If there’s such thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a stage hand for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. What man isn’t a fan of Victoria’s Secret?
I remember shopping in Victoria’s Secret right out of college with my girlfriend at the time. I ran into a girl I knew growing up. We went to a high school dance together. I should have had the foresight to see past the Coke bottle glasses and braces, because she had definitely become gorgeous.
I digress. This isn’t about my fantasies involving Victoria’s Secret. It’s about a major lesson Victoria’s Secret can teach you about marketing your catering.
If you are married and have a daughter between the ages of twelve and college age, a trip to Victoria’s Secret is vastly different for your wife and daughter.
Victoria’s Secret has managed to create two stores under one roof. The more mature/adult market is interested in shopping towards the back of the store (or left entrance depending on the outlet). The teenage market, like my daughter Jordyn, is all about the Pink line. It’s their successful branding to the youth market.
My daughter or her friends would never walk into a Victoria’s Secret, if it weren’t for Pink. Sweats, merchandise, fun clothes…that’s what Pink is all about. I bought Jordyn a $75 yoga jacket in there.
Now what does this have to do with you and your catering business?
Simple. Catering is a business within your business. As it relates to your web presence and strategy, you are marketing and selling to two completely different buyers.
Buyer #1: He/she is interested in a place to have dinner tonight. When visiting your website, they want to see your menu, read your reviews and be able to book reservations.
Buyer #2: He/she has an event that requires catering. They don’t want to be embarrassed. If you pick a bad restaurant for dinner tonight, you’re out fifty bucks…no big deal. If you book the wrong caterer, you look like a fool to your friends, boss and/or co-workers.
The more pages I need to dig through to learn about your catering, the less likely I’ll hang around. Just look at your competitors. If you look at most restaurant websites, catering is a tab at best. Maybe they post a menu. They all have the same “me too” language, “We specialize in drop-off catering for groups from 10 to 1000. We are the best…blah, blah, blah!”
An average catering sale is too high to drive prospects to a website where catering is a back stage hand. You must make catering the star of its own internet show. A dedicated website for your catering business is a wise investment.
A site dedicated to what makes you their best choice, loaded with testimonials and other “proof” devices is what you need. You want multiple ways to generate catering leads. You’ll want a means for customers to place online orders.
There are a lot of factors and strategies to creating a successful catering lead generation website. We at CaterZen have been building them for quite while. There’s too much to mention in this article, but it’s definitely worth a conversation and critique of your current website.
