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National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day

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As of February 2021, the number of homeless in downtown Tampa hit a high of 1,650 people. Although the city has been working to provide shelter, food, and hygienic products to the homeless, many still struggle to survive. However, Hyde Park United Methodist Church has made efforts to support homeless initiatives through its non-profit organization, the Portico. On National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day, we honor the work that our client, the Portico, has done to recognize those who face homelessness in our community and those who have died without a home.

The Portico Cafe:

The Portico Cafe is a social enterprise that helps bridge people battling homelessness, addiction, and incarceration with employment opportunities. Many of the cafe’s employees have taken his opportunity as a second chance to rehabilitate their lives and reconnect with community members. In addition, the cafe offers many different breakfast and lunch options for customers to order. These funds directly support the Portico’s events and initiatives. For more information about the cafe and its employees’ stories, please visit their newly renovated website here. 

Portico Housing Solutions:

The Portico Housing Solutions provides safe housing for those transitioning into a new life. In exchange for accommodation, tenants are encouraged to give back to the community, attend church services, and develop a savings account that can be upheld after completing the program. The Portico Housing Solutions also offers mentoring and spiritual support for its residents provided by Hyde Park Methodist Church. Their goal is to support and transform the lives of the homeless. 

Love INC:

Located on the third floor of the Portico, Love INC is a group of volunteers that provide the homeless with necessities such as food, water, and clothing. They differentiate themselves from other organizations by also bringing love, wisdom, and religion to individuals in need. Their mission is to mobilize local churches to transform lives and communities in the Name of Christ.

Homeless Memorial:

Outside the Portico campus is a homeless memorial that honors those who have died on the streets of Tampa. The wall is edited each year with the names and ages of each person who has passed. The Portico works hard to recognize the strength and lives of the homeless as they have documented over 115 names to date.

Homeless Jesus:

Timothy P. Schmalz, a Canadian sculptor, best known for his religious art pieces, created the well-known Homeless Jesus Sculpture outside the entrance of the Portico campus. This prominent figure depicts a distressed Jesus sleeping on a park bench. Many people in passing have stopped to take a second glance at the realistic statue once they have recognized the sleeping man’s face. These actions have fulfilled the artist’s intentions of acknowledging those who are homeless and acknowledging that Jesus is with everyone.

To help the Portico’s many efforts in preventing homelessness around the Tampa area, please visit https://theportico.org/ to learn more about how you can get more involved.

If you are interested in working with Absolute Marketing Solutions for your marketing needs, contact one of our team members today.

How to Stay Productive In and Out of the Office:

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It seems like ever since the pandemic, workers have been struggling to shift their focus back into the office. But just as we adjusted to sleeping in, dressing down, and meeting on Zoom, we must readapt to traditional business standards to achieve company goals. To avoid a lack of productivity in the workplace, we recommend following these few simple steps at home and work to increase mental stimulation.

Plan Ahead:
Although it may seem obvious to any business professional, it is necessary to create a well-organized planner that tracks future events, meetings, and assignments. Building this calendar will help you stay on top of tasks and approximate proper time management. We also suggest you highlight any deadlines to ensure that they are complete. As well as creating checkpoints leading up to the official deadline to keep yourself accountable for these tasks.

Avoid Distractions:
In a recent Forbes article, studies have found that those who work from home are much less productive than those in a professional environment due to the lack of company culture, many distractions, and untrustful technology systems. Therefore, those who work in an office should take advantage of the opportunity by separating work and home life. By maximizing your work time at the office, you may feel more determined to complete tasks before the day is complete, ultimately creating more time to relax at home. In addition, you should also turn off unnecessary notifications when working to avoid any distractions. Some people may even need to hide their devices to remain focused.

Make Healthy Choices:
It may be efficient to order from a local fast-food chain while on your lunch break, but the outcomes of consuming unhealthy food can be detrimental to your mind and body. It is essential to fuel your body with natural food that gives you energy, boosts your immune system, and decreases stress. Try bringing snacks that are not prepackaged, like fruits, vegetables, or nuts. These foods lead to higher antioxidant levels that reduce “brain fog.”

Move Your Body:
These days, many companies provide amenities to their employees to promote healthy living. For example, a company may pay for a gym membership or have a fitness center in its office. These recent changes have found that employees are less likely to miss work, lowering the employee turnover rate. In addition, studies have shown a direct relationship between working out and brain function in which working out can increase memory, focus, and creativity. If your office doesn’t have a gym, try taking a brisk walk around the block to stimulate endorphins.

Socialize with Others:
One of the benefits of working in an office is having a team of professionals around you. These relationships can increase awareness of your company’s different departments and projects. It is essential to understand all aspects of a company to ensure employees work cohesively. We recommend communicating with your coworkers to collaborate on ideas or ask for advice. These interactions can also decrease stress and increase one’s mood.

Although there are many more ways to increase productivity in the office, these are just a few examples that the Absolute Marketing Solutions team has found to be successful. It is important to remember that every individual is different and may have additional methods that increase their work ethic.

If you have any questions about company culture, please contact the Absolute Marketing Solutions team.

The Next Big Thing – TikTok

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TikTok has been named “the world’s leading social media site” with over 600 million monthly active followers. This new platform enables users to create and share short videos, paired with visual and sound effects, ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes long. Even if you are not one to use other forms of social media, TikTok is unique as it features many different genres, including but not limited to dance, comedy, collaboration, and education. Often, users create these videos in hopes of going viral or spreading their content quickly to a large audience. As a result, we have seen many businesses hop on this trend as a new form of digital marketing. However, although TikTok may seem simple, we have found that companies struggle with projecting their message within a few seconds. Therefore, we recommend experimenting with TikTok’s different features before posting to the platform.  

Why should you use TikTok to promote your small business?  

 As previously mentioned, TikTok has millions of users, and the platform is projected to double within the next few years! Due to this growth, businesses can potentially increase their reach when using this platform. Similar to other forms of social media, TikTok allows you to target your business’s ideal age, location, and interest. We have seen companies who use social media marketing to target younger users because they are the dominant consumers. On TikTok, about 60% of users are those ranging from 16 to 23. If this age group synchronizes with your target audience, we recommend creating your TikTok account now! 

What type of content is most successful?  

TikTok has various videos that users can produce; however, the most popular ones engage other users. For example, a viral video challenge, like the difficult dance to the song Renegade, creates a competitive stage for consumers to communicate. Individuals can also collaborate with other users by merging two videos. This collaboration can introduce followers to new accounts, ideally increasing your awareness and overall following.  

On the other hand, life hack videos are popular on TikTok because they quickly fix common problems. Such videos can range from helpful cleaning tips to effective weightless remedies for users to try. Either way, TikTok provides a platform for people to visualize the result of these hacks. In addition, many TikTok users have found success in simply talking to their followers. In the end, people are nosey, and therefore, it is common for users to find interest in people gossiping about their job, relationships, or hobbies.  

How can you create content for your small business?  

When debuting your TikTok account, we recommend trying any of the mentioned trends to engage your audience. As a small business, you can customize these challenges to relate to your products. For example, could your good or service become a resourceful hack for users? If so, create a video showing exactly how to use your product! You can also try making your own challenge for followers to try. If successful, you could have millions of followers tagging your business with each video attempt.  

What else can help my content’s popularity? 

Just like any other form of social media, hashtags will benefit your account by categorizing your posts with related topics. However, be cautious of hashtags like #digitalmarketing, which has 478.3 million posts, because you do not want your video to get lost among those other millions of posts. In addition, TikTok creates weekly trending hashtags relating to its sponsors. For example, Chewy, a pet product retailer, partnered with TikTok to create #chewychattypets. Not only does this hashtag encourages users to create pet-related videos, but it also optimizes these posts. If these trending hashtags connect to parts of your business, use them!  

We also recommend finding the ideal posting time for your business. For example, our research found that Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Thursdays at noon work well with our audience demographics; however, like other social platforms, this is custom to each industry.  

TikTok is a fun and exciting new platform to use in digital marketing. But whether you decide to follow trends or create your own, try not to take yourself too seriously!  

We encourage you to look at some of the TikToks we created for Premier Nails Source, Eddie and Sam’s New York Pizza, and Absolute Marketing Solutions for inspiration.

If you are interested in inquiring about social media management, please contact the Absolute Marketing Solutions team.  

Start Preparing Now for Next Year’s Cyber Monday:

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The weekend following Thanksgiving can easily be named one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Just this year, Cyber Monday brought over $11 million in sales from over 80 million people. As a small business owner, this opportunity is not one to miss as it can help you reach your short- and long-term sales goals. We suggest that businesses start preparing now for next year’s chaos to ensure that Cyber Monday is a success.

Thankfully, Cyber Monday has made it easier for customers to purchase their holiday gift list with a simple click of a button. Unlike Black Friday, customers no longer need to map out shopping routes, wait in never-ending lines, or fight their way to the cash register. This significant change in retailing has urged more consumers to order online. To prepare for a large number of shoppers visiting your online store, we suggest updating the speed of your website. You can measure this through Google’s Paid Speed Insights. Note that your website should ideally load in less than three seconds. If your website does not load within that time range, there is a high chance that users may move on to your competitor’s site.

You can additionally use your website to promote offers running exclusively on Cyber Monday. This campaign can create a sense of urgency for customers who may be browsing your website before November 29. As an example, try revealing weekly deals on hot products leading up to Cyber Monday. If your website utilizes cookies, you can track whether a customer has viewed these offers, and therefore, tailer their future visit around this information.

Since there will be a large number of online traffic, it may be helpful to have a customer service team available to answer questions and assist customers with any problems. An effective customer service team can be easy to reach on multiple platforms, such as phone, email, social media, or online chatbot.

As explained in our previous blog, Direct Marketing Solutions, direct marketing can also be an effective tactic to use when communicating with your customers. If your business has established a mailing list, we recommend utilizing the subscriber’s information to send specific details about Cyber Monday. By directly contacting customers, there is an immediate sense of loyalty felt between the recipient and business. You could use this relationship to offer brand advocates a pre-access code to Cyber Monday deals or a product sample with a specific purchase. If successful, this promotional style will translate to word-of-mouth marketing through their advocation for your business.

Although loyal customers are always beneficial to a business, it is important to reach new customers too. To do this, we recommend using social media to inform and engage prospects about your Cyber Monday offers. At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we like to use Instagram and Facebook ads to reach a larger audience. These platforms allow you to track analytics relating to your advertisement and can be easily managed. To differentiate your Cyber Monday advertisements from others, use hashtags like #cybermonday, #shopsmall, or #cybersales.

Although many other promotional tactics can be used to market a business during Cyber Monday, we have selected these specific methods to ensure success in sales.

If you have any questions regarding promotional or marketing tactics, please contact one of our experts at Absolute Marketing Solutions.

Brands Aren’t Made in Factories, nor Photoshop 

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For the past few years, Forbes has named Apple, Google, and Microsoft the top leading brands in the world. Like most people, I am sure you were picturing their logos as you simultaneously read this statistic. If this is the case, you have successfully exhibited brand recognition with these multibillion-dollar companies.

Although the mentioned companies have many financial resources to help build a positive brand image, it is not to say that a small business cannot do the same. Based on our experience, we have found that small businesses either do not understand the importance of a brand or believe that their product represents the brand itself. However, building a brand around your product is essential in conveying a business’s message. To understand this dilemma better, we have provided some common questions received from clients about branding. 

“Is it too late to create a brand?” 

Branding impacts all aspects of a business, regardless of the age of your business. If you have been in business for a few years, there is a high chance that you have created an accidental brand. An accidental brand occurs when a company unconsciously designs a brand based on the established characteristics of the business. For example, your company may be known for its convenience, authenticity, quality, or customer service. You can use these qualities to your advantage by delivering a consistent brand promise that conveys your company’s mission. If successful, your business can achieve positive brand equity. 

“What does a brand need besides a logo?” 

While a logo helps gain brand recognition, there are many more aspects that can help create a brand. In fact, a brand’s identity is what truly helps a brand gain its presence. These characteristics can include a company’s color palette, font, tagline, tone, or perceived value. Nevertheless, we have noticed that most small businesses don’t pay attention to these details when establishing their brand identity. When branding for a client, the Absolute Marketing Solutions team does extensive research on the meanings of colors, fonts, and shapes before producing multiple examples to present to our clients. Depending on their feedback, we may have to restart the entire process. This method seems tedious now, but it is understood that a logo can be a company’s most valuable intangible asset. 

“I need social media marketing, not branding…”

Branding is part of everything you do in a business; therefore, your brand should influence your company’s culture and content. For instance, our Social Media Manager works hard to mimic our client’s brand when creating content for social media. These details include the caption, emojis, filter, and pictures she chooses to post. In many cases, we have found that consistency provokes interest and following on social media. Without an established brand, customers may get confused about what your company is trying to deliver. 

“Isn’t promotion the same thing as branding?” 

In short, the answer is no! Promotion is a form of marking communication in which the publicization of a product, organization, or venture increases sales or public awareness. The most successful form of promotion pushes branded products towards consumers. One of our clients, Eddie and Sam’s NY Pizza, has a popular style of pizza that is crafted with authentic New York water. This factor is an advantage for Eddie and Sam’s that pulls customers in to taste their product. When we recently created coupons for them, many consumers were already aware of the brand, and therefore, utilized this form of promotion. In the end, this promotion would not have been as successful if Eddie and Sam’s had not established the proper branding before the campaign.

As you can see, a business’s brand takes time to establish and should be professionally crafted. As a small business, a recognizable and preferred brand is essential when building awareness, esteem, and loyalty.

If you have any questions about branding or logo design, please contact one of our experts at Absolute Marketing Solutions. 

5 Digital Marketing Resolutions for 2019

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It wouldn’t be a new year without New Year’s resolutions. In addition to getting to the gym more, meditating, and whatever other personal goals you’ve set, it’s likely you have a few career-related resolutions too. Hopefully, these resolutions include your company’s marketing methods, because there’s a lot to watch out for in 2019. We cherry-picked the most important upcoming trends. If you take note, your marketing efforts will be at their best in the new year.

1. Stay accessible

Remember when you could take a week to respond to an email or a social media comment? Those days are long gone. Consumers, clients and business partners alike are looking for high-speed responses for immediate solutions. Technology has created a standard for real-time communication. Your business or product may be discussed anywhere in the world, at any time, on many forums. A company representative must be accessible to answer questions and complaints instantaneously. If necessary, this could be a chatbot, but the real brownie points go to the C-suit professionals that step into the spotlight on behalf of their brand. When business leaders speak out on social media, it fosters a sense of trust and accountability that is otherwise impossible with automated answers and customer representatives.

2. Listen + act accordingly

With more trends, products and news than ever before, social listening (or monitoring) has become vital to marketing success. Whether you’re listening for general, community happenings or customer conversations about your brand, social monitoring will give you unparalleled information. In 2019, this practice will even be used for lead generation and selling. There are numerous tools that assist the listening process, weeding out specific keywords, mentions and hashtags. Listening is just the first step; you must respond (quickly, of course) and record relevant feedback to be used as hard data.  Customer reviews and comments cannot be overlooked this year. It takes a single conversation to change the nature of your business and reputation. So whether it’s good or bad, you need to listen to and act on all feedback.

3. Find genuine, ‘micro-influencers’

Social influencers are all the rage. For the past few years, every notable brand has partnered with celebrity or high-profile influencers in order to promote their products. However, this has become increasingly ad-like and expensive! So, if you’re a local business or SMB, consider working with micro-influencers instead. Micro-influencers are niche – making it easier to target a specific audience. Although a micro-infleuncer’s audience is smaller, it’s still notable in size, and their followers are eager to hear what they have to say. Micro-influencers are often considered experts in their niche, so the products they push are seen as must-haves, not just another paid ad.

4. Personalize, personalize, personalize… responsibly

Communication is expected to be more personal than ever. Consumers now expect companies to know their location and tastes, and to recommend nearby stores or services. This age of personalization is a major way to boost marketing performance and customer experience. However, after many data faux pas, we’re also in the age of accountability. The ethics of data usage are being scrutinized like never before, and more businesses are expected to be transparent with their information. Many businesses are attempting to use data to make a positive societal impact to benefit their brand and overall bottom line. Consumers want personalization, but they also want responsible action, and they will pick and choose the companies they deem fit. Resolve to balance personal information with accountability in 2019.

5. Create an innovative, internal culture

You may be wondering, ‘what does my company culture have to do with my marketing services’? The answer is everything. With Gen Z’s rapidly entering the workforce, new expectations and work styles enter the office too. These young professionals are innovative, direct and fast-paced. They expect a work environment that both challenges and inspires them. By creating an open, team-oriented atmosphere, you’ll make the most out of your employees’ ingenuity, which will affect every aspect of your marketing efforts.

In marketing (and in life) there is a lot we can’t control. However, by staying aware and staying steadfast, we can remain informed and relevant. Choose to follow through with your marketing resolutions, and your business will reap the benefits. If you need more information on any of the topics listed above, contact us today. We can help integrate the latest practices into your marketing routine. Here’s to a year of prosperity, which we hope to assist you with! Cheers!

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Phoebe

A recent graduate from the University of Tampa, Phoebe brings an understanding of journalism, PR, advertising & branding to the Absolute team. Her extensive customer service and cross-cultural communication experiences give her insights into various perspectives.

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Will Instagram Likes Pay the Bills?

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Social media users are like addicts. I don’t say this lightly – the obsession with likes has been compared to doing cocaine or smoking cigarettes by researchers and psychologists. Likes drive our egos- it feels good to receive a lot of likes. So, it’s no surprise that many social media marketers are also consumed by the pursuit of likes. Many marketers see it as an easy way to validate their efforts on behalf of their company or client.

However, it’s easy to overinflate the value of a like. Likes offer a simple measurement method: having no likes is bad, and having many likes is good. However, a like seldom reflects revenue. After all, we have yet to meet a vendor that accepts likes as payment (if you know of any, please leave a comment below).

Don’t get me wrong, we’re not arguing that likes don’t have value. They serve as an important indicator of how your social content is being received by your audience. However, too many marketers rely on likes and other so-called vanity metrics. Vanity metrics look good on paper, but they are easily manipulated and as mentioned, do not correlate with profitability.

Now we can discuss how social media can actually benefit your business and bottom line. Social media is an effective way to:

  • engage in meaningful dialogue with existing and potential customers
  • get informed on relevant trends and tastes
  • research your competition
  • monitor your reputation

Let us explain.

ENGAGING MEANINGFULLY

What exactly is engagement you may ask? In marketing, we sometimes hear the term ‘engagement rate’ used to represent the amount of vanity metrics received. Instead, we like to refer to the vanity metrics received as social transactions and use the term ‘engagement’ to describe social media dialogue. Although dialogue is more difficult to measure than vanity metrics, it is much more rewarding; it is the type of social media use that results in loyal fans and customer insights.

Here are some tips to drive dialogue:

  • Know your brand personality and stick to it.
  • Personalize every message.
  • Stay human and conversational.
  • Timeliness matters.
  • Pay attention to what times your audience is engaging.

Engaging in meaningful dialogue takes time and creativity. Users can tell when they’re getting the same, computer-generated responses, and it makes them feel unheard and unappreciated. It pays to put some thought into your responses in order to keep conversations going! It’s also a good idea to take initiative and start dialog yourself by posing questions and asking for opinions. This is how you make the customer feel important and understood. By fostering conversation, you foster trust in your brand.

SPOTTING TRENDS

Social media is a hub for information. It’s a way to learn about local news, events, businesses, products and people. Large companies pay a great deal of money for market research. Major publications publish countless articles on the latest trends. However, these aren’t the only ways to gain public insight! Social media makes it possible for small and independent businesses to do market research and trend analysis independently – but you’ve got to know what you’re looking for.

It is important to read credible blogs, follow specific hashtags and search for industry phrases, acronyms and thought leaders. Since the marketplace is constantly changing, you must do so regularly. Trend-spotting is not just about listening to your target audience, it’s about asking them questions. Tools like SurveyMonkey and social media polls are affordable ways to get direct feedback. Social media is a community of existing and potential customers. You diminish social media’s value if you’re not paying attention to the overarching conversations.

RESEARCHING COMPETITION

Analyzing the competition has never been easier. Long gone are the days of going to your competitor’s establishment undercover – just head to their social media. Here, you’ll be able to find much more than their products and promos. Social media enables you to see who their audience is! Who are they attracting, that you are not? You can even see what their audience members are saying about them and use it to your advantage by differentiating or improving. You can also get an understanding of your competitors’ marketing tactics. What language and images do they use? How often do they post new content? Do they engage with their audience? What are they doing well, and what are they doing poorly? All of this information and more is available via social media.

MONITORING REPUTATION

Social media is an important tool in protecting your reputation. Usually, when someone has a negative experience, social media is the first place they go to complain. For many business owners, it’s hard to read critical comments. For this reason, it is many business owners’ first reaction to act defensively, viewing and answering their “haters” as enemies. This is almost always a big mistake, and it’s one of the main reasons it is beneficial to hire an outside agency to manage reviews and reputation.

Hug Your Haters, written by best-selling author Jay Baer, refers to social media complainers as the “early warning detection system for your business.” He writes about how when handled correctly, haters can be used to your business’s advantage. What matters most is in the response. One must apologize for the issue and pacify the person, all in a speedy manner. This helps make up for the problem, and the insight can be used to ensure it does not happen again.

Loads of likes may be impressive to the eye, but they are not increasing your profit. Social media has evolved into a platform for customer reviews and market research. It’s a marketer’s job to use social platforms to make informed business decisions and strategize for the future.

Engage meaningfully with customers to gain loyalty and brand awareness. Study trends and competitors to discover external standards and inspiration. Accept negative feedback to solve internal issues. When done diligently, you’ll build a stronger social presence and overall business – the real payback of social media.

Contact Absolute Marketing Solutions to learn more about social media marketing that focuses on real customers, in real time, to generate real results.

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Phoebe

A recent graduate from the University of Tampa, Phoebe brings an understanding of journalism, PR, advertising & branding to the Absolute team. Her extensive customer service and cross-cultural communication experiences give her insights into various perspectives.

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What Restaurant Owners Must Know About Marketing

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Have you ever tried baking a cake with flour alone? Exactly. Just like the best recipes cannot be made with a single ingredient, the best restaurant marketing strategy cannot be executed with a single tactic.

With abundant information and hundreds of channels to utilize, marketing can overwhelm even the most experienced business owners. So it’s not surprising that restaurateurs are often confused about the most essential elements of marketing and how to implement them. If you want to successfully market your restaurant, it is necessary to understand the full marketing picture, also known as The Marketing Mix.

Since the 1960’s, marketing professionals have used The Marketing Mix as a managerial teaching method. The Marketing Mix describes the different aspects of a business that, when controlled, ensure customer needs are met. One of the first tasks in restaurant marketing is analyzing the restaurant based on this model. This is the first step in moving from an ad-hoc approach based on hunches to a strategic approach based on data. In this blog, we’ll discuss the 7 P’s that comprise The Marketing Mix and how you can effectively leverage your restaurant.

1. PRODUCT: what you’re selling.

restaurant product

A restaurant’s product goes beyond food. Product includes atmosphere, cleanliness, quality, and all other aspects of the customer experience. Think about each want and need of the customer so you can provide them with the experience they are looking for.

Ask yourself: What features, advantages or benefits do your products and services provide? What types of vendors are being used? Does your product align with your atmosphere? Are products and services being looked at objectively?

There is much to consider about what you’re offering. A quality product/experience is the most fundamental element of The Marketing Mix and without it, all else fails.

Think I’m exaggerating? Think again.

2. PRICE: the amount people are willing to pay.

menu prices

Prices are always up for examination. It is vital to understand what type of restaurant you are: counter service, casual service, fine dining? The price of food is directly impacted by the style and stature of the restaurant.

Ask yourself: What type of restaurant do you have? What are your competitors charging? How do prices align with the current market?  How much is spent on resources and production? How much is the overall experience worth?

Price and quality coincide: prices must complement what is being offered. With a fluctuating marketplace, sometimes prices must decrease and sometimes prices must increase. Be open-minded and consider what the target consumers are willing to pay, what exactly they’re paying for, and if it’s reasonable.

Not sure where to start? Here is some advice on how to set appropriate prices.

3. PLACE: where the product or service is located.

Convenience is king, and customers will not go out of their way just to get in the door. Your product or service must be easily accessible to customers. Place also refers to outside placement and distribution.

Ask yourself: How convenient is your restaurant? Is there a central location and is it crowded? What is the parking like?  Can the products be delivered directly? Do we sell at a market or festival? Where are we advertising?

For more information on choosing the right location, click here.

4. PROMOTION: various elements like advertising and PR.

Promotion depends on the brand, product, and target audience in order to attract the desired customer base. Ranging from billboard ads to events, to social media, appropriate promotion methods are vital. Set a consistent tone for all promotional messaging that will resonate with the intended customer and evoke action.

Ask yourself: What discounts and specials are offered? Are promotions relevant, unique, and true to company values? What times of day are promotions occurring? What other social events are happening and how can these events be used advantageously? Lastly, are the promotional activities measurable?

Effective promotion depends on understanding the customer, the community, and the restaurant’s benefits. If promotional activities and messages are executed consistently with these aspects in mind, the brand will grow itself.

Here are tips to measure your restaurant’s promotional success.

5. PEOPLE: restaurant employees.

The product is linked to those who make and serve it; restaurant employees often define the customer experience.

Ask yourself: Are employees well-trained? Do they know the menu thoroughly? How do they interact with guests? Do they understand the company values and positively portray the brand?

Restaurant service is reproducible, but company culture sets service apart. A connected, communicative team is crucial in maintaining a hospitable environment and positive reputation.

Want advice on training employees? Look no further.

6. PROCESS: the efficiency of your restaurant.

Efficiency in the front and back of the house impact customer experiences and your brand. No one likes to wait around excessively; the customer must enjoy their experience from the second they enter the restaurant to the second they leave. A timely process is a part of what the guest is paying for and is what will keep them coming back for more.

Ask yourself: Do employees strive for efficiency? Are restaurant technologies up-to-date? Are there clear procedures put in place to ensure the consistent delivery of food and beverage? What is the standard wait time for each dish? Do staff know how to handle a customer complaint?

Answering these questions will lead to consistent timing and customer service, which are equally as important as product quality.

Do you need extra info on how to establish sound processes? You’re welcome.

7. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: how inviting your restaurant is.

Physical evidence can be interchanged with the physical environment. Physical evidence is not only the appearance of the restaurant, but the look of your packaging, branding, and even the way the employees present themselves. Physical evidence is every surrounding detail.  Make it a point to regularly look around your restaurant and take it all in.

Ask yourself: What is the restaurant’s atmosphere? What is the vibe? How does the ambiance differ from day to night? How is the interior design affecting guests? What types of reviews are coming in? How does the food packaging represent the restaurant? What is the employee uniform like? What does food look like when it’s plated?

This will all be directly impacted by comfort, cleanliness, music, speed-of-service, and overall attention to detail.

Looking to improve your restaurant atmosphere? Look here for suggestions.

Marketing is frequently misinterpreted as an exclusively external process. The Marketing Mix shows why you must also control internal factors for marketing success. Advertising (one promotional marketing element) tells consumers why they should choose you, but the comprehensive Marketing Mix shows consumers firsthand why they should return. Marketers can only effectively do their job when there is sufficient understanding of The Marketing Mix. Products, prices, places, promotions, people, processes, and physical evidence must be regularly monitored by restaurant managers and owners. If you need further clarification on The Marketing Mix or any other restaurant marketing assistance, contact us at Absolute Marketing Solutions.

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Phoebe

A recent graduate from the University of Tampa, Phoebe brings an understanding of journalism, PR, advertising & branding to the Absolute team. Her extensive customer service and cross-cultural communication experiences give her insights into various perspectives.

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Creating the Right Culture for your Restaurant

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We all remember the sitcom Cheers, set in a Boston bar where “everybody knew your name.” Many of us have a restaurant or bar in which we feel at home. Something about the place brings us back time and time again. We may not be able to put our finger on it, but the reason is likely culture. It has been long understood that culture attracts customers. What has been less understood is how to cultivate a culture that works profitably for your restaurant.

WHAT IS CULTURE?

A buzzword as of late, the definition of culture is not always made clear. We believe that culture is the foundation of your brand and the way you demonstrate your values to both employees and customers. Culture can be good or bad; it is a purposeful, or accidental, representation of the interactions in your restaurant. Creating a valuable culture is more than a marketing tactic, it can impact every aspect of your business and stand the test of time. Culture involves everything from a restaurant’s vision and concept, to its language and style, and once established effectively has been proven to increase employee engagement, customer service, and profits- not marginally, but considerably.

WHY DOES CULTURE MATTER?

According to restaurant marketing specialist Alfred Goldberg, “culture influences how people make decisions as it establishes how we do things and why. Whether it’s a big strategic decision or an everyday task, culture ensures that everyone knows what is expected of them.” Culture, brand, and service coincide, together dictating the types of people that walk through the doors and whether or not they will return. It doesn’t matter how mouthwatering your food is, if your culture doesn’t shine, interest from employees and patrons will decline. According to a Gallup report, engaged employees are more likely to improve customer relationships, which results on average in a 20% increase in sales. Happy, engaged employees lead to happy, engaged, repeat customers. Now that we’ve established the importance of the right culture, let’s talk about creating it.

HOW CAN YOU CREATE THE RIGHT CULTURE?

Culture should be established by the highest level of authority; it is only effective when personified by owners and employees alike. According to Chris Edmonds, a best-selling author and culture expert, “leaders must create a culture where values – how people treat each other – are as important as results, every day.” Edmonds advises defining the desired culture by creating an organizational constitution. The constitution should detail the most important standards of service and behavior that support the restaurant’s overall purpose.

HOW CAN YOU RETAIN THE RIGHT CULTURE?

Defining the desired culture is the easy part. The hard part is upholding all choices and actions to your original standards. Keep culture in mind from the start; hire and fire based on your organizational constitution. Since it can be so challenging to develop the right culture, when a restaurant does so, people are quick to take notice. One Tampa-based restaurant corporation that has done so is Ciccio Restaurant Group.

CICCIO RESTAURANT GROUP CULTURE

If you’re in Tampa, you know Ciccio Restaurant Group. CRG began as one restaurant, with one concept, and a well-defined culture. Now, with ten different restaurants and counting, CRG has spread throughout Florida, with varying concepts, but the same culture that they started with. Senior Brand + Training Director, Tara O’Neill, described their culture with us in an interview:
Tara O’Neill

Describe your company culture in 3-5 words.
“Open-minded, imaginative, collaborative, approachable, generous.”

How are your employees impacted by your culture? How are your guests?
“First and foremost, I have to respectfully make a correction here… we don’t have employees. By definition, an employee is a person that is merely employed for wages or salary. We have a team. Our purpose as a team is to come together to achieve a common goal. What is our goal? Bringing great, affordable, real food to our communities.
Our team members are impacted by our culture every day. Our culture is one that not only accepts people as they are…we celebrate them… just as they are. In whatever form and from whatever walk of life, we believe that everyone has something unique to contribute. Part of our role is to help put them in a position where they feel passion, purpose, and where they can excel. When our team feels happy and inspired, that translates to our guests. And, we feel like our guests DO feel it. Particularly here in our home market of Tampa, the synergy along Howard Ave is amazing. It’s not always the norm that a restaurant group has fans. And, we feel so grateful and humbled by the fact that we do. It’s not something we take for granted. Not even for one day.”

How do you ensure that all CRG stakeholders are positively affected by culture?
“So, one of the things we pride ourselves on being is a company of partners. And this doesn’t just mean a bunch of outside investors. This means real partners in our locations, operating our restaurants and engaging daily with our teams and guests. Most, if not all, of our general managers are actually partners in our locations with shared ownership. Because of our collaborative nature, we want them to have a voice. And, because they are truly business owners, they have the opportunity to share in the wealth of all of our successes. Our team members are some of our most important stakeholders. We want to provide a place for our team members to grow, excel, and be able to build long-term wealth.”

Would you agree that CRG has created a positive reputation based on the culture?
“Absolutely! I think that we have been so fortunate not only in our home market of Tampa but in other markets that we’ve expanded to because of the deep-rooted culture in our team members that live it. We rely on them to carry the torch no matter where they work. And from a community perspective, part of our culture means continuing to pay our gratitude forward by giving back as much as we can.”

How does your culture keep a competitive edge? How do you keep everyone continuously engaged?
“Culture in and of itself to us isn’t about having a competitive edge. It’s about remaining true to who we are, and through our evolution, never forgetting to stay grounded and remember our reason. One of the biggest things we look for when we hire is whether or not the team member seems to be a cultural fit. That’s one of the most important things we can do from a recruiting standpoint. When people align with our values, the engagement happens organically. And from there, we just continue to nurture and celebrate the partnership.”

Although there is no single path to generating a culture that turns employees and customers into loyal fans, looking at successful brands like those owned by Ciccio Restaurant Group can offer some valuable lessons. Culture encompasses purpose, customer service, attitudes, and values, and it is up to the leaders of the company to decide what type of culture they want to put forth and how. These leaders must do more than decide, they must hold themselves accountable as equal team members and consistently act based on the values set.

We hope these tips help to ensure that your restaurant has the right culture. If you’d like more information on restaurant culture or how to align your culture with your digital marketing, sign up for our E-newsletter or contact us directly at Absolute Marketing Solutions.

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Phoebe

A recent graduate from the University of Tampa, Phoebe brings an understanding of journalism, PR, advertising & branding to the Absolute team. Her extensive customer service and cross-cultural communication experiences give her insights into various perspectives.

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How to Build, Maintain & Monitor a Restaurant Brand

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Florida has over 40,000 eating & drinking locations. In an increasingly competitive industry, how does your restaurant stand out? There are only so many happy hour specials and ladies’ night contests you can run. Let’s face it, success often comes down to your restaurant’s reputation. To sustain a positive reputation, you must build and maintain an exceptional brand.

FIRST THING’S FIRST: WHAT IS A BRAND?

An early definition of a brand is: “a mark made by burning, stamping, or printing to show ownership or quality.” In today’s restaurant biz, we think of the B word a bit differently, but it is still synonymous with the original meaning. Your brand is a long-lasting label that should communicate who you are and what you do.

Many assume that a brand is merely a logo or tagline, however, this is a rookie mistake. Your brand is made up of many components, tangible and intangible, that create worth for your consumer. This includes the food, service, atmosphere, and values that you consistently put forth. Upholding a brand is like upholding a promise to customers about the type of experience they’re guaranteed. If you can keep this promise, customers will trust that they’ll get what they want, time and time again.

BUILDING A RESTAURANT BRAND

To create a relevant brand concept, you must first define the type of restaurant you are and who you serve. Then you’re ready to choose your mission statement, company values, and brand personality – read about the different brand personalities here – which all directly influence your brand concept. It takes time, and often a team of skilled marketers and businesspeople to form an effective, genuine, and unique brand. Moving forth with business tactics before forming a solid brand concept is risky, so it’s worthwhile to put in the effort.

MAINTAINING A RESTAURANT BRAND

A brand being grown and maintained.

Although establishing a brand can be demanding, maintaining one can be even more difficult because certain aspects are out of your control. Once you’ve defined a specific brand concept, personality, and visual identity, you must:

  • clearly communicate the brand to every employee (after all, they must embody the brand)
  • create and enforce consequences for any employee who is not performing on-brand
  • create and enforce a rewards system for employees who consistently go above and beyond branding standards

This is only the first step in brand maintenance, but it is the most vital. When people eat at your restaurant, they don’t interact with the CEO who developed the brand, they interact with hosts, servers, and managers. Your employees are your main brand representatives, and if they’re not on board, it’s impossible to maintain your brand and uphold your promise to customers.

If you have multiple restaurant locations, maintaining consistency becomes ever more crucial and challenging. Every aspect must be uniform: atmosphere & décor, menus & marketing materials, and all employee processes. This is where technology is advantageous. Whether it’s implementing streamlined training courses, creating a digital a style guide, or utilizing online inventory programs, technology will produce consistency in the back and front of the house.

MONITORING A RESTAURANT BRAND

Once your brand is established and consistently implemented, you may think your job is done – but it’s far from it. Brand management is a constant process that must be regularly monitored for effectiveness and relevancy. As trends, business, and technology evolve, your brand must follow suit. The internet takes branding to a complex level.

It’s essential to stay up to date with your website and search engine rankings. You also must listen to all digital conversations regarding your restaurant, its competition, and related topics. Whether it’s watching engagement on social media, responding to customer reviews, or conducting polls in a mass email to gain feedback, you must somehow ensure that your reputation remains superior.

In an industry as competitive as hospitality, the branding process never ends. If you need assistance creating, maintaining, monitoring, or re-developing your restaurant brand, contact the team of specialists at Absolute Marketing Solutions, or sign up for our E-Newsletter for restaurant marketing resources.

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Phoebe

A recent graduate from the University of Tampa, Phoebe brings an understanding of journalism, PR, advertising & branding to the Absolute team. Her extensive customer service and cross-cultural communication experiences give her insights into various perspectives.

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