Rediscover a marketing favourite

I was out for dinner last weekend when the owner of the restaurant came and sat down with me for a glass of wine.

Naturally, I asked him how business was.

“Tough,” he said. “Very tough. Toughest conditions in my lifetime.”

Not wanting to see my favourite source of quail risotto go out of business, I immediately asked him what sort of marketing he was doing.

“We’re on Facebook, we’re Tweeting, we’ve even tried advertising on a daily deals site,” the owner said. “It’s cheaper, but we’re not exactly seeing the sales roll in.”

Online marketing is a great tactic, but you shouldn’t forget about the humble favourites of marketing, particularly when you’re selling local.

An ad in the local paper might not be glamorous, but it can be effective and these days relatively cheap.

Or do as I told my restaurateur friend – go and get a thousand fliers printed with a “locals only” offer on them and spend a few hours walking around town handing them out.

The fliers might cost you $50, so you’ll only need five or six customers to get a good return on your investment.

And when it comes to marketing, that’s what really counts.

Get it done – today!