You Want This Kind Of Traffic

[Buildingfutures]

The story behind this thread.

I was watching the food network the other night, the Guy Fierri show 'Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives' and just watching him go to all these places on Route 66.

The food looked absolutely delicious.

But then this one scene struck me.

He visited a diner, that was on route 66 (obviously) but there was a bigger, faster, better highway just off in the distance, and it was swarming with cars and trucks and all that good stuff.

Here's where I come to you.

These diners, off the road, barely able to be seen most times by passing cars, generate constant unwavering revenue no matter what is going on in the world.

They've made it so their customers come back again, and again, and again.

And any new customer who comes in and buys once, is most likely to come back as well!

Now, we as internet marketers should strive to make our businesses like so.

But what kind of thing could keep our traffic coming back residually no matter what?

Killer content? Thats obviously a given.

Great products? That can be an up and down, a mediocre product can be just as good as a 'super-fantasmo' product.

Customer Service? Yes, Yes, and YES. The more your customers feel like you'll single them out to help them at your expense (even if it isn't).

Because we all want that residual customer who will continuously come back to buy more of our stuff. Get them hooked, give them what they want, and provide friendly, customer-service.

Who all already has a site they can show others what I mean?

Because new marketers will need to learn how to do these things with their business.

Do you have other methods that ensure your customers are coming back to you for what they need? What is it?

Thanks for the replies and all that jazz guys!

-Sean

[forous]

Answer specific questions, in the shortest words possible and provide humor.
Include humor in your post.
Tell stories people can relate to.

[Buildingfutures]

Originally Posted by forous

Answer specific questions, in the shortest words possible and provide humor.
Include humor in your post.
Tell stories people can relate to.

Are these your techniques? Or are you very concisely telling me how to improve my post?

[Mark Riddle]

Here's what makes the road side marvels work.

They are in a niche that is widely popular (to the point its not a niche) FOOD

They pick ONE THING, and focus their efforts on perfecting that one thing (and once perfection is reached) they never change.

They build their business around what is perfect, and find ways to spread the word about their perfect product.

They allow people to share in the fun of a perfect product (t-shirts, bumper stickers, postcards, key chains)

They use the press & media to tell the world about their perfect product.

They are unwilling to change, just because it could be done easier, cheaper faster.

They make their product an experience, something notable in your life just happened.

They allow their other products to remain in supporting roles, always knowing its their headliner IS the star.

They NEVER use scarcity or limited thinking to enter their thoughts or marketing.

And to me, the most important of all,

When everyone else was chasing the crowd, they remained confident that they are in this for the long haul, and set backs, and down turns will not cause them to doubt that success is theirs.


Mark

[Andyhenry]

That business is all about location.

You might think McDonalds is a food company (some would disagree on content terms) but they're actually in the real estate business.

Their model for growing is to buy every piece of land that fits a certain criteria and put a McDonalds on it. Their focus is massively tuned to property locations.

It's the same for the others - location is everything.

You could have the best reputation in the world, but if a restaurant offering the same as you opens up next door to your customers house - you won't see them again, unless it's to apologise for not coming by like they used to.

You can do all the fancy marketing in the world, but location is more important than anything for a food business.

Sometimes that doesn't necessarily mean the most convenient - your USP might be that you're next to a beautiful river and people love to sit outside and eat, or walk along the banks and then stop for a drink at your restaurant.

Andy

[Clark]

Buildingfutures, two things:

1. I thought I was the only Guy Fieri fan around here. I also watch Guy's Big Bite.
2. I thought I was the only person who saw everything from a Marketer's looking glass.

Nice to know you have classic tastes.

From watching DD&D while wiping my saliva from the floor periodically, I noticed a trend that stood out predominantly and that was simply that the menu did not change.

Again, the menu did not change over many, many years.

Each Diner, Drive-in or Dive specialized in one aspect of the fast food niche and PERFECTED it while keeping the recipe and the presentation relatively untouched and delivered the product in an unpretentious environment that welcomed everybody with a smile.

Food is very interesting... as it easily conjures up an emotional reaction when you think about it.

When you need to buy Cola, which product comes to mind first?

Funny that Pepsi beats Coke in taste challenges yet Coke outsells Pepsi by a country mile. Well, maybe it's not at all funny but simply an emotional response to happy feelings you had from your childhood when you enjoyed a Coke and a so you continue to be loyal to the brand.

That's branding at its finest and also something that each of these fast food places have in common.

Who hasn't asked where the best burger joint in town was or the best steak or the best fish & chips etc.?

These establishments have built their brand and the reputation in most cases around a particular food item that tastes great and also brings about memories of the kind of food their mother or grandmother used to make which, makes them feel good.

Do you have other methods that ensure your customers are coming back to you for what they need? What is it?

Be unique, become an expert in one area for branding purposes and expand your reach.

Who's the goto person for:

Article Marketing
Video Marketing
traffic generation etc.

If your customer has an amazing experience when they do business with you then they'll naturally want to feel the same euphoria again and again when they EXPECT the same product/service every time they come back so being consistent with excellence in execution is key to creating repeat, ravenous customers.

Just my guess of course, I could be wrong.

[Clark]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

You might think McDonalds is a food company (some would disagree on content terms) but they're actually in the real estate business.

Nope, they're a Marketing Machine.

I've seen Micky D's in crappy locations yet they were always full with people who "deserve a break today" and are met with Child friendly characters (Ronald, Grimace et al) with a "surprise inside" every happy meal along with a free Star Wars collector cup with every combo sold.

Familiar, Quick, Comfort Food on the Cheap in a Family Oriented Dining environment is their brand.

Now, if you were to talk about religion then hell yeah, where are the best pieces of real estate to be found in any city... under a place of worship.

Automation helped Micky's get from one location to world domination over the years and that's the difference between single establishment Diners and mass produced franchises of today.

The difference is just that, something different in regards to the success of a single location restaurant that has to rely on the customer experience to draw "regulars" and viral marketing 'word of mouth' back to the business even if it means having to drive across town to bite into the best burger in town which, you'll never, ever find at McPukes.

Come on Andy, I'm sure you drove across town to satisfy your craving even though you knew full well that a similar restaurant was closer.... but it just isn't the same, right?

That's what the OP is talking about.

[Andyhenry]

Originally Posted by Clark

When you need to buy Cola, which product comes to mind first?

Funny that Pepsi beats Coke in taste challenges yet Coke outsells Pepsi by a country mile. Well, maybe it's not at all funny but simply an emotional response to happy feelings you had from your childhood when you enjoyed a Coke and a so you continue to be loyal to the brand.

That's branding at its finest and also something that each of these fast food places have in common.

Actually there may be more to it than that - Coke's mission statement is to have a coke within reach of every person on the planet - so you may find that they just literally have more outlets in more locations - and therefore sell more.

[Andyhenry]

Originally Posted by Clark

Come on Andy, I'm sure you drove across town to satisfy your craving even though you knew full well that a similar restaurant was closer.... but it just isn't the same, right?

That's what the OP is talking about.

Right - but I also remember when I stopped visiting my favourite Indian restaurant of 10 years because a new one (not quite so nice food) opened next to my local pub.