8 Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Catering Start-up

So, you’re looking to grow your catering start-up. If you want to attract new clients online without spending top dollar on expensive ads, then you need to get even more creative with your marketing strategies.

You see, building your online brand is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make if you’re serious about growing your catering business. Since the catering industry can be very competitive, you need to pull out all the stops to get your name out there.

Luckily, the internet provides plenty of opportunities for you to grow your brand. If you use it well, it should be easy for you to scale your catering start-up. For starters, here are 8 marketing strategies that will help you turn your catering start-up into a household name.

Know who you’re catering to

No matter what business you’re trying to build, you need to know who exactly you’re catering to. One of the biggest mistakes that startup caterers make is not paying enough attention to the marketplace they should be targeting.

So, before you create different catering packages, make sure that you know the demographic that make up your target market. Try to see if you have enough customers within your reach to sustain your business. You should also look into the kind of customers you have in your area, like office workers, students, retirees and see how you can best serve them.

Create a beautiful and functional website

Once you understand your target market, it will be much easier for you to build a catering business that brings in the bucks. And the best way to launch your catering business is with a beautiful and functional website that speaks to your target market.

With eCommerce being all the rage, automating your transactions on your website might just be the most practical move you can make for your catering business. If you execute it right, it will encourage customers to book their packages and even pay for it online.

Here are tips on how you can use eCommerce to amp up your marketing campaigns!

Optimize your website for mobile

With almost 5 billion mobile users all over the world, optimizing your catering website for a mobile audience will help you reach your potential clients where they are. Chances are, most of the people searching for catering companies online are doing it on their mobile phones.

Your website should go beyond ‘pinch and zoom’. It should have a mobile-friendly interface that scales beautifully no matter what device your customers are on. Think about it. If you had a choice between 2 catering business: one with a modern design and another with a dated interface, which one would you book?

Display client testimonials prominently on your website

Even with technology changing how we do business, there are some things that will go out of style. One of which is the power of word-of-mouth marketing, or in digital marketing lingo – testimonials.

Displaying testimonials on your website is a great way to establish credibility without having to go for the hard sell. Since you’re using real clients to show what your catering business is capable of, it fosters a sense of trust in your potential clients. Just remember to aim for authenticity if you want this strategy to work for you.

Send engaging emails to your subscribers’ list

All businesses will benefit from an email subscribers list. On the surface, it helps you keep in contact with people who have already expressed interest in your business. On the deeper level. It helps you get a higher conversion rate and a faster ROI.

The trick is to send engaging emails that your subscribers will be interested to read. It can be in the form of useful blog articles, exclusive deals, or even fun videos that show off your catering business’ company culture. It should showcase content that is not only personal but targeted to the needs of your target audience.

Invest in professional photos

Those in the food industry know that people don’t just eat with their mouths. They also eat with their eyes. So, if you want to get more bookings for your catering company, it’s important that you use high-quality photos to give justice to your sumptuous dishes.

Check within your local community if there are any food photographers and food stylists who can help you improve the visuals for your business. It might cost you a pretty penny, but professional photos of your food and your company culture will help you make the right impression with your target market.

Host tasting events for newly engaged couples

If you’re not targeting newly engaged couples for your catering business, then you’re missing out on a massive opportunity for growth. Newly engaged couples don’t just have a reason to celebrate, but they also have a lot of events surrounding the engagement that they’re ready to spend good money on.

Hosting tasting events for this particular market could help you land not just the wedding reception, but also the bachelorette party, the rehearsal dinner, and possibly the bachelor’s party. That’s if you can come up with a unique wedding catering package that couples will absolutely love.

Tie up with an events photography biz for a major giveaway

One way that small businesses can get their marketing efforts off the ground is by partnering up with other niche related businesses that can help them reach a wider market. For example, if you mainly cater for events, you can tie up with an events photography business and give away a party package to a lucky winner.

Partnership marketing will not only help you and your business partner increase your brand awareness, but it’s also one of the most cost-effective ways to acquire new customers. And because you’re partnering up for a major giveaway, it won’t be difficult for you to get people interested in what you have to offer.

Even if you’re small fish entering an overcrowded pond, you can only be limited by your creativity. Don’t be afraid to try out different marketing strategies to set yourself apart from the competition.