Your Menu Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Asset

A menu is not a list. It is your most‐seen marketing asset, the profit blueprint hiding in plain sight. Restaurants that treat menu design as strategy, not art, tend to bank the difference. I’m reminded of this so much after reading Restaurant 365’s recent mid-year survey, which is packed with great information and insight. One of the key takeaways is that, with increased sales as their top priority, 40 percent of surveyed operators plan to increase marketing and promotional budgets this year, particularly in targeting off-premise dining.

It’s no secret that the industry is facing headwinds. Food and labor bills keep climbing. Ninety-one percent of operators now face higher ingredient costs and 89 percent report rising staff expenses. Meanwhile, sales growth has flipped outside the four walls. Three-quarters of restaurant traffic is now off-premise, including take-out, delivery, drive-thru. With no appetite for blanket price hikes, owners are hunting new margin.

Menu…