Is Your Restaurant Branding Company Overlooking These 3 Easy Tactics?

Is Your Restaurant Branding Company Overlooking These 3 Easy Tactics?

As a company specializing in restaurant branding and marketing, you’re well aware of the fierce competition your clients face in the foodservice industry. No matter how unique their concept, or how great their food, they’re still facing towering odds against long-term success. In fact, 60% of new restaurants fail in their first year, and 80% fail within five years.

So you’re likely always on the lookout for ways to help your clients stand out above the crowd and give them the chance to shine where it counts: in the minds (and mouths) of happy customers.

Cost is a significant factor, though, since most restaurants operate on very thin profit margins. While you may be able to almost guarantee success using huge, spectacular campaigns with Super Bowl commercials and every other trick in the book, most clients can’t afford that level of marketing investment.

So what can you do to help restaurants establish a powerful, positive brand, and rise in popularity over their competition, all without overextending their marketing budget? Here are three easy, inexpensive tactics that have proven effective:

Refresh the packaging for to-go orders

Despite the cost of low-volume custom printing coming way down in the last several years, many restaurants still use completely unbranded to-go order supplies, or supplies they originally designed years ago and have never thought about again.

This is a wasted opportunity to grab customer attention - both that of the person already buying your food, and that of anyone who sees them eating it. Combining high-quality, affordable paper supplies and custom flexographic printing, it’s possible for a restaurant to change up the style and look of their to-go order packaging regularly. This can be used to enhance branding and/or to promote monthly or seasonal specials, new menu items, or virtually any other limited-time offer.

Take advantage of in-store paper supplies

Many restaurants, delis, and fast-food locations use a lot of paper for things like sandwich wraps, tray liners, and even an inexpensive and convenient alternative to traditional tablecloths.

If all that paper is blank, it’s a wasted opportunity. Again, thanks to the versatile and economical options available through flexographic printing, all these commonly used supplies can be customized to include the restaurant logo, contact information, coupons, or any other branding or marketing message you can think of. Printable in shorter runs, your client could theoretically change up the design on tray liners and the like every few months to highlight seasonal specials, special events, or advertise their loyalty program.

Have they considered unique tear-off menus?

While this may not be the right look and feel for every restaurant, the tear-off menu trend is picking up steam across the country with a lot of different restaurant types experimenting with these unique, convenient, and inexpensive options for disposable menus.

The standard design is a roll of natural or bleached kraft or butcher paper with the menu printed on one side. The roll is hung conveniently near the entrance where the host or hostess can pull down and tear off a new menu for every customer who walks through the door. 

And, with a tear-off menu conveniently located in front of a customer during their entire dining experience for reference, it increases the likelihood that they will order more food, drinks or desserts while visiting your restaurant. 

If your client’s menu changes pretty regularly, they may be relying on a chalkboard or some other less professional option for keeping it updated. Custom printing on a roll of butcher paper is so inexpensive and easy, they could update different rolls throughout the year for less than it would cost to have a set of bound menus produced.

What other possibilities exist?

The options for improved restaurant branding and marketing are almost limitless, and we’re proud to offer plenty of other choices and tips to consider on the custom printed paper front. For more great ideas and examples of restaurants that have taken full advantage of these options, check out our free guide.


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