 percent to newspapers, 23 percent to word of mouth and 8 percent to local TV.

Here are five ways to make both your digital and tangible presence stand out among the crowd and, most importantly, drive traffic to your front of house.

Click the arrows above in the photo or slide through to view the tips.

Do more targeted local promotions

Create promotions targeted towards specific groups of customers in your immediate geographic area. Look at a map and draw a 5, 10 and 15-mile radius around your restaurant. These are the people who are going to be your most frequent visitors. Create specific marketing promotions for each grouping.

The college crowd. If a college is within a 15 mile radius of your location, you could offer a student discount or contact Student Services and offer a food donation for their next event.

New construction. If there is a new apartment building being built, contact the building manager and offer a discount to new tenants.

Find your local VIPs. If there are prominent figures or influential community members who live in the area, try offering your restaurant as a spot for meetings, events or celebrations.

Give back. Local restaurants succeed best when they’re seamlessly integrated into the local community. Become an advocate for local causes and have a community page on your website explaining that your restaurant is available to support fundraising campaigns and charitable donations.

Keep an eye on the city website. The city website is an invaluable resource when coming up with local promotion ideas. Monitor it for little leagues, social clubs and church events your restaurant could take part in or host.

Don’t forget about direct mail

Even in the era of social media, direct mail remains one of the best way to increase walk-ins to your restaurant. A tangible flyer that’s directly delivered to your customers’ mailbox may catch more attention than a social media post.

Here are the best strategies for a successful direct mail campaign:

Segment, segment, segment. Your list is the most important component of a successful direct mail campaign. Understand your main demographic so you can purchase better targeted lists. If you know your main demographic includes females ages 25-35, you can save money and increase your ROI by only targeting that group.

Buy mixed lists. Buy a direct mail list with both residential and commercial contacts. This allows you to target your campaigns for different purposes. For example, if you want to promote your new catering program, you’d want to target a commercial audience.

Know the sweet spot for quantities. A common question is how many direct mail pieces to send for maximum ROI. When taking into account the lowest postage cost for pre-sort standard mailings and hitting the maximum number of mailboxes, the sweet spot tends to fall between 5,000-10,000 mailings.

Give them an offer they have to come in to redeem. Yes, coupons still work in direct mail. Include a coupon in your messaging that they have to come in to redeem. Coupons can be particularly useful for frequent buyer programs.

Get control of your online listings