In the heart of the digital era, where the use of screens and internet connectivity overrules traditional modes of communication, video marketing holds the reins. This highly influential tool has now become critical in aiding businesses enhance their shopfront visibilities, particularly for small businesses and restaurants.

Traditionally, the quintessential shopfront served as a physical sight to behold. It was adorned with captivating signs, alluring products, and enticing promotions to draw potential clients. However, with the rise of digitalisation offering new mediums for businesses to advertise, the concept of a ‘shopfront’ has significantly evolved. And at the forefront of this evolution is video marketing, which, today, is one of the most potent tools to increase business visibility and customer engagement.

Video marketing can be best described as leveraging the power of video to promote products or services. Videos with compelling visuals and engaging audio can capture the audience’s attention, building a strong connection between a brand and its consumers. For small businesses and restaurants looking to improve their shopfront visibility, video marketing offers a myriad of benefits.

Firstly, video content increases dwell time. This refers to the amount of time a potential customer spends engaging with your marketing content, and this measure plays a significant role in search engine optimisation (SEO). Search engines recognise when users spend more time on a website or a social media page, and they effectively reward this by improving visibility and thereby attracting more potential customers.

Secondly, video marketing boosts customer engagement. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how powerful might a video be? Videos tell your story, introduce your team, and display your products or services in an engaging fashion. They’re essential in forging emotional connections that text and pictures may not be able to achieve.

Moreover, videos have the potential to go viral. A well-produced video that appeals to the audience’s emotions or includes a dash of humour can garner shares and likes on social media platforms, thus enhancing your shopfront visibility beyond your immediate locality.

In the case of small restaurant businesses, video marketing is proving particularly fruitful. Food preparation videos, testimonials from satisfied diners, virtual kitchen tours, and behind-the-scenes footage captivate potential diners and encourage them to choose your eatery over others. Such videos embody a unique storytelling technique, giving your shopfront a distinctive allure in a saturated market.

Lastly, video content is highly shareable across various digital platforms. With consumers increasingly active on social media, videos can be shared at lightning speed, reaching a vast audience in seconds.

Indeed, as digital marketing continues to evolve, video marketing stands unique in its undeniable influence on shopfront visibilities. For small businesses and restaurants aiming to increase their presence and profitability, embracing video marketing reveals an innovative and efficient way to stand out amidst the competitive business landscape.

Every food business, whether it’s a quaint café or an exclusive culinary locale, aims to turn food lovers’ satisfaction into profit. One of the significant aspects that can ensure a well-functioning eatery is setting the right prices for your service and products. However, price determination can be a tricky process, including many variables that need careful consideration. This guide aims to help you navigate these complexities.

To begin, you must understand your market. Market knowledge refers not just to your understanding of your current and potential customers but also your competition, suppliers, and overall business environment. Developing a strong market insight will guide you in setting competitive and favourable prices for your customers.

Once the market situation is understood, delve into menu engineering. This restaurant marketing strategy requires that you classify the dishes according to profit and popularity. Highly popular and profitable items are the stars, those with high profitability but low popularity are opportunities, while plow horses are high in popularity, low in profitability and items with low popularity and profitability are classified as dogs. Catering your pricing towards promoting your “stars” and “opportunities” can boost your overall profitability.

The cost of goods sold (COGS) is another critical metric in determining your menu prices. COGS refers to the total costs associated with producing the food that your establishment sells. It includes the cost of ingredients and any other supplies needed to prepare your dishes. Once you’ve determined the COGS for your dishes, you can better price them to cover costs and generate profit.

Consider your overhead costs as well when setting prices. Overhead costs include items like rent, utilities, salaries, marketing costs, and more. These costs also need to be covered by your overall revenue. Calculate what portion of these costs can reasonably be covered by each sale, and factor this into your pricing decisions.

Value-based pricing is a strategy that can be effective, particularly in high-end eateries. This strategy entails setting prices based on the perceived value of a dish rather than basing it solely on costs. Creating a unique dining experience, investing in a vibrant ambience or adding a gourmet touch to your dishes, can demand a higher price due to an elevated customer experience.

Profit margin is a consideration that rounds off this list. Every dish should be priced to allow a room of profit after covering all associated costs. A crucial rule is ensuring that direct costs (ingredients, labour) should not exceed 30-35% of the final price you set for each dish.

More than anything, remember that price is a direct reflection of your eatery’s brand. An affordable, family-friendly restaurant will price differently than a high-end, gourmet establishment. By balancing costs, market expectations, perceived value, and profit margins, you can set prices that drive profit and promote customer loyalty.

In this age of rapidly increasing digital interactions, the distinction between virtual and physical worlds is becoming increasingly blurred. Brick-and-mortar businesses, which have typically relied on traditional, offline methods for advertising, are increasingly feeling the heat to digitise. But what is the difference between offline and digital advertising, and which of the two is more beneficial for brick-and-mortar businesses? Let’s explore.

Offline advertising typically includes traditional methods such as television and radio adverts, print media including newspaper and magazine ads, direct mail flyers, billboards, and signage. It has the benefit of attracting a broader demographic, especially for those potential consumers who aren’t particularly tech-savvy or prefer tactile experiences – like flipping through a newspaper or picking up a flyer.

However, traditional advertising has its limitations. For one, tracking the success rate of the offline advertisement campaigns is not easy. There’s no definitive way to determine the actual number of eyeballs that viewed your billboard or the hands that picked up your flyer. Furthermore, hindrances such as regional restrictions, high cost of printing and distributing materials, and time consumption can prove challenging for small businesses.

On the flip side, digital advertising involves using online platforms such as social media, search engine advertising, email marketing, and content marketing to reach telecommunication device users. Digital marketing offers a host of advantages, particularly for brick-and-mortars.

With digital advertising, detailed customer tracking is possible. You can gather insights on who interacted with your ad and the subsequent actions taken – did they subscribe to a newsletter? Did they purchase a product? Additionally, digital advertising allows for direct communication and feedback with consumers, leading to valuable insights into their behaviour and preferences.

Moreover, digital advertising offers more flexibility and adaptability. You can tweak your campaign based on real-time results, unlike print ads which are stagnant once printed. Digital ads are also generally more cost-effective and have a broader reach, enabling small businesses and localised establishments such as restaurants to target specific demographics conveniently.

That being said, an integrated approach combining the strengths of both offline and digital advertising tends to be most effective. For example, a restaurant could use local print ads alongside targeted social media campaigns to garner wider attention. By utilising both mediums, brick-and-mortar establishments can ensure they reach their potential customers wherever they are, be it cruising through social media or flipping their morning newspaper.

In conclusion, digital advertising may offer some clear benefits over offline advertising but it also extends the company’s exposure beyond its doors. If your business is looking to drive footfall and increase local engagement, a blend of offline and digital advertising strategies will likely yield the best results, creating a balanced and comprehensive marketing plan.