Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

It is not my line, but maybe some of these ideas can serve you:

-- In my country some restaurants negotiate with local radio stations and give gift vouchers for free lunches. The radios make contests among his listeners and give the gift vouchers, by the way, announcing of the restaurant.
-- You can organize a kind of happy hour where food is 2 by one, i.e. two guests, but will only pay one. This could help motivate your customers bring to others.
-- You could do a survey among your customers requesting them ideas for the restaurant; offering a gift (snack?) for all who fill the survey, this can give you new ideas
-- Here we have a restaurant featuring artists of various kinds every day, I mean not only musicians, they presented jugglers, mimes, is a concept restaurant - theater - circus. It's called SCENA RESTAURANT . Maybe every week you can find an young and creative artist willing to stand without charging so much and that will make your customers to comment about the restaurant to others.

I'm not fluent in english sorry for any mistake

some thoughts:

- organize different theme days targeting different segment of the market i.e. family lunch on Sundays
- organize a "Member Club" where you encourage people to join by giving discounts, prizes ... and so on, if they refer a friend he a she gets a discount or a complimentary dessert/drinks on the first visit
- I am assuming the interior is already set up in Italian style, (waiters, music .... etc.) play on it, write a s story about each dish and its origin on the menu

Hi,
I think you should look into 2 directions; Exotic specialities food /beverages and creating an ambiance.
Keep your customers excited and if you have regulars that is great, they can come and bring friends as well.Look into group discounts 5 drinks for the price of 4 for example.
Theme nights and fun activities such as karaoke and quizes..etc are good to get the crowd engaged.
But a good start is to have a quick chat to your regulars to understand what they like to have for entertainment as well special food/beverages and at which frequency.
*D*

With restaurants there are many ways to create a holiday and create excitement.

When I owned mine and managed for others-- I'd look for any reason. I did fashion shows for the opening of each season. I invited in area artists to display exclusively each month. this kept the art fresh and of course, the artist brought all their friends and family.

We were a French restaurant, so we celebrated the incoming Beaujolais Nouveau. For holidays, we'd invite local school choirs to sing Christmas carols. We tapped our liquor suppliers and did wine maker dinners -- and single malt dinners and tastings. We participated in every local event, Taste of the City, Octoberfest, etc

Give them a reason to come, something new and eventful. I'd call the press for every event and they'd almost always send a photographer. My restaurant wasn't in exactly a small town. Being in a small town, your event would be more newsworthy to the community so I'm sure the press would love it.

Sell Well and Prosper tm
Carol

What kind of small town, and where are you located?

These can be key factors. What works for Gilmer, TX may not works for Augusta, MT...

As another responder mentioned I would consider fashion shows. You can invite various local boutiques (ones that server your target consumer) and they should be interested in getting the exposure. If you have an email list this is a good reason to connect with them. Remember fashions can include apparel, shoes, jewelry, swim suits, and lingerie (depending on your target).

I saw Chef Ramsey get one of his show participants (Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares) do a high end auction of antiques and art. You could do a similar promotions with a charity tie-in.