Helix Digi Labs
A pop-up business is fun, offering something for everyone, from chefs to customers to owners. It's a great way to make your mark in the food industry as a newcomer or remind the world that you're still here if you're a seasoned professional. Pop-ups are restaurants or stalls that were inspired by supper clubs in the 1960s, and they thrive on their temporary nature. This makes it a hit-or-miss for most people. However, with the right marketing strategies and the aid of pop-up restaurant management software, you can increase your chances of success. Keep reading to learn how to make your pop-up restaurant a definite hit.
The good old email marketing strategies still work. It's a tactic that has always been effective at directly getting through to customers, and when something has proven to be this successful, you need to consider it. You can email your customers with promos, new pop-up locations, and menu introductions, or go the extra mile by sending personalized emails for birthdays and other milestones.
It's vital to maintain good relationships when you're in the restaurant industry. Pop-ups are the ideal opportunity to collaborate with other local businesses to increase sales and brand recognition for both parties. Whether you feature their final goods at the pop-up, create a new dish together, or design a whole new menu that features both brands, it's guaranteed to work. You can choose to go with a small business or a well-established company, depending on what you're looking for, and it doesn't have to be another brand in the food business. You can collaborate with anyone that will complement your brand identity.
When marketing food, the eye does most of the work. We mean that potential customers will make their first impression of you based on what your menu, website, printed material, and social media look like. Invest in good photography and editing tools to lure people into visiting your pop-up restaurant. The artwork must look just as -or more- appetizing than the food!
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. The more exclusive an event or a restaurant seems, the more the customers will want to be a part of it. If you follow famous restaurants and their journeys, you'd know that when they do international pop-ups, they will cater to the local market and their taste buds. Find inspiration in that. Use seasonal produce, local flavors, or special ingredients to create exclusive menus that deliver an extraordinary culinary experience that customers will always associate with you.
Pop-ups look special; that's the magic of them. Use this to your advantage and host events that elevate your pop-up restaurant. This is also an excellent way to build a loyal customer base and show the target market what you're about. Hosting unique, niche, or personalized events will get the right people in the door while giving you plenty of opportunities to be creative with your menu. Once you make a name for yourself, you can host events with tickets and raise your prices because the customers won't be going anywhere. Another tip we have is to charge the customers an advance fee, making them feel that it's more exclusive.
Influencers are the bridge between you and your potential customers. It's more impactful for a customer to see an influencer who is just like them, or a man of the people, try your food out and then post great reviews, rather than seeing another one of your posts from a well-thought-out strategy. Using influencer collaborations, you will get more online engagement, reach your target audience faster, get greater exposure, have more cost-effective marketing, boost credibility, and gain in-person traffic, as we mentioned. Moreover, by collaborating with micro-influencers, you can develop a loyal customer base as their followers would try your products just on their word and keep coming back because of it. You will also open the pop-up restaurant up for more partnerships in the future.
Pop-ups' short-term, limited-time-only aspect tends to excite pretty much everyone, making them the perfect material for social media. Most content on social media is curated for people's short attention spans, and you can use this to your advantage. Make creative posts and share them on your social media with the right hashtags to reach the right audience that will bring in business for you and make you more successful. It doesn't have to be limited to this. You can use advertisements, viral video campaigns, reputation management, and engagement with guests via social media. Read the next point for more elaboration on this.
