How do you target the right customers for your F&B service?

How do you target the right customers for your F&B service? This is a crucial question for any F&B operator who wants to succeed in a competitive market. In this article, you will learn some practical tips and strategies to identify, attract, and retain your ideal customers.

1 Know your niche

Before you can target the right customers, you need to know who they are and what they want. You need to define your niche, or the specific segment of the market that you serve. Your niche should be based on your F&B concept, your unique value proposition, and your competitive advantage. For example, if you offer vegan-friendly, organic, and locally sourced dishes, your niche could be health-conscious and environmentally aware customers who value quality and sustainability.

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Christopher Wallace

MIT MBA | Regional Managing Director | Value Acceleration through Solving the "Last Mile" Problem in AI | I write about the measurable business impact of AI
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I would take it further and say know your primary beachhead market and only once you've exploited/ truly tested it, move to your next best adjacent beachhead market building a larger market with each new following. The most common mistake is a lack of specificity - "health-conscious'" is too broad, you must narrow down your niche until the segment is small enough to establish a foothold and generate early traction. Prof. Aulet addresses the topic comprehensively in his book entitled "Disciplined Entrepreneurship".

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2 Research your customers

Once you have defined your niche, you need to research your customers and understand their needs, preferences, motivations, and behaviors. You can use various methods to gather customer insights, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, online reviews, social media, and analytics. You should aim to create customer personas, or fictional profiles of your ideal customers, based on their demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics. For example, one of your personas could be Lisa, a 35-year-old yoga instructor who loves to eat fresh salads and smoothies for lunch.

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3 Segment your market

After you have created your customer personas, you need to segment your market and group your customers into different categories based on their similarities and differences. You can use various criteria to segment your market, such as location, income, lifestyle, occasion, frequency, loyalty, and satisfaction. Market segmentation will help you tailor your F&B service to the specific needs and expectations of each segment. For example, you can offer different menus, prices, promotions, and loyalty programs for different segments.

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4 Position your brand

Next, you need to position your brand and communicate how your F&B service is different from and better than your competitors. You need to craft a clear and compelling brand message that highlights your unique selling points and resonates with your target customers. You also need to design a consistent and distinctive brand identity that reflects your F&B concept and personality. Your brand identity includes your name, logo, slogan, colors, fonts, images, and tone of voice. For example, your brand message could be "The vegan-friendly cafe that serves fresh, organic, and local food with a smile".

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Mat Golubović

Founder & CEO @ OMNIUS • 10+ years in B2B SaaS & Fintech marketing.
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When it comes to a positioning, one increasingly important factor is the business’ website. User experience strongly influences the decision-making process. Changing the role of websites - from the company’s presentational tool to the OS you use to position on a certain market, generate and maintain relationships with people, and companies. If you’re after positioning in a service-related niche, and most importantly - focused on predictable, compound growth - you should definitely treat the website as one of most important market positioning sources.

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5 Promote your service

Finally, you need to promote your service and reach out to your target customers through various channels and platforms. You need to choose the most effective and cost-efficient marketing mix for your F&B service, based on your goals, budget, and resources. Your marketing mix could include online and offline methods, such as website, social media, email, blog, SEO, PPC, flyers, brochures, events, referrals, and word-of-mouth. You should also monitor and measure the results of your marketing efforts and adjust them accordingly. For example, you can use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Mailchimp to track and analyze your online performance.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you target the right customers for your F&B service?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Know your niche

2 Research your customers

3 Segment your market

4 Position your brand

5 Promote your service

6 Here’s what else to consider

Food & Beverage Operations

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How do you target the right customers for your F&B service?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Know your niche

2 Research your customers

3 Segment your market

4 Position your brand

5 Promote your service

6 Here’s what else to consider

Food & Beverage Operations

Rate this article

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