BBQ Restaurant Marketing Ideas???

Another quick and easy strategy would be a "local dumb keyword" strategy. You could simply have them pick a budget, and charge a percentage of whatever they spend.

1. Set up 2 local keyword campaigns. 1 in search, and 1 in content network. & Drive traffic to a page on their site allowing them to print off a coupon for their restaurant. (Better yet, make sure the coupon expires that week.)
2. Target "dumb" keywords like "restaurant", "restaurants", "bbq", etc. and DON'T include location modifiers. Instead, do step #3.
3. Geotarget ONLY the local areas your client serves.

It's super-easy to set up, and they'll know you sent that traffic every time someone redeems that coupon.

If you want more clarification on that suggestion, I flesh out that process in a 3-part webinar I did with Perry Marshall at NewbiePPC.

I second this idea. You can get them great PR by notifying the local media of the contest. If you want to add another layer, get a local celebrity involved and use the contest to raise money for charity....etc...

Good luck getting a business owner to agree to that one! In theory, the idea is great, but you better show past results to get them to give away that much free product.

However, I did a little research on the suggestion. Here's a barbecue joint that's already doing it. -- Blog | Joe's Real BBQ

Looks like they were able to get good news coverage by making it a charity based event. I like how "JOE" positioned himself on the net.

Well, for them you can just post flyers at all the old folks homes

I kid ....

I know this is about a restaurant chain, but nothing draws more people in my area than a BBQ cookout competition or even just an outdoor BBQ stand at a public event. As an example, in Reston, VA, the Town Center has free concerts all summer long and things like Octoberfest festivals, etc. All of the Town Center restaurants set up a stand outside on the sidewalks serving their easier to serve meals and it's a blast, with the favorite being from a BBQ restaurant.

The BBQ competitions in this area are always a huge turnout, even the ones held in Washington, DC, as are an annual BBQ event at a firehouse. Red, Hot and Blue, a well known BBQ restaurant in this area (yummy) makes a show at a lot of events and that can't hurt their business.

Do a joint venture with another business. Find a business with clients similar to the ones you're targeting. Ask them to contact their list and offer them a free meal at the restaurant.

Then (and this is REALLY important) when they turn up you MUST get their contact details. Name, address, phone number and birthdate (so you can send them a gift on their birthday).

Now you've got a customer list growing. This is going to be where your money comes from.

OK, now you might be thinking you can't afford to give away free meals.

But consider how much it actually COSTS you to do one meal. It's probably not much compared to the prices you charge. So it's not that expensive. Where it becomes really important is remembering that you've now got their details you can keep in touch with them to get them coming back over and over again.

You wont have to run traditional advertising like yellow pages and newspaper ads (or radio ads etc for that matter) because all you'll have to do is call people or write to them before their birthday and offer them a free bottle of wine for their birthday. Or send them regular promotions and offers. It won't cost much in postage to fill your restaurant to overflowing on special occasions like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and so on.

Fact is, it's more important to have the process for building a database and making money from it sorted out than it is to develop a process for getting leads.