In the previous blog entry, we worked through some of the advertising possibilities available if you as the restaurant owner use the crafty and multi-purpose sign holder. Near the end of the previous post, we jumped into how building marketing connections with event coordinators could yield no or low cost benefits for your restaurant, and in this entry, we want to continue with the same theme. Who else you might want to build connections with to continue getting your restaurants name out there, and continue getting people in the door? And, how is a sign holder going to facilitate this connection?

This recommendation is specific to restaurants that don’t mind someone else doing some of their advertising work for them, and have licenses to serve alcohol. The goal here is to contact multiple alcohol suppliers and inform them you’re willing to represent their goods as a featured item in return for marketing supplies.

What exactly does that mean? Alcohol companies, being part of one of the most competitive markets that exist today, love to get their name out any way they can. A large portion of their advertising and marketing budget goes not only to television and print advertisements, but to deals with restaurants and bars as well. In dealing with restaurants, alcohol companies normally set up annual distribution contracts at various prices. If, however, you inquire into advertising ventures with many of these companies, you may receive their product at a reduced rate, as well as these marketing supplies we mentioned earlier.

These marketing supplies are basically anything and everything to get more traffic in your restaurant – anything from banners, posters, flyers, and of course inserts for your tabletop sign holder. These various mediums will be branded with your logo and the alcohol company’s. The important thing to remember here is every case is negotiable; also known as, don’t worry about your restaurant being overrun by beer or vodka advertisements. The goal for both parties is to ensure the success of each other, as it is only in the partnership that growth is to be obtained.

So what do we know now? We know a sign holder is an avid addition to various places in your restaurant, as they can efficiently package information about your restaurant, your community’s events, and maybe even another company’s logo. Also, by building connections with advertisers of major events or popular goods, you could receive effective low or no-cost print advertising for your restaurant.

Til’ next time!

If you run a restaurant, you’ve more than likely adopted the use of plastic sign holders of various sorts, placed throughout the venue. Those pieces of plastic, whether or not you’ve had to pleasure to experience, contain serious market potential and are incredibly influential. In this addition, you’ll be introduced to some ways to capture and utilize the potential of plastic sign holders in your restaurant.

Plastic sign holders are by far the most versatile and efficient method of presenting knowledge to a restaurant patron at a table or bar. Because of their various shapes and sizes, you can accommodate any table size or setting, and accomplish your goal of presenting as much information as you possibly can, while being virtually non-intrusive and captivating. Let’s delve into what you, as a restaurant owner, can display to take advantage of your atmosphere to brand your company name.

First and foremost, plastic sign holders do a fantastic job of supplementing your already full menu. As you know, some restaurants stay open throughout the day and accommodate multiple peak times, and others specialize in maybe only one or two peak times. Needless to say, some restaurants have multiple menus. But, more often than not, your restaurant has items it serves all day long. These are some of the items a restaurant owner should advertise through plastic sign holders – examples being coffee, tea, or other various drinks. The most important note here is to not provide only a skeletal outline of what you’re offering – make those everyday items enticing by drawing interesting comparisons or listing some of your rare ingredients. Using plastic signs to advertise the items you offer is fantastic, but what about advertising something seemingly unrelated to your restaurant?

Your restaurant, although a unique entity with a methodology and philosophy of its own, is inherently part of a larger community. From a market perspective, it is your obligation to be a part of that community by contributing to it in some way shape or form (yes, other than property taxes). How exactly can you do your part to promote the community, while still getting at least some advertising advantage?

It’s rather simple, actually. Near the entryway, register, amongst the bar, in the bathroom, or on the tables, set up a sign holder with an updated calendar of community events. Inform your customers that your restaurant is an active member of the community and its happenings, and provide them incentive to appear at said events by offering discounts with proof of attendance. This both creates and assists the much-appreciated and always crucial “word of mouth” portion of your advertising campaign, and tells your community that you’re just as much a part of it as they are.

The final recommendation is for those restaurants that appreciate the versatility of sign holders, and a little extra time to build some marketing partnerships. This recommendation is to essentially outsource a portion of your marketing to a large event.

What the heck does this mean exactly? It involves you looking out for large traveling events happening in your area, contacting their marketing department, and letting them know you’re willing to advertise their event throughout your restaurant. This may result in your name being included on their publication of official sponsors. This is, more often than not, free on your behalf – and again, you’re getting your name out to your community, and being an active member.

As always, best of luck with implementing these suggestions - and here’s to your continued success!

Today we want to touch on some tips to embellish or decorate the inside of your retail store or place of business using interchangeable plastic signs.  We’ll touch on a couple of recommendations to make the inside of your building more organized, sleek, and naturally pleasing – in hope that your patrons might feel a tad more comfortable.

We’ve all been in small shops where the isles are entirely too small, stocked in a rather illogical manner, and lit with spotty yellow lights. More often than not, we do not purchase items from that store, nor do we tell our friends to go there. If your store sounds anything like the one described above, take into consideration some of the following pieces of advice: When someone walks into a store, they want to know exactly where the items they are looking for are located, and, once they get there, they want them to be easily accessible and organized in a fashion that does not, in any way shape or form, imply that the item is faulty.

One of the most efficient ways from keeping your customers from getting lost is the logical use of decorated plastic signs. Obviously the intensity and depth of your collection of signs is going to vary depending on the size of your store and product base. Regardless of those attributes, every sign should easy to read, easy to understand, and aesthetically pleasing. For example, at the front of every isle, a large sign should logically advertise the categories of the contents of the isle. Another great idea would be to make clear the topical categories of the adjacent isles, using arrows on the right and left margins of the sign.

Make Your Items Easily Accessible
The worst thing you can do as a retailer is put items either very low or very high. Some overarching tips are applicable according to the size of the item you’re trying to sell. If you have a large collection of very small but distinguishable items, do not put them below the average human’s waistline, or above the average neckline. Nothing is worse than having to get down on your knees and then have to try and find your item amongst one hundred.  When it comes to big items, keep them below the waistline, as it’s an unnecessary hazard to put them any higher.

Organize Your Items Fashionably
For some reason, humans love shapes to be nothing but perfection. If you are displaying a collection of small boxes, it is vital that those boxes are stacked directly straight on top of each other. Moreover, if you have items hanging, always keep them straight and equally distanced. Another great tip is one I wish many people would implement, and has to do with those huge displays that are completely comprised of the item they are selling. Please, we know you have a lot of that item, but customers love to think that they are one of the few  getting an item, not one of four thousand. So only leave a couple of each item out - it’ll take a couple nof minutes to restock, but your conversion rates will probably more than make up for the extra work.

Our final tip is for those who are adventurous with their advertising, and understand that complacency in a changing economy is far from productive. You know those signs you use to direct your customers around your store? Stop buying completely new ones when you want to change the theme of the store. Simply invest in double-sided clear plastic signs instead. When you want to try a new design layout, print your new design on high quality paper and slide it in. You can save yourself time and money in the short term, and once you find a design that works for you, go ahead and order the professional plastic engraved version.

As always, good luck and we hope this has been an informative entry. Til’ next time!