Essential skills for restaurant marketing

As a writer, I have lots of skills which restaurants can utilise in their marketing. Indeed I have been asked to collaborate with numerous restaurants and outlets to help promote their opening, change of menus, new dishes, events and general marketing.

The skills which I would use would include copywriting (this is a whole separate subject which I may talk about in a later post), taking pictures and/or video for blogs, vlogs and social media, being able to tell the "story" either from proprietors or a consumers perspective. Here are the key skills I would recommend:

1. Rapport
This is key as if the chemistry and trust are strong between myself and client; then the relationship will be fruitful.

2. Expertise
By this, I mean having knowledge of the restaurant, food and hospitality industry. I keep up to date with this by attending industry shows and events, reading industry magazines, watching online and TV programmes on restaurant-related topics, visiting and dining in numerous establishments and talking to people in the industry, i.e. keeping my finger on the pulse of the restaurant life.

3. Time
I have the time to spend in my research and then in my writing for the clients. I can take their brief and fashion it in the best way to meet their needs, and this is in my own time. Restaurants may not have the confidence or know how to do these things and may not have time to devote to this.

4. Copywriting
This is a huge buzzword in the world of internet marketing and is really what the restaurant buys into. It is simply the writing of bespoke content for the client based on their brief, my knowledge and its execution.

5. Pictures/video
"A picture paints a 1000 words" and always helps to convey the story, and now with video, this medium is the way forward. It takes a 'special eye' to take good quality and relevant pictures/video and again, the client may not have this.

6. Reputation and Experience
With over 6 years in the game, I have certainly gained experience, and this can be a valuable skill to use.

7. Ability to tell the 'story'
This would be how I have performed in the past and could be backed up by testimonials. This would be my main skillset, and although this is a modest list, I feel this distils the main points.