Local Interest groups

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Restaurant Marketing & Promotion

Marketing to a ready-formed group of people can be an effective way to get larger numbers of people into your restaurant. They’re often on the look-out for a suitable venue for their meetings or celebrations and if you look after them well, there’s a good chance that individual members will come back with their own family and friends.

In most communities there’s usually a large choice of groups - local evening classes, Lions and Rotary clubs, language classes, football teams, sports clubs, parents who attend toddler groups with their children, even Neighbourhood Watch. Encourage them to arrange a group meal on one of your quieter nights (e.g. Monday or Tuesday). Offer a limited-choice menu (maybe a choice of 2 dishes for each course). Set the price per head to include everything, for example, bread, main course and dessert with a choice of drink and a coffee for £9.95. Make available an area in your restaurant where the group can be alone and talk in privacy or do their mini-presentation or whatever it is they do.

Sometimes a particular promotion, offer or event might be especially suited to certain special interest groups so it’s worth collecting their contact details and preferences so that you can keep them informed. Local groups can often provide inspiration and ideas as well as strong support for events that reflect their interests. For example the local jazz group might stand solidly behind you if you put on a jazz & tapas evening and the local music society would probably be delighted to help you promote an evening of music, fine food and wine

Many clubs enjoy having a guest speaker from time to time so why not pluck up the courage to volunteer? It’s a great way of promoting your establishment. Research a topic that interests you that might also appeal to a particular group then contact the organiser and let him/her know you’re willing to give a short talk on it

Create a database of local organisations

Find out about organisations in your area. Try libraries, citizens advice bureaux, colleges, town halls and the internet for information about local groups and societies. Find out when and where they meet and how the organiser or secretary can be contacted. The best way to store this information is to create a database either manually, using index cards or preferably an Excel spreadsheet. If you’d like more information about how to go about this go to Building a Customer Database for some general guidance and, if you don’t feel very confident about spreadsheets, follow the simple steps in Using your Computer to Build a Customer Database