Marketing a Catering Business?

The first step, for me, would be to sit down with him and have a conversation about the catering business, who the ideal client is, what are the terms they would use to search and who his biggest competitors are.

That will give you a whole new perspective on his business and the marketing ideas will flow naturally from that.

But until you truly understand his customer, you will probably have a difficult time developing a really good campaign.

Good luck,
Scott

I'd start by figuring out what it is that the catering company provides which makes them a better solution for prospective clients than the other competing catering companies targeting the same market.

Then I'd make sure that every point of client/prospect communication clearly states this reason...

Do you know why clients should already do business with the company? Find out!

~Dexx

I would be looking at wedding planners, event coordinators, clubs, churches, synagogues, etc...

I would look through my city's local event calendar, determine whether they need catering, contact them, if someone is already doing their catering who referred them or who do you need to contact.

Specializing in something may help - i.e. Ice Sculpting, 6 foot subs, kids birthday parties, pirate cuisine, etc...

Does caterer have human interest or community interest angle? i.e. "Single mom started her catering business with $500 after losing her job to the recession" or whatever. Reason being good opportunity for local press writeup/interview/press release, etc...

Of course, all normal marketing plan stuff, SWOT, market, competition, and the stuff everyone else said.

Here's a link to some stuff on About.com that might help you:
SWOT Analysis - Starting and Running a Catering Business

They other thing I would do is call other caterers - successful ones - and tell them you're interested in starting a catering business in your town, and simply ask them how they get clients, how long it took, and whatever else might help.

Good luck

I want to say that catering is a service business. Ever thought about giving away free samples? After you generate a lead, send them a catalog of the caterer's services, or invite them to come into the store to see exactly what the caterer has to offer.

I would also start a website (like you said), and optimize it for ranking high in the search engines for their city. On the site, offer pictures of the items that the caterer has, and clearly give visitors the opportunity to join a free newsletter - to be offered great deals and discounts.

This is a start.