Complex and clever menus have their place in the dining world and I would be the first to put my hand up to eat at Heston Blumenthal’s table any day of the week. What doesn’t work for restaurants is when they try to implement complex menus without the right tools, know how, training, or staff to make it work.
 
I am a big believer in keeping it simple when it comes to food in restaurants. Quality ingredients executed well can define a dining experience. When you prepare meals with fresh, well-cooked, well-seasoned produce consistently, you offer a quality experience and in turn a great product.
 
It’s not to say that I don’t like complex, fine-dining style food, I do, however I think keeping it simple with great flavours will help a restaurant in many ways.
 
Complex menus require an executive chef team who can ensure that all the tricky details come together each and every service. Other factors to consider when planning complex menus are having costly and complex ingredients on hand which in turn can result in more kitchen wastage due to the number of elements required to deliver a dish. Additionally, front of house staff need to have extensive training in every area of the dish to ensure they can explain the ingredients to even the most discerning of diners.
 
I find menu planning is often a little pie in the sky with some venues. They plan elaborate menus to get people in the door, but the execution can be poor when they cannot deliver on quality, speed or presentation. Many restaurateurs could stand themselves in better stead by sticking to what they know, and doing it well. By simply providing great food, real value for money, and ensuring that it is coming out of the kitchen in a timely manner, you can guarantee you will send your diners home with a smile on their faces.
 
Often keeping it simple is the best strategy to increasing services levels in venues that have long wait times, complaints about value for money, and food that doesn’t deliver on taste or price. Restaurants and Cafes that try to be too complex in their offerings often haemorrhage money down the drain, not from lack of passion or hospitality know how, it’s more that they forget who their target market is.  A complex fine dining menu in a country pub town (for example) could work, but you may also alienate your ideal target market.
 
When everyone is looking to provide something unique and different to get customers through the door, some owners lose their way in terms of getting back to the basics of hospitality and remembering why they started in the first place. The answer could be as simple as offering simply great food, and quality service.
 
Love to hear your thoughts.  
KB 

Social Media has integrated itself in to every part of our lives in every way, shape, and form, and the power of Social Media to market your business is huge.
 
With over 70% of consumers making a choice about a company, a brand, or where to shop on Social Media recommendations and reviews alone, it is crucial for businesses in the hospitality and tourism industries to be engaged and actively involved.
 
Venues need to be strategic with how they engage with their audience online. We see many clients who know the value of Social Media as a marketing tool, but don’t know how best to engage, or are time poor and struggle to manage their accounts. The result is a half-cooked attempt at updating profiles, with poor strategy, content that is not engaging, and no idea how to get their business noticed.
 
Navigating the social media landscape can be confusing and time consuming, and when you are running a busy venue it’s the last thing that you have the time or energy for. Having a strategy on how you promote your business online will stand you apart from the rest.
 
A Marketing Agency can help take your Social Media to the next level. Outsourcing your Social Media to a marketing expert is a great solution for venues managers who are busy running their venue and time poor.
 
Here are our top five top reasons for outsourcing your Social Media:  

1. Knowledge and content: In order to be successful in online marketing you need to know what you are doing. Engaging a knowledgeable Social Media Agency with experience in running campaigns, knowledge of trends, and an understanding of which platforms will work best for your business can help increase your chances of success. Agencies have experience and can help create unique content for your platforms to engage your audience.
2. Social Media Strategy: An Agency will design a strategy for your Social Media, with experts in the business knowing how to build a brand on Social Media, and tailor this to your business to drive traffic through your venues and to your website.
3. Leave it to the experts: Social Media management can be confusing and tricky if you don’t know the trends, how to hashtag, or how to use keywords and content to enhance your site. Experts in Social Media know how to do this to best optimise your accounts.
4. Gives you time to run your business: Social Media management takes up valuable time. Time that could be better spent on running your business and developing strategy to move your business forward. By outsourcing the management of your Social Media, you’ll have more time to focus on your business and leave your accounts in expert hands.
5. See your business with fresh eyes: Social Media experts will see your business through fresh eyes and look for the best content to engage your target audience. An outsider’s perspective can be a breath of fresh air, and provide you with advanced analytics and monitoring of how your accounts are performing. They’ll show you who is engaging with your platforms and what your target market is online. This information is vital to understand your customers, and increase your sales.

 
If you are ready to outsource your Social Media get in touch with us today. We specialise in Social Media Marketing for Hospitality venues, and Tourism businesses, and bring years of industry experience to create unique content for your brand.
 
KB