Good Marketing = Message Frequency

A marketing manager called me today and asked for 10 "creative, outside the box ideas" that have worked for other restaurant concepts. I started to rattle off some ideas but I stopped myself and started with a caveat instead: Most ideas are good, if you do them correctly and consistently.

Getting new local store marketing TACTICS is the easy part. But understanding the STRATEGY behind them is often the difference between success and failure.

The strategy behind local store marketing, or any other good marketing for that matter, is frequency of message. Local store marketing makes this easier than advertising because frequency can be achieved for less money.

When tactics fail, it's almost always because there was no strategy behind it. "I tried that once and it didn't work." Nope, probably not. Because sending a message one time rarely finds its mark. Even if it does, people won't remember it. Repeating a tactic, or using multiple tactics (with the same message) for the same audience, works. And LSM makes that a reachable goal.

And therein lies the fallacy. Many owners, and franchisors, are attracted to local store marketing because it can be fun and creative. Its effectiveness, however, is determined by a consistent and persistent message in the marketplace.

For a restaurant franchise, the result of no strategy is a toolbox of tactics that no one uses, ineffective store owners, franchisees who continually need new and increasingly specialized "tools", and a business consultant who needs new ideas (they've become disposable).

For a single-unit operator, the result of no strategy is frustration, followed by eroded profitability, followed by decreased customer base. Wasting money on marketing is the same whether you do it inexpensively (LSM) or expensively (advertising).