Keeping up with the latest trends is essential for any restaurant to thrive in a market that breeds cutthroat competition with innovative restaurants that are cropping up by the minute. One of the greatest trends that have taken the country by storm are food festivals, and it’s a crucial move for marketing for restaurants. So, if you’ve been wondering if this would be a good move or not, read on.
Exposure
First and foremost, it’s essential to put your name out there. At these events, the publicity and press releases will do that for you. You can bank on them to publicise your restaurant the way you like it and you’ll also get to reach their target audience through vigorous social media campaigns both by the organisers and sponsors, as well as the visitors of the festival. In the meantime, you can concentrate on making your stall irresistible.
Reaching A Diverse Audience
Food festivals get a lot of footfalls, so you can expect to reach a wide audience. It’s also a great place to tap into new clientele and make an impression to increase loyalists. If your booth is eye-catching, service is prompt and dishes offered are exemplary, you’re definitely going to make some new foodie fans!
Learning From Competition
As the quote goes “Know thy self, know your enemies. A thousand battles, a thousand victories”. You’ve got to know and learn from your competitors. Everybody puts their best step forward at these festivals and you can really take notes from established restaurants’ tactical moves. Get an insight on their strategies and see where they’re lacking to avoid those mistakes.
Testing New Menus
A food festival is like a massive testing ground where you get to reach foodies with different tastes, so it’s obviously a great place to get opinions. This move would be great for old restaurants trying to get their mojo back and new restaurants trying to make their mark.
One-On-One Interaction With Customers
It’s important to interact with your customers to understand their expectations apart from just their likes and dislikes. Also, a personal connect is vital to build a relation with diners and make them well acquainted with your brand and it’s USP’s. Lastly, we all know nothing works better than marketing via word of mouth.
Highlighting Your Dormant USP
When we talk of bars or breweries, one cannot think beyond their cocktails and fresh beer, right? But what if your pub’s got some kickass burgers that nobody talks of? Food festivals would be the perfect place to let people know about your usually overlooked strengths.
If you’ve been to popular food festivals like The Grub Fest or Palate Fest, you already know all the benefits we’re talking about. Nevertheless, next time there’s a big food fest in town, capitalize on it and we promise you’ll notice an upswing in your clientele.
Here are 10 food festivals across India you should partake in:
- The Grub Fest
- The Palate Fest
- National Street Food Festival
- Steppin Out Food Fest
- Great Indian Food Festival
- Asian Hawkers Market
- Sula Fest
- Bangalore Food Fest
- The Gourmet High Street
- Bandra Wine Fest
Have you participated in food fests? Planning to? Put your thoughts in the comments.
