We are trading an Indian Takeaway Outlet in a small town, Phalaborwa. Our Food taste great and prices are good. we are open for 11 months now, but keep getting the same question, when did you open? This is so good, we need a place like this. When we opened, we advertised and handed out flyers. We are very active on Facebook. But some how not managing to get enough feet through our doors. I don’t have a budget for marketing but get told I am not marketing enough. Please help. I want to make people of this town aware of my food and the high standard of quality we keep.
Every entrepreneur should take note of your problem – it is a really common issue with new companies. There is a big difference between marketing and target market awareness as you have discovered. Printing flyers, social media and doing a basic advertising are all good ways of marketing, but it does not mean your audience will notice them in all the advertising messages they get hourly.
The good news is that it does not take a lot of money to gain awareness in your target market. The first step is to identify who your most likely customers are. They may be local business people, office workers, young marrieds, families or factory workers. Try to get the majority group who buy from you.
Then you have the key to market to that group. If it is office workers take website or e-mail orders and have people to collect and deliver orders, if it is young marrieds, sponsor a lunch or dinner at the school or church, for those with limited lunchtime have a ‘dish of the day’ they don’t need to wait for published in posters at their workplace.
Think smart, focus on target sectors and do what they will appreciate. They will drive the word of mouth to tell others. Good luck.
