Out of Catering Advertising Ideas? Time to Try These 4 Fresh Ideas

When it comes to catering advertising, it’s easy to fall into a marketing rut. After all, your business is centered around food and the best way to promote food is to post pictures on social media, right? Sure, that’s true to an extent but there are so many other things to try when it comes to your marketing efforts.

Here are four ways to improve your catering advertising and build upon marketing initiatives you already have in place.

1. B2B (Business to Business) catering advertising

If you’re in the catering business in the age of social media, you’re likely already on Facebook and Instagram. Both platforms are great for catering advertising, especially when you’re wanting to connect and engage with new clients (especially when you know how to put those hashtags to use!), but what about reaching other businesses?

LinkedIn is a great way for business owners like yourself to connect and engage with potential corporate clients. These clients may be looking for someone to cater their upcoming luncheon, office event, or annual meeting. The holidays are right around the corner, so now would be the perfect time to start making those connections.

2. Cross-promotion works for catering advertising

Who said catering advertising via social media had to be done solo? There are so many opportunities for cross-promotion with those related to your business but aren’t your direct competitors.

For example: who do you get your organic produce from? That company could promote you simply by posting a photo of the dishes you make using their produce, while you post photos of the produce before you transform it into a dish. Where do you get that rich cream to make the alfredo sauce for your pasta From? Do you use a special wine that comes from a local winery when creating a certain dish? Think about who you already know and use that connection to promote both businesses at the same time.

3. Expand into new catering verticals 

If your catering advertising has been centered around social events, you’ve probably noticed how much competition you have and how difficult it can be close on new leads. If your catering business hasn’t branched out to different verticals, now might be the time to try.

Why not look into catering association meetings or events or what about corporate business? If there’s an event or conference happening in town, there will surely be a need for a caterer. Or, new venues in town may be on the hunt for a preferred caterer. In finding ways to expand your business, you’ll also unlock new places to advertise your catering business. Look for ways to network (see #1!) and uncover those hidden opportunities.

4. Food expos create new exposure for catering

Food expos are the place to be for those of us in the food industry. Not only will you give your catering advertising an opportunity to reach a bigger audience, you’ll get to meet other like-minded caterers and showcase the fantastic dishes your catering company offers. On top of that, you’ll get a chance to stay current on industry trends. As an added bonus, you’ll also get a chance to meet people from wineries, breweries, coffee brands, cheese companies and more, and each of these connections can greatly benefit your catering business down the road.

Up next, get some ideas on starting a successful catering company and ideas for budget-friendly event catering options you can offer to impress clients. Then, get the tools to streamline your catering business. Or discover customer relationship management software for today’s tech-forward caterer.

Which catering advertising ideas have you been using for your business? Share with us on Twitter!