If I asked you what makes your brand special you might give an answer about your food, your service model, your location, etc. You wouldn't be necessarily wrong, but could you answer that same question the way your guests would?
Can you see your brand through the eyes of your guest .. and not just any guest, your most valuable guest? How about your guests with less frequency or lower spend? Do you even know who those people are?
We call them ICPs or ideal customer profile. If you said "our brand is for everyone," you're wrong. Even McDonald's, one of the biggest restaurant brands in the world, is not for everyone. They have a convenience shopper, they have a value shopper, they have foodies, they have people who only come for breakfast, etc. Most restaurant brands have 4-6 ICPs.
Knowing your ICPs helps you know what and how to market. Typically marketing to your top 2 ICPs will get you most of the distance. If you don't know what "she" cares about (That's how Solomon from 16 Handles describes their core ICP) then you can't be effective in speaking to them.
So how do you figure out who your ICPs are and what they care about? Well you could do what Condado Tacos did and hire an agency to do the research. Well what if you don't have the budget? Either path, check out this interview I recently did on the Restaurant Marketing Podcast with Condado Taco CMO Sara Kear. She walks through the entire thought process and strategy. She even shares what to do if you don't have the budget.
It's an incredible lesson and you're going to learn some strategies and tactics that will not only inform your marketing but increase your sales.
WHAT DOES REV DO?
*I help restaurants to build guest marketing programs.
*I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.
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Rev Ciancio
Branded Strategic, Head of Revenue Marketing