Two major issues are making marketers' knees knock today: One, their budgets are under pressure, and two, the dollars they are spending on advertising aren't as effective as they need to be.   This is especially true for marketers in the restaurant space.  In this softening economy, a dollar spent needs to earn several dollars in return—but it isn't.

In any economic downturn, most restaurant chains cut marketing spending first to save money, focusing instead on ingredients and labor. This has the unintended consequence of dimming the lights on the "Welcome" sign just when hungry customers are looking for a good place to eat. This jeopardizes sales and gives competitors an opportunity to win over new clientele.

Online advertising was supposed to be the solution. Targeting was touted as a way to reach the right people at the right time on the right sites, but it hasn't lived up to its promise. The problem is that no matter how "targeted" a site is, it doesn't mean that the person sitting at her computer surfing Web sites has the INTENT to go out that evening for some entertainment and dining.

That all changes with mobile advertising, where the cell phone marries voice and visual technologies in a unique, compelling way to deliver super-targeted and timely messages.

Consider that there are 255 million mobile phones in the United States, and, in a recent survey, about 58 million people said they recalled a mobile advertisement. Half of mobile data subscribers who saw an ad responded to it by sending a text message, clicking on it or calling a specific number. If you connect those dots, it's not hard to see why research firm eMarketer forecasts mobile-messaging advertising revenues will be $1.5 billion this year, up 82 percent from last year, and reach $11 billion in just three more years.  It works.

With mobile advertising, you're getting messages on the most personal of devices—one which most people say they won't leave the house without. Generic ads will not fly for mobile users, but consider an environment in which marketing messages are intimately tied to a user's intent and, in most cases, location.

Imagine a call scenario in which a user seeks a movie show time (demonstrating immediate intent) and gets delivered a short ad from a nearby restaurant.  Surveys show that 50 percent of all moviegoers state that they also visit a dining establishment when going out to a theater.  Now combine that intent with other incentives to entice the caller, such as offering a free dessert with a promotion only good for that day. The user agrees, and a coupon is the caller as a text message to show to the food-server at the restaurant. Unlike other forms of advertising such as TV, radio, newspaper or even online, this type of advertising achieves all four golden attributes that a marketer pines for: geo-targeting,...

Read More

This won't save anyone who's in deep but every little thing you do helps. This was my wife's idea. I'm sure something like this has been done before but I will say it was original to her.

Every month we mail out to the local schools certificates called "Sister Sarah's Super Star Award". Every teacher in grade k thru 12 gets one to hand out. One per month per class. The award has that diploma/award look to it. It entitles the student to a free meal at our restaurant...

Read More