by Thomas Griffin
 23 April 2019

Starting a new business is an exciting experience. Your marketing strategy will play a crucial role in the success of your company. Here are three of the most common marketing mistakes, and how you can overcome them.

When most people think about starting a company, they often think too far ahead. While the long term plan is important, it's also important to take some time to think about your short-term marketing strategy.

Instead of focusing heavily on niche specific marketing mistakes, we are going to take a look at mistakes that new business owners can make when working out how they are going to market their company.

You need a complete website for marketing
One of the first mistakes many business owners make is to believe they must have a complete website to start marketing to their audience. A common trend among new startups is creating a Coming Soon page for potential customers.

A Coming Soon page is a way to give customers a taste of what's to come when your website and business officially launches. We often have it set in our minds that it is impossible to promote something that doesn't yet exist, but that's not true.

Don't forget a contact page
Surprisingly, many new business owners forget about this crucial aspect of their website. It doesn't matter if you're creating a Coming Soon page, or just launching your site on day one. You must have an easy way for customers to contact your business.

There are a whole host of free and premium form builders you can download for your website. These builders give you the freedom and flexibility to build custom contact pages for your customers so they can communicate what they need help with regarding your product or service. You could also use this as an opportunity to discover what kind of pain points your customers have – as it pertains to your niche – so you can work on improving your company once you notice a reoccurring problem.

Contact pages are relevant because they are a way for you to keep in contact with the people who buy your products, potentially adding them to your email marketing list. This strategy could open the door for future email offers and makes marketing new products to a test audience easy.

Editor's note: Looking for email marketing software for your business? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

Do you have a list of email addresses for your email marketing campaigns?
Please note: Email marketing companies do not provide email address lists. You must possess a list prior to enlisting the services of a marketing company.
Yes - We already have a list of addresses
No - We will need to obtain a list of addresses

Don't be afraid to experiment
When people start marketing their website to a broader audience, they often feel as if their way is the right way. You have to be able to come to terms with your notions of what customers want and run split tests on your email marketing campaign and on-site ads to learn what your customers expect from your brand.

For example, if you're running a site about content marketing and keep pushing a free checklist for new bloggers and no one is responding, maybe it's time to think about other things that could benefit your audience. You can run split tests with two ad campaigns – one with the free checklist and one with access to an SEO webinar – and see which ad gets the most traction.

The point here is that sometimes you have to put different options out there, see how the customers respond, and use that analytic data to determine where to take your business model next. [Interested in email marketing services for your small business? Check out our best picks and reviews.]

Conclusion
As a new business owner, your marketing strategy should change rapidly during the first few years of business. You'll learn how to handle customer issues and how you can use their problems to build a better product.

After you've nailed down a formula, it’s essential to keep your mind open and anticipate small changes while marketing. The small changes can and will add up to more significant changes over time. One final tip is that you must be prepared to evolve with your brand and your customers. Don’t get too comfortable or set in your ways.

If the past decade has taught us anything, it’s that marketing is continually changing based on social media, customer perception and needs, and how you present your business to potential leads.

By Zac Johnson
19 April 2019

The restaurant industry is one of the most exciting places to be when it comes to running a business, but it's also one of the most co mpetitive.Discover how to stay afloat and move ahead of the competition, while increasing your business's profits.

Arguably one of the most competitive business markets today is the restaurant industry. With so many restaurants for people to choose from, finding your niche can be a difficult task. If you're looking to grow your restaurant and increase your profits, not only do you need to offer exceptional service and a wonderful dining experience, you need to master business and management tactics as well.

Ready to turn your restaurant into a major success story? Here are several important strategies that can help you increase your profits this year.

1. Do your research.
Owning a restaurant is extremely difficult. Between managing employees, balancing finances, implementing marketing campaigns and pleasing customers, you have to do it all – and no one can be an expert on everything. If you're ready to expand your restaurant, taking time to conduct research will help guide you in the direction you're trying to go.

Regularly reading restaurant management blogs will give you keen insight from industry professionals on best practices for running your restaurant efficiently. With so many resources available at your fingertips, you can educate yourself on restaurant management practices that help you save money on costs and increase your profits.

2. Cut down on food waste.
We're all guilty of it, even at home. America is the leading country in food waste, costing billions of dollars each year. One strategy for increasing your profit margin is to focus on cutting down food waste. Start by investing in a food waste tracker. These devices measure food and have a camera that monitors food waste so you can keep an eye on what's being thrown away (and why). If you still end the day with a surplus of food, you can donate it to food banks to receive a tax break.

Another way to cut down on food waste is to redesign your menu, focusing only on making what you do best. Here are some tips for creating an effective menu:

Simplify: Don't bombard your customers with too many options.
Keep it short and sweet: Provide brief but detailed descriptions.
Watch the market: Adjust your prices to include direct, indirect and volatile costs.
Consider ingredients: Promote your most profitable items (those that use the least expensive ingredients).
Editor's note: Looking for the right restaurant POS system for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

Do you need a complete POS system or specific components?
Yes - Complete POS system
No - POS hardware only
No - Software only
I need a manual cash register (not a POS system)

3. Use technology.
Incorporating modern systems into your restaurant business will increase your profits dramatically. If you're unorganized, lose receipts and have a desk cluttered with paperwork, you may be throwing money out the window. A restaurant management system will help you keep track of sales, manage employees, and create a rewards program or mailing list for your customers – and that's just for starters.

As previously noted, food waste costs restaurants a ton of money. Restaurant inventory software will let you track every ingredient you use, whether it's a teaspoon of spices, a diced carrot or an egg. With inventory software, you can also keep a watchful eye out for expiration dates so your bread doesn't get moldy and your milk doesn't spoil.

4. Market your restaurant.
One of the best ways to grow your audience and increase profits is through marketing. There are so many marketing techniques that can help you expand your business and attract the attention of customers you previously couldn't reach.

If you want to increase your restaurant patronage and keep your regulars coming back, form a relationship with them. Social media is a virtually free marketing platform where you can interact with customers and grow your brand. Utilize social media management apps that allow you to schedule when a post will go live and give you insight on the perfect time to upload your #foodpics so you can reach the largest audience.

5. Consider food delivery options.
People love convenience. After a long day at work, the last thing we want to do is prepare a home-cooked meal or drive through busy traffic to get a bite to eat. Food delivery services now act as taxis for food, so you don't need to hire drivers or buy company vehicles to send food to hangry customers. With a small commission fee, you can partner with an online ordering company to expand your business and bring home the big bucks.

Bottom line
Increasing your restaurant profits doesn't have to be a daunting task. With so many resources readily available to you, you can soar past the competition and bring in more customers. Technology has saved the day with easy-to-use and efficient point-of-sale systems, marketing tools, and online delivery services. Take matters into your own hands and utilize these resources to increase your restaurant's profits.

By Marc Pickren
17 April 2019

Answer these questions honestly and thoughtfully to streamline your business's marketing plan without taking too much time or insider marketing knowledge, and translate customer behavior and insights into real business success.

People become small business owners for any number of reasons. Mostly, though, it's because they have an interesting or new idea. They're dreamers, passionate about a certain skill they're particularly good at or a service they're excellent at providing. For the majority, marketing isn't listed as the motivation for starting a business and is simply a set of tasks that needs doing so they can spend more time focusing on the things they enjoy, like running the business itself or dealing directly with customers to help them solve their problems.

The internal dialogue for small business owners generally goes one of two ways:

1. "I don't know anything about marketing, and I don't really care to learn."

2. "There aren't enough hours in the day for me to sit down and really focus on marketing my business."

The result is largely the same regardless of which category a small business owner falls under. Marketing takes a back seat, basic-but-critical tasks are overlooked, the business suffers, and the stress of it all becomes unbearable.

To make it worse, there are thousands of options and marketing tools available that can quickly overwhelm just about anyone. It is, however, entirely possible for small business owners to keep things simple. But simple does not mean nonexistent, which is the case for small businesses far more often than one might believe.

Earlier this year, OutboundEngine surveyed more than 350 small business owners across a range of industries and found that nearly half didn't have a marketing plan for the coming year.

For many small businesses, it's good to create a simple plan that explores how owners want to grow their businesses, who their customers are, and how those customers communicate with the business and each other. This might put a slight dent in day-to-day workflows and lengthen to-do lists, but answering these questions honestly and thoughtfully can streamline a business's marketing plan without taking too much time or insider marketing knowledge. The information can translate customer behavior and insights into real business success. 

How do you want to grow your business?
Nearly a quarter of the owners we surveyed didn't know how they planned to grow their businesses in 2019. It's a particularly critical question to answer, because even small investments in marketing – no need to go crazy with huge budget increases or unruly time commitments – can have a big difference on growth. Over 80% of small businesses that invest 5%-10% of annual revenue in marketing experienced revenue growth last year. Similarly, 79% of small business owners who invest 5-10 hours per week on marketing tasks reported revenue growth last year. The key is to balance investments of time and money to build an efficient marketing engine. 

Who are your customers?
The beautiful part of this question is that small business owners likely already have the answer. Small business owners value their customers above all else. However, they can't afford to offer subpar marketing experiences to their target audiences, especially in markets that are overloaded with competitors and increasing ways to communicate. It's a concern that small business owners are working through. About 40% of small business owners were at least slightly worried that increased competition would affect their businesses in the next five years.

How do your customers communicate?
Small business owners overwhelmingly value social media as the primary means of interacting with their customers. Nearly 57% said paid and organic social posts were the most successful marketing tactic for their businesses. Organic posts in particular are a huge time-suck for small business owners, but the business value is clear: Just over 60% of small business owners who said organic posts were their most successful marketing tactic experienced revenue growth in 2018.

As millennials and Gen Z – the two largest generations in history – accrue more and more purchasing power, social media will increasingly play a role in business success. It's no secret that social media is an important component to these generations' everyday lives and, more specifically, their purchasing decisions, presenting a lucrative opportunity for small business owners. More than half of small business owners say that they want to market to and do business with millennial and Gen Z buyers. The best way to do this is to meet them where they are with a message they care about. Millennials in particular care about small businesses and are willing to pay more to support them, but they first have to know you exist.

When small business owners answer these simple questions with confidence, the prospect of investing a little extra time and money – either into learning a new marketing skill or into the business directly – won't be such a daunting or stressful task.

By Gregory Furgala
15 April 2019
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Remember charcoal? Remember how it was suddenly affixed seemingly every menu? If you don’t, here’s an incomplete list of what it made its way into: burger buns, pizza, lemonade, ice cream (and cones), lattes, macarons, croissants, crepes, waffles, wontons, ravioli, mozzarella and crusted on tuna. Chatelaine proclaimed, “This dark and moody food trend is popping up everywhere”; in its Life section, a Globe and Mail headline proclaimed “Charcoal cooking heating up restaurant kitchens”; and CBC called it “the new MVP of wellness.” Even the Fat Duck’s Heston Blumenthal endorsed a charcoal-laced bagel.

Notwithstanding the CBC headline, charcoal’s dubious toxin-busting health benefits were, for the most part, only meekly touted by foodservice operators (although Health Canada concedes that it’s an effective antiflatulent). The smoky nuance charcoal lent to food saw some kind words as well, but the trend was really about the social cachet of eating the next big thing. Shots of monochromatic food had become top fodder for social media, and several operators took note, taking to the charcoal in droves to get their share. The headlines, social media and word-of-mouth buzz confirmed that Canadians loved charcoal.

Except they didn’t. Not really.

#Trending
IMI International, a foodservice marketing consultancy, asked 100 people if they would be encouraged to go to a restaurant that featured charcoal-infused food. Only two people answered in the affirmative. By contrast, three in 10 people — and four in 10 adults over 45 — said all-day breakfast would encourage them to visit. Despite Canadians’ overwhelming preference for pancake dinners, however, charcoal ate up all the bandwidth. Going by demand, charcoal was a niche product, but Twitter, Instagram and food media generally had declared it the big thing, anyway. It’s easy to see how the sheer volume of charcoal content could sweep operators up in the free-for-all.

Noting the discrepancy, Sarah Stovold, managing director at IMI, warns operators that it’s a mistake to make decisions based on what they read in magazines and online against what they see in their own business, because hype, quantified, doesn’t necessarily add up to much. “There’s a big difference between editorial content and fact-based content,” says Stovold.

Conventional wisdom also falls short. Phone-addled Millennials and Gen-Zers, well, aren’t — at least they don’t take what’s flashing in front of their eyes as critical gospel. IMI found that 68 per cent of Millennial and Gen Z consumers prefer giving and receiving restaurant recommendations in person, and only 34 per cent of Millennials and Gen-Zers are encouraged to visit a restaurant they found recommended on Instagram. A social media presence shouldn’t be eschewed altogether, but orienting decision making around it could steer a foodservice operation in a direction that has more headlines than genuine adherents. For some, that might be fine; a handful businesses successfully ran with charcoal, and will likely take up the next trend just as well. But for others it could be a mistake. Do you want to expend resources capitalizing on the next big thing? Or a place that stays comparatively low-key, offering menu items and promotions that, while not attention-grabbing, are in quietly high demand?

Over the Hill
Charcoal’s popularity may have been a hangover from the peak social media marketing. It’s been noted in the Globe and Mail, the New York Times and the Guardian that social media has become a mature market. Facebook reported its first-ever decline in users in 2018, with three million European users leaving the platform in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, first reported by the Observer, which saw 87 million users’ data compromised. In the United States, market research firm eMarketer estimated that Facebook lost 2.8 million users under 25 years old last year, and predicted the trend would accelerate. Facebook is still growing globally, but in developed markets, it may have peaked.

Smaller social media platforms have suffered net losses. Between the second quarter of 2017 and 2018, Twitter lost 1 million monthly users, while Snapchat lost 3 million, according to company filings for both companies. Joseph Evans, a senior research analyst at Enders Analysis, a media research firm, told the Guardian in August that kids’ behaviour is “fickle,” and that Snapchat, despite its youth, is losing favour amongst them. Twitter, Evans noted, may have already peaked, saying that it’s “definitely stalling at best.” Facebook-owned Instagram, which has seen its user total climb month after month, seems to be the lone exception. Nevertheless, another headline, courtesy of tech news website Recode, summed up the new social media landscape: “Social media growth is over in the U.S. — which is its most valuable market.”

Moreover, Stovold continues, it’s gotten harder to be good at social media. A decade ago, people were still figuring out how to best leverage the young platforms, and while it’s constantly evolving, it’s nevertheless become a polished, professional medium. Taking a poorly lit shot of a new dish on the pass won’t cut it. The dish’s appearance and photo both need to meet a high bar for public consumption. Major restaurant and foodservice brands employ social media managers and food stylists, an investment that oft profit-challenged independent operators could probably put to better use. “Unless you’re going to do it well,” says Stovold, “don’t do it at all.” You can’t just make a charcoal-whatever and expect to start counting money; you need to build and orient a media push around it, too. It takes a bigger effort to make a statement in a mature market. It takes a coherent strategy.

This isn’t an alarm, just a call for restraint. Major platforms have hundreds of millions of monthly users, each, and operators should undoubtedly have a presence on social media. It’s a helpful tool for building and maintaining brand identity, engaging customers and promoting new menu items and events. But there’s a difference between having a presence on social media and underwriting a business with it. The former advertises what you’re already doing; the latter demands a strategic shift toward chasing likes and engagement. Unless you’re already set up for it, developing and then shoehorning a product onto your menu for the sake of capitalizing on a social media trend is unlikely to generate the return on investment that simpler, brand-appropriate promotion would, like a fresh, seasonal dish that capitalizes on your brand’s strengths. “There’s a bit of a counterintuitiveness,” says Stovold. “But it’s not really a new behaviour. People have always had their recommendations face-to-face. The world’s not changing as much as Facebook wants you to think.”

Old Habits
As always, it’s a game of finite resources and maximizing the return-on-investment. IMI found the five biggest detractors to repeat visits wasn’t a charcoal-less menu or insufficient engagement with the trend du jour. The biggest detractors were exactly what you’d expect: bad service, bad food, high prices, uncleanliness and noise. Nailing the fundamentals of hospitality goes much, much further toward promoting your business than attempting to leverage novelty.

The effectiveness of in-person recommendations dwarfs those pulled from social media, with 68 per cent of Millennials and Gen-Zers reporting that they prefer their recommendations via word of mouth. Amongst Canadians generally, 34 per cent are encouraged to go to a restaurant from seeing a picture on Instagram, compared to 48 per cent who are encouraged to go to by a friend recommending it. To that end, Stovold has five recommendations: eliminate noise; optimize your first and last points of contact; find out what works, and eliminate what doesn’t;and forego “always on” in favour of “always relevant.” It’s essentially marketing-by-performance.

The first point, eliminating noise, seems obvious but is more difficult than one would think. In the Atlantic, architecture and design critic Kate Wagner notes that restaurant design has shifted toward a literally hard-edged minimalism, supplanting the plush overstuffed seating and carpeted floors that used to be the mark of high-end design. Aesthetic preferences notwithstanding, those old, soft surfaces did more work than just cushion diners; they absorbed the noise made by clattering plates, clinking cutlery and conversations of diners. Wagner goes onto measure how loud various environments are, as well. A coffee shop was 73 decibels; a wine bar at dinner was 80 decibels; a high end food court was 86 decibels; and lastly, a brewpub during happy hour was an earsplitting 90 decibels. By comparison, highway traffic noises typically clocks in at 80 to 90 decibels. Walk around your own operation and ask yourself, could I have a conversation in this place?

Stovold’s second recommendation, to optimize the first and last points of contact with a guest, is more straightforward but no less important. First impressions count, and leaving a positive lasting impression does, too. An unappealing storefront is unlikely to encourage guests to walk in. The same goes for out-of-date or otherwise unattractive websites. And when it’s time for the cheque, ensure the process is efficient, and when it’s time for guests to leave, someone ought to say goodbye. Stovold’s third point regarding touch points is an extension of this approach. Touch points essentially boil down to customer experience. What part of your restaurant is the guest engaging with and reacting to? Optimizing those points is part and parcel of hospitality.

Eliminating what works and what doesn’t — Stovold’s fourth point — is the approach underpinning all of this. In the context of charcoal, it means looking at the data instead of guessing what will work. Gather information, assess it and act — don’t just assume the trend that others have taken up should be imported into your own business. Getting that information doesn’t require an international consulting firm, either (although it probably helps). Even if they don’t know it, Stovold insists that operators have resources. “Every restaurateur can talk to their customers,” she says. “That’s free.”

Free and instantaneous. Feedback from regulars is immediate and valuable, and it can be applied to a new initiative or endeavour at the restaurant. It can be as simple as we’re thinking about doing X. What do you think? The other route, studio-made creative — the kind that requires consultants and directors and money — is often ineffective, says Stovold, with 57 per cent of it destined to fail before the art director puts the finishing touches on it. As a term, “marketing” may seem daunting, but independent operators shouldn’t refrain from starting with a DIY approach. “You’re in more control than you think,” says Stovold.

More Social, Less Media
Think back: in all your interactions with your guests last summer, how many wanted something made with charcoal? And how many wanted good food and good service? Some operations are tailor-made to capitalize on social media trends. Toronto-based iHalo Krunch serves on-trend soft serve in purple yam, matcha and, naturally, charcoal hues, and they’re successful because of it. Operators looking to expand can look at businesses like iHalo as a model, but they should know it might be more niche than the headlines would have them believe. After all, iHalo sports just four main flavours of ice cream, and that’s about it.

A more effective marketing strategy dovetails with making a better restaurant. Guests aren’t just sources of revenue; they’re brand ambassadors. Given the option of an aggressive marketing campaign or getting the fundamentals of hospitality right, operators should choose the latter. Those ambassadors will pass along the good word and, in a way, the restaurant will market itself. While it’s changing like everything else, hospitality is still a word-of-mouth business. The majority people rely on their friends and family more than anything else for their restaurant recommendations. Your marketing effort should start with making them happy, and go from there.