Ideas for Promoting Foods

Getting customers to try new foods at your restaurant, pub, deli or market can take some creativity on your part. However, by appealing to their appetite, interests or wallet, you can get customers to try new products so they purchase more in the future.

Getting customers to try your food is the first step to getting it sold. Offering free samples is a time-proven method for promoting foods. Provide a sample tray of goodies on your deli or restaurant counter. If you don’t own a brick-and-mortar business, ask a grocery store for permission to let you provide free samples to customers. Make sure to follow local health department rules regarding preparing and serving food commercially, even if it's a giveaway.

Images of food can whet people's appetites and motivate them to buy. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media tools to share images of your food, recommend recipes and show finished dishes customers can make with your food. Create a YouTube channel to offer how-to videos for adding your product to recipes. Add a blog to your website with ideas for healthy, easy or low-cost meal ideas.

Draw in customers looking to boost their culinary skills with a cooking demonstration – which gives you a chance to strut your product's stuff. You also could conduct a cooking competition in which several chefs prepare the food in different ways to promote food and beverage products. Customers then can try the food and vote on which dish they like the best. Have plenty of extra packages of the food you are marketing available for sale.

If you find it is difficult to market your item at its current price, consider offering customers coupons or discounts on the food item. Examples include offering a percentage off the current price, discounting a future purchase of the item, or providing a discounted combo meal that includes two or more items. Kids-eat-free promotions can help drive in family traffic to the business.

Host themed events to get customers interested in your new food items. For example, sell pumpkin pies at a fall-themed event where you have hayrides and pumpkin carving. A Saturday morning breakfast gathering can be complemented by pancake mix and homemade syrup for sale. You also can take part in community events, trade shows, local carnivals and other events that gather multiple vendors together to market to event visitors.

If the food you are promoting is healthy, use this factor to convince people to purchase the product. Promote the healthfulness of the item by making brochures that highlight low calories, cholesterol or fat in the product. You also can hang posters or apply stickers near the item that displays this information.

Having a loyalty program can help promote your new food item and reward return customers. Use a method that allows customers to scan their receipts to accumulate points. After so many points, the customer can receive a certain amount of items – or a particular type of item – for free. You can utilize this program by giving customers double or triple points for the purchase of your new item, or by offering your new item as the promotion reward for accumulating enough points.