How you market your sandwich bar in the weeks prior to opening, and in its first few months, will have a massive impact on the speed at which you become established, and ultimately start making money. Why? Because it’s all very well having a great product, but if you can’t find a way to communicate your idea to your target customers you won’t be selling very much!
Marketing is all about informing people, and then keeping them informed. In the case of your sandwich bar it’s about telling people what you do, what makes you special and why they should try you, and then constantly reminding them, again and again and again. You developed your key messages in Chapter
Don’t be afraid to dictate how your employees serve customers. If you leave it up to each individual member of staff to decide on what they say, how they say it and the service that they give, then you’ll end up with a very disjointed sandwich bar and customers will feel confused.
So what are the tools you can use to market your new business, and launch it to the general public?
Collateral – In other words, physical items such as menus, menu boards
and posters designed to showcase what you do and what makes you special. Public Relations – This would include sending press releases announcing
your imminent opening to local press, or perhaps staging a photo shoot with a local celebrity.
Promotions – Giveaways, or special offers designed to entice people in.
Advertising – This could be in local papers, local radio etc.
Let’s look at these in more detail.
COLLATERAL
Sandwich bar menu
A well-designed menu is vital to a sandwich bar. It is your calling card, and a hastily put together, badly designed one will say that you are a second-rate business, and put many people off.
Look over the examples of menus you collected during your research. Which are easy to understand, which have clever and imaginative design features? Can you copy the style of any for your own menu?
You could design your menu yourself using a PC, and then laminate it to ensure it’s hard-wearing. However, as with the development of your brand, I would advise against it. Instead, work with the designer who developed your logo, and ask them to design your menu for you. If they’re already undertak- ing work for you, then a price may be negotiated for the extra design work. To make your menu as long-lasting as possible, consider including price ranges rather than set prices – for example, jacket potatoes from £2.00. Then, if you decide to put prices up you can do so without having to immediately reprint your menu. It’s more than likely that you’ll have large menu boards in your shop anyway, and this is the ideal place to display more specific prices.
Make sure that you ask a friend to proofread any material you are having printed. It’s so easy to miss little spelling and grammatical mistakes, and the result is very unprofessional- looking. Just ensure that they’ll be brutally honest with you and not just say everything is great!
Menu boards
The menu boards within your sandwich bar will be what most people look at and choose from. For this reason they should be prominent and easy to read. You could have these printed by a sign-writing company, or you could write them up yourself on black or white boards. Either way, you should ensure that the prices can be rubbed out and altered; this will offer you the flexibility to make changes as and when you need to.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
If you really want to make a splash, then PR is the way to do it. However, only venture down this route if you have something genuinely exciting to say, as otherwise it will be a complete waste of your time. After all, what journalist would be interested in a ‘new sandwich bar opens on Monday’ story?
Is your sandwich bar bringing new, fashionable food to the area, something that’s never been served before? Are you breathing life into a local delicacy that had been in decline? Perhaps you have overcome personal difficulties to open your own business? Maybe you’re lucky enough to know a local celebrity who’ll make an appearance on your opening day for a press photo shoot. Perhaps the council are making a big deal about local regeneration; if so, the mayor may pay you a visit to congratulate you for going it alone and opening a business in a regeneration area. Maybe you’re prepared to organize a ‘Sandwich X Factor’ competition and get shoppers in the town centre to vote
All descriptions of food or services your sandwich bar provides have to be clear and accurate. These rules are governed by trading standards, and apply to descriptions given verbally, in writing (in a menu or advertisement) or as an illustration (perhaps a photograph used on a menu).
For example, if you are describing your food as ‘homemade’ then it needs to be. If you say your soup is fresh, then it can’t come out of a can. If you include a crab mayo sandwich on your menu, then it must be crab meat, not seafood sticks (then you’d need to call it seafood mayo).
The Trading Standards Central website is particularly useful (www.tradingstandards.gov.uk).
These are all examples of stories you could create around the opening of your sandwich bar, and by following these simple steps you could achieve a reason- able amount of coverage in your local media.
Write a clear and concise press release. This should be produced on a
computer and include the vital ‘who, what, why, where and when’ of your story. If you’re unsure of the style you should use, take a look through the local paper and copy the way the news stories are put together. Include a headline, an introductory paragraph with the main details, and then a few more paragraphs with more detailed information. Make sure you include your contact details, and the dates and times when events will be happening. Email your press release to local journalists. These journalists will work for
local newspapers and radio stations. You can find their contact details within the publication, or on the publication’s website. Many will simply have a ‘newsdesk’ email address rather than individual journalist emails. Ensure that the subject heading of the email is the headline of your press release.
Follow up with a phone call. The next day, telephone the journalists,
explain why you think the story is an interesting one for their readers, and suggest they come down to the café for a visit.
Set up a photo op. Most local papers will be happier printing a story if it
has supporting photography. Get a friend to take some quirky pictures of you at your sandwich bar, perhaps toasting its opening with some cham- pagne! Make sure the name of your sandwich bar is clearly visible in the background. This photography can be emailed alongside the press release.
PR is the cheapest marketing tool available, and is way more effective than advertising. Master this and you’ll be mastering the art of ‘free’ publicity. I worked in public relations for ten years before starting up Taste. However, if you don’t have any relevant experience, and you don’t feel confident enough to go it alone, you could sign up to a PR course, or consider seeking advice from a consultant, such as the firm my husband and I run (www.sutherlandcomms.com). ho w to book s small bu sin es s sta rt-u ps•
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PROMOTIONS
Many new stores use a promotion as a tool to get people in the door in the first few weeks of opening. The idea is that the financial incentive is so attrac- tive that target customers simply cannot ignore it, and are tempted in. Your job is then to dazzle them with the amazing food and customer service so that they keep coming back once the promotion is over, and the prices increase to their regular level.
You could consider offering customers a free coffee with every sandwich bought. Coffee is an excellent giveaway as it costs you hardly anything to pro- duce, but the customer’s value perception is high. Perhaps develop an introductory meal deal, grouping together likely lunch partners such as sand- wiches, crisps and a drink. Maybe use a loss leader (an item on your menu that is under-priced) to tempt people in; you’ll soon make the money back on the loss leader when they buy add-on items, or become a regular customer.
ADVERTISING
I’m not going to talk too much about advertising, as I genuinely do not believe that local advertising is a very cost-effective way to market a small
In the first few days of opening we asked groups of friends to don branded T-shirts and give out menus and promotional flyers all over the town centre.
Our promotion gave people the chance to ‘have a drink on us’ and offered customers a free coffee with every sandwich bought. We also created a loss-leading breakfast deal, offering customers toast and tea/coffee, or bacon rolls and tea/coffee at greatly reduced prices. These promotions were incredibly successful at getting people in the door. Plus, we managed to turn virtually every customer into a reg- ular, and they still shop with us today.
Café Culture
Make sure that you include terms and conditions on every promotional offer you market. When will the offer start and end, what does it include and not include, who does it apply to?
business. You’re far better to spend time leafleting the local area and creating clever and fun PR stories.
However, if you do decide to advertise through your local paper or radio there are some golden rules you should remember: first, ensure that people in your local area read the publication you choose, and second, have your advert pro- fessionally designed. Also, build a coupon, perhaps offering a free drink, into the advert. That way you’ll see real results, and actual customers coming in through your door.