Effective marketing on a shoestring budget

Pizza Marketplace ^ | March 5, 2013 | Alicia Kelso

[2ndDivisionVet]

Mobile, digital, radio, TV, billboards and mailings all have their perks, but restaurant marketing doesn't have to be expensive to be effective.

Fox's Pizza franchisee Scott Anthony has been searching for the right balance for the past two decades. He offered some approaches that have worked for his business during a recent educational session titled "Marketing on a Shoestring Budget."

Getting started, he says, means building a "USP."

"A 'Universally Selling Position' is a statement that emphasizes your strengths to your community. You have to be more than a generality," Anthony said.

For example, Domino's is known for delivery, while Little Caesars' USP is its $5 carryout deal. Fox's Pizza touts family-oriented service.

"We will serve you what we'd serve our own family and we want to get that ingrained in people's heads," Anthony said.

To do that, it's important for operators to get out of the kitchen and get to know the people in the neighborhood.

"People are three to four times more likely to buy from you if they know you. And it doesn't cost anything," Anthony said. "We're in the hospitality business, interact with your guests. Tell them a story about your food, make that emotional connection. Smile."

Following the B-A-S-I-C-S

To take full advantage of a frugal, grassroots marketing strategy, Anthony suggests following the B-A-S-I-C-S, including...

[RedMDer]

I bet this would work great for politics and doing an end run around the Lame Stream Media to get the real facts out.