Its never too late to create a new restaurant marketing calendar. Today can be that day you tell your team "We are no longer going to buy advertising based on what salespeople have to offer and will instead become pro-active."
Fortunately for you, I have free restaurant marketing plan calendar spreadsheets available. If you click free restaurant marketing plan you will be directed to the download page and bypass the usual option form.
You now know the backdoor to the forms. Be sure to bookmark it for later.
| Did you know that "Tick-Tock Day" is December 29th? Can you think of a Restaurant Marketing Idea for this? |
These restaurant marketing calendars are not designed to create a plan but rather to schedule out details of the plan. These restaurant marketing plan calendars can also be printed out poster size and posted to a wall for a constant reference as you execute. This is where the rubber hits the proverbial road and is one of the last steps before action takes place.
(I have printed up many of these in poster size at a local print shop. Before you do, be sure to review, add or delete specific activities for your operation.)
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On the free restaurant marketing plan you can add your own special holidays:
There are serious and fun days, important days to remember, and days you will want to forget. All of them are reasons to have a celebration, an event, or a special reason to recognize your guests with the best of ______________. |
| Did you know that Pig Day is in the first week in March? Who in your community who celebrates Pig Day? |
Notes and questions for the restaurant marketing plan calendar should give an overview of the 5 W's.
Who, What, Where, When, Why.
(Also: HoW and HoW Many.)
- Who
- Who will do the distribution / invitation?
- Who will receive the distribution / invitation?
- What
- What will be distributed / used as invitation (vehicle)
- What will the primary message / theme be?
- Where
- Where will the distribution / invitations be made?
- When
- When will the distribution / invitation occur?
- When will the results be measured vs. target?
- When will breakeven be achieved?
- When will the "campaign" be officially over?
- How Many / How Much
- How many will be distributed / invited?
- How many are expected to respond?
- How much does it cost? Is the cost within the set budget?
- How
- How will the distribution / invitation take place?
- How will the data be tracked? (by who)
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Do you know when Chocolate Day is? How about National Cheerleading Week? Take a look: Add these holidays to your restaurant marketing calendar. |
The free restaurant marketing plan calendar spreadsheets can be sliced and diced, cut and added to. Section off a piece or add holidays.
Your activities might include:
- Tom will write three blogs each week for a month.
- Janet will send 50 personal cards each week for a month.
- Measure and review the results each month..
- Jo-Jo lead a 5 person to hang 500 door hangers each week for a month.
- Team training will be done by Nancy on Tuesdays each week.
The methods and budgets should be determined in advance and notes can be recorded on the marketing calendar poster as they evolve.
Since restaurants have a marketing plan that includes a mix of offline and online activities, a large poster size planning calendar on the wall or bulletin board allows participation by everyone. A highly engaged team is critical to success.
You are not expected to do everything on the planning calendar in a quarter or even six months. You may go the whole year and not do a door hanger, a mailing, or a blog. That's ok. Delete what you don't need. Add what you want.
Next step:
- Download the Marketing Planning Calendar of your choice
- Slice / Dice and tailor it to your needs.
- Add holidays -
Use this resource: Fun Holidays - Fun, Wacky & Trivial Holidays Here > - If you don't have Excel, you can download OpenOffice Free.
- Print it out the planning calender poster size and post it on the wall.
- Write your activities for each week which cover the 5 W's.
- Train and assign the team to their tasks.
- Use the calendar to track the activities and results.
- Adapt as needed. Increase what works. Reduce or adjust what doesn't.
- Can't tell what works? Re-think your plan. Measurable results are preferred.
- Celebrate with the staff and the guests. There is always something special to put on the calendar. (But listen to your guests, what is THEIR thing?)
- The planning calendar shows a dozen plus free ways to do restaurant marketing.
Your sales will grow if you invite people to enjoy your restaurant.
If your sales are down or flat, look at the marketing planning calendar on the wall. how many people are you making invitations to each week?
Hopefully you won't be using it without a marketing plan, a budget, knowledge of your breakeven and an alignment with your vision and business strategy.
