Restaurant marketing

The catering inquiry that came in during dinner service never got called back

Sidekicks runs marketing for owner-operated restaurants with one to three locations. We start with catering, because it is the biggest money in the building and the easiest to lose. If something else is the fire, tell us and we can start there.

See how catering works Book a call

A table is worth

One check

A catering order is worth

Dozens at once

And the person asking about catering is calling three places, so whoever answers first usually gets it.

Every catering lead gets a text and a phone call, within the hour

Not an autoresponder. A text goes out immediately confirming someone got it, and then an actual person calls. Here is what happens when someone asks about catering, whether they call, fill out the form, or message you on Instagram.

01The inquiry lands in one place instead of three.

02A text goes out within minutes with your name on it.

03A real call happens inside the hour during business hours.

04If nobody reaches them, it tries again rather than sitting there.

05You see every inquiry and what happened to it.

The reason this works is not clever. It is that most restaurants take a day or two to call back, and the person planning an office lunch for forty people has already booked somewhere else by then. That is not a discipline problem. You were in the middle of service.

What we do with the rest of it

Your Google listing

Your Google Business Profile, which is the listing that shows up when someone searches your name or looks for food near them. Hours kept current, photos added, holiday closures updated, questions answered, and reviews responded to.

This is the single most looked-at page about your restaurant and most of them are three years out of date.

The posting

Instagram and Facebook, shot and scheduled by us. Food, staff, specials, and the things that happen in a restaurant that are worth showing.

You do not have to be on camera and you do not have to remember to post. If you want to be in it, we will work that out.

Promos and slow nights

Tuesday is the problem at most restaurants. We run the offers, the posts, and the texts that fill the nights that need filling.

We stop running the ones that do not work rather than repeating them.

Reviews

Asking is most of it. A text after a catering order or a follow-up to a regular does more for your rating than anything else available.

It takes nobody on your staff any time.

What we need from you

Almost nothing, and that is deliberate.

We need to be able to reach you when something needs a decision, and we need someone at the restaurant to know that catering calls are getting handled so they are not doing it twice.

Beyond that, this runs without you. You are not writing captions, you are not on camera unless you want to be, and you are not learning software.

What it costs

Monthly

$500 to $1,000

a month

Catering setup

$1,500

once

Six month minimum, and the reason is worth saying plainly. Marketing that shows up for two months and stops does nothing except cost money. The results that matter here come from being consistent, and six months is the shortest run where consistency is worth anything.

Common questions

01On camera

02One more thing

03Already busy

04Month three

05Affording it

06More locations

07We have someone

Do I have to be on camera?

No. Some owners want to be and it works well when they do. Plenty of the restaurants we work with never appear in their own content, and it makes no difference to how it performs. Food, staff, and the room carry it fine.

Is this one more thing I have to manage?

The opposite is the point. Once the catering system is set up, inquiries get answered without anyone at the restaurant doing anything. The posting happens whether or not you remember. You get a message when something needs a decision and otherwise it runs.

What if we are already busy?

Then catering is probably where this is worth your time, since it adds revenue without adding covers on a Friday. Slow nights and reviews matter less when the room is full. We would tell you that on the call.

Will you still be posting in month three?

That is the actual question and it is fair, because a lot of restaurants have been through this. It is why the minimum is six months and why the posting is scheduled ahead rather than made up weekly. You see the calendar before it runs.

Can we afford this?

That depends on what catering is worth to you. For most of the restaurants we work with, a small number of catering orders a month covers the whole thing, and we will show you that number for your restaurant. If the math does not work, we will say so rather than sign you up.

Do you work with more than one location?

Yes, and up to three is where we are strongest. Beyond that the work changes and it is worth a different conversation.

What if we already have someone doing our social media?

That is fine and it happens. Catering usually runs on its own, so we can handle that and leave the posting where it is. Plenty of restaurants start there.