Back to School Marketing
by Michael Dagostino ~ takeoutprinting.com
It’s that time of the year again. Summer is almost over. Fall is just around the corner. Cheerleaders practice while the grounds crew preps the football field for another season. New and returning students arrive for another semester of learning. Actors practice their lines for the fall performance. Coaches prepare game plans while faculty prepare lesson plans. Time to hit the books. What does this all have to do with us restaurant owners ? you ask....
Opportunity…There are many money making opportunities today around school and university campuses that pizzeria and restaurant owners do not put into motion. Below are a few ideas that will help you jumpstart your back to school marketing plan.
Orientation “Welcome” Packets
All colleges and universities have some kind of orientation packets. These are given out to all new and returning students. They are filled with maps of school buildings and surrounding areas, rules and regulations and other information about activities, sporting events and where to eat and shop off campus. This is your opportunity to get your takeout menu, business card magnets and free “V.I.P. cards” distributed to all. You can even offer to print some of these materials for free. In turn your offer can be included in the packet. Hold a contest, give away a free gift certificate towards future food purchases. Getting information on new and returning students is vital for your restaurants growth. If for some reason a school does not have a welcome packet, offer to help put one together for them for free
V.I.P. Cards
Put the college or school logo on one side and your discount or offer on the other side. Whether it is a 20 percent discount or a free appetizer,Free dessert students & facility will use these VIP cards and come to your restaurant. Have special offers for cardholders only. Every student will want one and make you the most popular establishment in the area. These cards can be handed out free to all students, parents,faculty and staff.This is a great opportunity to promote your VIP cards on Facebook & twitter
Sports and Coaches
Whether it is the lacrosse, cross-country, field hockey or football teams, you can go to the head coaches and cut deals with them. You can give free or discounted dinners to the teams after the games and in return have them mention your restaurant at the games. If cheerleaders, fans ,parents & faculty know the team will be at your restaurant after the game, they will all follow and spend money. You will become the new “after game hot spot”. You can also ask about other advertising options on the field or in sports programs. Offer to print up the sports programs for free and save a place on the back to promote your restaurant.Give a discount to anyone with a ticket stub or program Most important, you should always have someone handing out your takeout menus & VIP cards at every game and in the parking lots of the local schools & colleges
School Committees
Colleges & schools always hold dances, plays and pep rallies. You can get in touch with the committees who put these functions together. They can order x amount of pies and food to have at the dances. You can hand out your takeout menus at the pep rallies for late business. The director of the plays and concerts can work out “a dinner and a show” deal to sell to the theater goers. They can eat before or after the show. You can also offer a discount towards the total check when shown a ticket the day of the performances. Don’t forget about cast parties. Offer a good deal. If the cast, stage crew, production crew and everyone else involved in the production likes your restaurant, you will be sure to host every cast party. Most theater departments do something called “striking the set” where after the last performance, students take apart the set that was built. Usually this is an all night job and a few pizza pies and sandwiches make it much more enjoyable for the students. This is another opportunity to generate some business, get in touch with the theater department, find out who runs it and work out a deal.
Colleges and universities have many sororities, fraternities and clubs. They all have yearly budgets for food and entertainment for their member meetings & get togethers.Every campus has a student affairs building. Get a list of all the presidents of each club and invite them all for a free dinner or tasting of your food.When they arrive show them how you can help them save year round on all their food purchases.Get a one page survey together asking about the specific club, fraternity or sorority, their budget and how much they spend on food a semester. Your job is to setup a party plan with each group so you lock them in for the whole year. When I was in college our clubs would buy food for our meetings 20 minutes before the meeting started. If you can impress the presidents of these clubs think of the flow of party orders that you can secure year round while your competition is hoping someone will walk in and place an order, you will be writing all the orders
Faculty, Parents and Staff
Faculty, parents and staff all need to eat out. This can be an untapped area that is being overlooked. Target staff and faculty at the colleges for luncheons, meetings and deliveries on campus. Parents have to eat out when visiting their children, for pep rallies,homecoming parents weekend etc.Make up V.I.P. cards just for parents giving them a discount. Find out from the college when special events are going on. (Homecoming, parent’s weekend, alumni weekend…etc) You can also contact the admissions office to find out the students who give tours to potential future students who visit the campus with their parents. After the tour they will want to eat somewhere before they leave on their long trip back home. You can even work out a “free lunch” deal with the college. The college can offer a “free lunch” to potential students. Of course the college will pick up the tab. What a lasting touch on the parents to make the biggest decision in their child’s life.
Bookstore Marketing
Once students arrive at their dormitories on the first day of school, they always head for the long lines at the bookstore to get their books & accessories. Waiting in line can make students very hungry. Talk to the person in charge of the bookstore. Invite them for a free dinner & tour of your restaurant Ask if you can give out free samples of your food , takeout menus & VIP cards outside the bookstore the first few days the students return. This will give the students a chance to taste your food and get to know your restaurant brand. You can also give out your V.I.P. cards. Hand out your takeout menus, magnets and any other marketing materials. This is why they call it “branding”. You want to “brand” your restaurant name in people’s minds. The more they see your restaurant brand the more they will buy from you.
Some of these back to school marketing ideas are good starting points and will need to be fine tuned for your area. If your restaurant is not located near a college or university, you can use some of these ideas at your local high school or elementary school. You as the owner are responsible for the marketing & branding of your business. Do not assume just because you are in a college town you will get all the business. There is no such thing as enough business. If your restaurant has a line out the door from the minute you open until you close then rip up this article and throw it out. Just kidding….Every business needs more customers. Get these ideas rolling today before your competition reads this article. Remember: “Good ideas if not used are worthless.”
by Michael Dagostino ~ takeoutprinting.com
It’s that time of the year again. Summer is almost over. Fall is just around the corner. Cheerleaders practice while the grounds crew preps the football field for another season. New and returning students arrive for another semester of learning. Actors practice their lines for the fall performance. Coaches prepare game plans while faculty prepare lesson plans. Time to hit the books. What does this all have to do with us restaurant owners ? you ask....
Opportunity…There are many money making opportunities today around school and university campuses that pizzeria and restaurant owners do not put into motion. Below are a few ideas that will help you jumpstart your back to school marketing plan.
Orientation “Welcome” Packets
All colleges and universities have some kind of orientation packets. These are given out to all new and returning students. They are filled with maps of school buildings and surrounding areas, rules and regulations and other information about activities, sporting events and where to eat and shop off campus. This is your opportunity to get your takeout menu, business card magnets and free “V.I.P. cards” distributed to all. You can even offer to print some of these materials for free. In turn your offer can be included in the packet. Hold a contest, give away a free gift certificate towards future food purchases. Getting information on new and returning students is vital for your restaurants growth. If for some reason a school does not have a welcome packet, offer to help put one together for them for free
V.I.P. Cards
Put the college or school logo on one side and your discount or offer on the other side. Whether it is a 20 percent discount or a free appetizer,Free dessert students & facility will use these VIP cards and come to your restaurant. Have special offers for cardholders only. Every student will want one and make you the most popular establishment in the area. These cards can be handed out free to all students, parents,faculty and staff.This is a great opportunity to promote your VIP cards on Facebook & twitter
Sports and Coaches
Whether it is the lacrosse, cross-country, field hockey or football teams, you can go to the head coaches and cut deals with them. You can give free or discounted dinners to the teams after the games and in return have them mention your restaurant at the games. If cheerleaders, fans ,parents & faculty know the team will be at your restaurant after the game, they will all follow and spend money. You will become the new “after game hot spot”. You can also ask about other advertising options on the field or in sports programs. Offer to print up the sports programs for free and save a place on the back to promote your restaurant.Give a discount to anyone with a ticket stub or program Most important, you should always have someone handing out your takeout menus & VIP cards at every game and in the parking lots of the local schools & colleges
School Committees
Colleges & schools always hold dances, plays and pep rallies. You can get in touch with the committees who put these functions together. They can order x amount of pies and food to have at the dances. You can hand out your takeout menus at the pep rallies for late business. The director of the plays and concerts can work out “a dinner and a show” deal to sell to the theater goers. They can eat before or after the show. You can also offer a discount towards the total check when shown a ticket the day of the performances. Don’t forget about cast parties. Offer a good deal. If the cast, stage crew, production crew and everyone else involved in the production likes your restaurant, you will be sure to host every cast party. Most theater departments do something called “striking the set” where after the last performance, students take apart the set that was built. Usually this is an all night job and a few pizza pies and sandwiches make it much more enjoyable for the students. This is another opportunity to generate some business, get in touch with the theater department, find out who runs it and work out a deal.
Colleges and universities have many sororities, fraternities and clubs. They all have yearly budgets for food and entertainment for their member meetings & get togethers.Every campus has a student affairs building. Get a list of all the presidents of each club and invite them all for a free dinner or tasting of your food.When they arrive show them how you can help them save year round on all their food purchases.Get a one page survey together asking about the specific club, fraternity or sorority, their budget and how much they spend on food a semester. Your job is to setup a party plan with each group so you lock them in for the whole year. When I was in college our clubs would buy food for our meetings 20 minutes before the meeting started. If you can impress the presidents of these clubs think of the flow of party orders that you can secure year round while your competition is hoping someone will walk in and place an order, you will be writing all the orders
Faculty, Parents and Staff
Faculty, parents and staff all need to eat out. This can be an untapped area that is being overlooked. Target staff and faculty at the colleges for luncheons, meetings and deliveries on campus. Parents have to eat out when visiting their children, for pep rallies,homecoming parents weekend etc.Make up V.I.P. cards just for parents giving them a discount. Find out from the college when special events are going on. (Homecoming, parent’s weekend, alumni weekend…etc) You can also contact the admissions office to find out the students who give tours to potential future students who visit the campus with their parents. After the tour they will want to eat somewhere before they leave on their long trip back home. You can even work out a “free lunch” deal with the college. The college can offer a “free lunch” to potential students. Of course the college will pick up the tab. What a lasting touch on the parents to make the biggest decision in their child’s life.
Bookstore Marketing
Once students arrive at their dormitories on the first day of school, they always head for the long lines at the bookstore to get their books & accessories. Waiting in line can make students very hungry. Talk to the person in charge of the bookstore. Invite them for a free dinner & tour of your restaurant Ask if you can give out free samples of your food , takeout menus & VIP cards outside the bookstore the first few days the students return. This will give the students a chance to taste your food and get to know your restaurant brand. You can also give out your V.I.P. cards. Hand out your takeout menus, magnets and any other marketing materials. This is why they call it “branding”. You want to “brand” your restaurant name in people’s minds. The more they see your restaurant brand the more they will buy from you.
Some of these back to school marketing ideas are good starting points and will need to be fine tuned for your area. If your restaurant is not located near a college or university, you can use some of these ideas at your local high school or elementary school. You as the owner are responsible for the marketing & branding of your business. Do not assume just because you are in a college town you will get all the business. There is no such thing as enough business. If your restaurant has a line out the door from the minute you open until you close then rip up this article and throw it out. Just kidding….Every business needs more customers. Get these ideas rolling today before your competition reads this article. Remember: “Good ideas if not used are worthless.”