A passion for food and hospitality can take you a long way in the catering business, but effective marketing can take you further – that’s a fact. While you’re busy producing mouth-watering menus and serving customers at various events, you also need to capture the attention of the wider market in order to sustain and grow your business. We’ve put together twelve useful marketing tips to help you stand out in the highly competitive food service industry.
Food, glorious food!
1. Nothing beats the sensual pleasures of delicious food, and this is one of the major advantages over other industries that your catering business should exploit fully. Focus on stimulating the senses – sight, smell, taste – and appeal directly to your prospective customers’ emotional response mechanism.
2. Invest in professional photography to help your customers visualise what they will be getting. Use high quality photos for brochures and other marketing collateral, and make a strong impact on websites, social media and social media marketing platforms by showcasing your signature dishes and gourmet creations. Think about which dishes have the most visual appeal and what your customers demand the most.
3. Learn how to style and present your dishes and menus to make them look irresistible – on photos, in videos and of course at client events. Experiment with colour, size and composition to add visual drama and culinary flair to produce sizzling platters of food that look so scrumptious, they practically sell themselves.
4. Nothing beats getting up close and personal with your products, so take every opportunity to showcase your menus in real life. Trade shows and food fairs, farmers’ markets and festivals etc are all great occasions to demonstrate your offerings. Banners for trade shows are the best way to attract customers to your stall. Give out samples, menus and brochures, be on hand to answer questions to make the best possible impression with your target market.
Maximise your online presence
5. Your website should do a lot more than simply provide a directory of catering services, a list of menus and a point of contact for potential customers. It’s a shop window advertising your wares, with great written content, photos and videos that bring your business alive. Share useful blogs, updates and recipes to become a voice of authority in your field.
6. What’s more, your website should act as a powerful sales and lead generation tool. Work with a web designer to focus on conversions, including ecommerce functionality such as online ordering and payments that save you and your customers time. Don’t forget to optimise your website for mobile use, which now accounts for more than half of all internet traffic.
7. Use tried and tested digital marketing techniques including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising and Local SEO to boost your Google rankings by sharing useful content with the help of keywords and phrases.
8. And don’t underestimate the power of social media in helping you build your business presence on major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. You can share news and updates, photos and videos, recipe tutorials, practical advice, staff intros, catering event videos, working with social media influencers, podcasters and bloggers to grow your reach.
Don’t neglect traditional channels
9. In these digital times, it’s tempting to throw out ‘old school’ marketing techniques and concentrate wholesale on using the internet. But that would be a mistake. Sometimes, offline techniques can be more effective, and the combination of using both digital and traditional marketing channels can complement each other perfectly. There is nothing better than a great visual like acrylic brochures displayed in a fashionable way on acrylic brochure holders.
10. Get the word out by using press releases through local newspapers and magazines go let the local market about your business news or product launches. Put up posters in prominent spots like reception areas, community venues and business centres. Have leaflets printed for posting or hand delivery. Create a marketing brochure that can be posted or emailed to prospective clients.
11. Use your delivery van (or car, or scooter) as an advertising vehicle (!) for your brand. Display your logo prominently and include your website address and contact number, and make sure your vehicle is always immaculately clean and in tip top condition – particularly important if you work with food. Your branding consultant should be able to help with graphics, decals and wraps to maximise their impact. It goes without saying that your brand should be consistently implemented across all marketing materials.
12. Finally, get out into the real world and approach potential clients directly with a personalised pitch. Whether you target wedding planners or exhibition halls, co-working spaces or large corporate clients, make sure you prepare thoroughly so that your proposal is both relevant and competitive. Work together with complementary businesses – venues, entertainers, florists, to broaden your reach in the business world and local community.
