How to advertising effectively for Small Local Business? (Manassas, Gainesville: coupons, neighborhoods)

[vavisitor6850]

Hi, I am opening up a restaurant in Gainesville. I would like to find out the best way to promote my business. Since my budget is tight, I am debating between newspaper, TV and radio. The cheapest among the three is newspaper, most likely I would go for. My concern is whether people are still reading newspaper, especially local papers, like, Gainesville Time, etc.
Any and all info would be great! Thank you!

[CAVA1990]

How about coupons in advertising circulars? A lot of folks look out for those. What type of restaurant is it? If it's a family one you could sponsor a night with one of the local school sports groups where you donate some of the proceeds to them. You should be able to get a pretty inexpensive ad in one of the local papers.

Also, put up a website. At places I've not been before I usually go there to check out menu, prices, directions, etc.

[waagbuck]

Word of mouth is still the best advertising, if you can swing it somehow. We read the local papers that are delivered to our house, and I think most people skim them at least. Not sure if an ad there would make much of a difference. One thing I have noticed is advertising in programs published in connection with community activities - ads typically appear in the back of the programs for community theater productions, school variety shoes, ballet school recitals, etc. You might also check out social network advertising resources. Restaurant goers are using those tools.

[ACWhite]

A friend of mine got several of us to buy a half-priced meal at a restaurant, through Groupon. I have no idea whether that would be affordable for a new business but you might want to investigate that.

[vermonter16]

Those coupon things that come in the mail...val packs or something? I always look through those.

[mdcrim]

Are there local community message boards for Gainesville neighborhoods? I would start there (but make sure your website is up and running first). Also, I would recommend a soft opening to get your kinks worked out. Too many Ashburn restaurants opened before they were prepared and first impressions kept people from going back resulting in their eventually going out of business. Good luck in your venture!

Also, the sports team sponsorship is great, too. Depending on the type of restaurant, you could also look to set up booths at local festivals.

[Caladium]

I don't know if it's the same in Gainesville area, but FWIW the people in my neighborhood are likely to read local (and free) papers like the Loudoun Times, but don't regularly read than the Washington Post. They also tend to read the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today for national news.

I'm not sure if this means they read the ads or clip coupons, however.

[HereinVA]

Hi! I live in the area (I'm in Bristow) and I've mostly found out about new buisnesses by word of mouth/internet. There are several websites dedicated to local news/events (including city-data ) where people will discuss new buisnesses opening up. Also, sites that provide reviews for restaurants and buisnesses--I've looked to see which resturants in a certain area get the best reviews and tried them out based on that. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to those types of sites on here, so you'll have to google

You also might want to contact some of the local HOA's and see if you can advertise through them. A lot of the communities have newsletters and websites...you could also offer some type of incentive, like 10% off for X residents or something.
I know each fall at the fall festival, the community of Victory Lakes has an event called "Taste of Bristow". Local (not just Bristow, some are from Gainesville and Manassas) restaurants come set up a booth and give free samples of their food to residents (it's a private function only open to Victory lakes residents). Usually they'll also hand out some type of coupon as well. We "discovered" our favorite pizza place because they were at "Taste of Bristow."

ETA: Also I agree with others to PLEASE have a website before you open. I really appreciate being able to check out the menu, prices, and what hours you're open before I go to the restaurant.

[liloulou]

I work in advertising and can tell you that you should not do the local newspaper, radio or tv. Broadcast is going to be too expensive for what your potential return will be. Newspaper is still read or skimmed, but considering the other options out there, forget newspaper (FOR NOW).
Valpak is a good idea, you need a website, word of mouth, and I can't endorse more Internet advertising for you. If you have a lower budget, highly targeted local internet ads will give you your best ROI. Also, definitely pursue the "taste of" days.
It would be helpful to know what kind of restaurant, style, costs, etc... This will help you define your audience and then you'll be able to reach those people in particular with little waste in your advertising dollars. For example, I could recommend a really upscale website in our area, but it might not make sense if your patrons are going to be more family-friendly.

[kutra11]

Once you have figured out the media placement for the ad, I can offer to write the copy for you. Free of charge, of course. Send me a direct message, if interested.

Thanks,
K