How to Market Healthy Menus
A recent poll conducted by the National Restaurant Association that only 50 percent of restaurant owners who add healthy options to their menus promote them to the public. This is partly due to the historically negative connotation of the word 'healthy': people assumed healthy foods didn't taste good and wouldn't order them when dining out.
Times are changing. Society as a whole is becoming more health-conscious and now seeks healthier options in restaurants. If you manage or own a restaurant, you should start actively marketing your healthy menus to attract new and repeat customers to your establishment.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Determine your target market. A target market is the group of people you wish to reach with your marketing and your entire marketing strategy will revolve around this group of people. You can determine your target market through market research, either completed by you or a market research professional. For this article, we'll say your target market is health-conscious men and women ages 25 to 50 who wish to lose weight.
-
2
Develop a marketing strategy to reach your target market. An effective marketing strategy uses more than one method to reach the target market. For example, some methods in your healthy menu marketing strategy could include point of sale marketing, personal selling, special promotions and direct marketing.
-
-
3
Implement your healthy menu marketing strategies.
For personal selling, create a connection with your target market. You can do this by catering events like Weight Watchers meetings or even a 'healthy living' expo in your area. This allows your target market to sample your foods. If they like them, then chances are they'll frequent your restaurant.
Special promotion marketing means creating a contest or sale to attract customers. This can be anything from a buy-one-meal-get-one-free offer for your healthy menu options to a 'Biggest Loser' style contest where people who lose the most weight, in part, by eating your healthy menu items gets a cash prize or some other special gift. This sort of marketing strategy promotes loyalty to your restaurant and healthy menu options.
Direct marketing can be anything from buying a direct mail list and sending coupons and advertising to your target markets' homes to placing an advertisement in the newspaper or on the radio/newspaper that describes and promotes your menu. Offering a coupon or other incentive helps get people in the door.
-
4
Evaluate your marketing strategies. Try to measure which marketing methods work better than others and being to focus your healthy menu marketing on those methods. Marketing costs money and you don't want to waste it on marketing that isn't bringing you new customers and revenue. Eventually you'll start to build a solid clientele who comes to your restaurant specifically for your healthy menu options.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Consider using a professional marketing company, if you have the budget. Professionals who are focused on marketing can help you develop effective strategies that will bring in many new customers and doing this will allow you to focus on making your restaurant the best it can be.
