Marketing Restaurant Online

We have seen several hot dog eating contests on the television. It creates so much buzz and excitement to both the participants and spectators that it self turns out to be interactive marketing. I understand they had million dollars in advertising budget so they could buy time slots on television network.

As a small restaurant, with a little budget such television interactive marketing was out of reach. However with the rise of high-speed internet, online video has become a reality. This opens opportunity to even small restaurant to have their own version of Eating Challenge Contest that could be recorded on the video and hosted on You tube for free.The video then can be promoted not just in US but virtually to the  entire world. This is like having your own Hot Dog Contest on the television without having to pay huge advertising fee. You would be amaged to see how you could turn Youtube as a marketing tool for your restaurant that is more powerful than the television advertisement.

Watch the interview of the contestant before the Burrito Challenge. It becomes so interactive. I am sure he had told to all his friends at work about it and every one should have watched it. This strategy alone is viral  as it creates excitement considering the interactive nature of the contest. It keeps the viewers watch the video and comment back and forth about the video. In the process it makes an awareness of your restaurant brand deep in their mind.

Watch the live video of Chipotle- Mexican Grill where they make the 2 burritos for the customer creating some sort of Eating contest. If you notice the video it is recorded not by any professional video camera man. It must have been recorded by some of the staff there. The quality is still good enough to embed in your site or simply upload it in You tube.Now that you watched the video, I am sure you can create some sort of video in  your restaurant with your customers. The key is to make it interactive. It could be eating contest or as simple as testimonial about how the customer feels about the restaurant. You can then send the link of the uploaded You tube video to all the customers on your email list or even better send the message via Twitter. It would be instantly watched by lots of your customers who were following on Twitter. This provides another alternative affordable avenue to advertise your restaurant virtually for free.