Marketing Tips: 6 Insights for Hitting a Home-Run

6 Marketing Tips for Hitting the “Home-Run” in Marketing – from Amy Daniels of NYY Steak

Learn some marketing tips from the best.  NYY Steak- the steakhouse of the New York Yankees, located across the street from 45 Rockefeller Plaza.  Amy Daniels is the Director of Marketing for New York Yankees Steakhouse. She has extensive marketing experience from working in the restaurant and hospitality industry for years in the city. Below, we’ve compiled her marketing insight on running successful marketing initiatives.

Be the best at what you do.

It’s probably the most important thing for companies to really know who they are. Knowing your product’s unique selling points and values will essentially help to differentiate itself from other competitors. Amy describes, “For NYY Steak, our competitive advantage is our Yankees affiliation.   We often think about what this means to our guests. NYY Steak makes sure that the experience the guests have here is a one of a kind by meeting players, or viewing the World Series trophies.  We are a go-to place for baseball fans and tourists in the city looking for a unique dining experience.”

Know your audience (clients).

Amy offers more marketing tips, “talk to your guests, know your target customers, and give them an over-the-top experience.” In the restaurant and hospitality industry, the “guest” mentality of treating every guest like they are a visitor in your home is a crucial component.  Getting to know your customers on a deeper level, like where they work, what their interests are, and engaging with them in a genuine way will allow your brand to flourish. Amy adds, “be the guest yourself and look at it from their point of view. That way, you can identify the needs of the guests before they express them, which is very important.”

Play on their ballparks (be where the customers are).

Choose the right platform where your audiences are present. Amy explains, “The target market for New York Yankees Steakhouse is 35 and older. Because of that, from a social media perspective our focus has been primarily on Facebook rather than Instagram. The goal on social media is engagement—a conversation with our guests rather than talking ‘at’ them. We often share exciting topics and offers, or ask for feedback. Any great marketing plan will start by asking who is the customer you have, and who is the customer you want to have.

Keep score.

Be specific and measurable with all of your marketing insight. Don’t spend money on the marketing or advertising unless you can track and measure the success. Amy says, “If you are spending money on programs, you need to be able to measure and justify the ROI.  Sometimes, it calls for retooling a program, with a strong call to action. If I can’t measure if it’s working, we won’t do it.”

Listen to the Voice of the Guest (Customer).

Being where your customers are is half of your game. Engaging with your audiences and having dialogues and conversions are even more important when it comes to marketing tips. “Listening to both positives and negative feedback, identifying the trends or issues, and making the positive change, are all critical components of improving our customer experience at our restaurant,” Amy explains. Besides Facebook, peer review sites like Yelp, Open Table, Trip Advisor, etc. have all been an integral part of listening to the “voice of the guest” regarding food, service, and the atmosphere for NYY Steak.

Know your bench strength.

Amy says, “Delegate the task to the best player who knows what to do.” It is important to place someone who knows and understand the demographics and the audiences for specific marketing activities. “We’ve successfully run a FB campaign and grew our Facebook followers from 1000 to over 7000 over the past 5 months. Using the knowledge of someone who understands the demographics, we have been successful in reaching our key audiences.” On their Mother’s Day’s Special campaign, their “Moms Love Yankees” theme post generated over 70,000 views.  It made 440 actions and resulted in 175 people clicking on the picture. This campaign generated 70 reservations via the Facebook page.

Looking for a good place to take your client and see our marketing tips in action?

If you have foreign clients, or clients that are visiting New York you may want to read where to take a client in New York. If they are big baseball fans, NYY Steak would be a perfect venue to take them. NYY Steak’s long bone ribeye with customized message will be great for deal closing or celebrating corporate anniversaries. Popular and recommended dishes such as Lobster Mac & Cheese and Prime NYY Steak Burger with the original sauce is a must try for lunch. Also, do check out happy hour from 4-7pm Monday through Friday with complimentary samples of flatbreads, burger sliders, and crispy calamari!  Go see NYY Steak to gain your own marketing tips.