If you run a business and offer a takeaway service, you’ll need eye-catching menus to entice customers. However, menus aren’t just an effective way to tell people what’s available. With the right content and design, they’re a key part of your offline marketing strategy.
To make the most of the opportunity to increase sales, take a look at these savvy tips for creating perfect takeaway menus:
- Include images
Humans are more receptive to images than they are to text, so adding photos to your takeaway menus London is essential. When people can see the dishes that are available, they’re more likely to order them. What’s more, people will order a wider range of dishes when numerous images are featured on your menus.
Remember – it’s worth getting your meals professionally photographed if you want to maximise their impact. High-resolution photos will give the best results, but a professionally styled shoot will show off your creations at their finest.
- Add your contact details
This may seem like an obvious tip, but you’d be amazed at how many businesses forget to include their contact details on their first run of takeaway menus. Be sure to feature your contact information prominently and, if possible, include them more than once.
If there are numerous ways to order from your establishment, feature every option so that your customers can contact you in the way that’s most convenient for them. Your address, telephone number and website should all be included as standard but what about a link to your online ordering platform too? You can even include QR codes on your takeaway menus, so that people can scan the code into a mobile device and place an online order straight away.
- Choose the right fold
Takeaway menus come in many forms, from simple flyers to tri-fold brochures. Choosing the right format is important because it will determine how much content you can include. If you have an extensive range, a tri-fold brochure may enable you to list your entire menu, for example. Alternatively, a bi-fold may be sufficient if you offer a more limited range or you deliver a basic menu with optional extras.
Of course, your menu format gives you the opportunity to think outside the box and do something different too. A gate fold, an accordion fold or a four-panel roll fold are more unusual and will make sure your takeaway menu stands out from the crowd
- Select appropriate colours
If your colour scheme forms part of your branding, it’s important to feature these colours on your takeaway menus. Your branding should be present on every piece of marketing material, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to reinforce your brand aesthetic or values.
When selecting the right colours for your menus, think about what messages you want to convey and what competition you’re facing. If you’ll be handing menus out on the street or dropping them through letterboxes, you’ll need to catch peoples’ attention and make them want to look at the content. This might mean using bold colouring and vibrant effects.
Alternatively, if you include takeaway menus when you’re delivering to existing customers or you hand them to patrons who visit your restaurant, you may want to go for more sedate hues. As you’ve already engaged the customer, you won’t be as reliant on bright colours to catch their attention.
- Feature promotions, offers and deals
Most establishments choose to include pricing information on their takeaway menus, and this is certainly a good way to increase orders. However, featuring promotions, offers and deals is an effective way to entice customers into placing an order. Furthermore, a good offer will upsell your dishes and encourage people to place larger orders than they otherwise would.
You can even run promotions that enable you to earn more as a business. If you are required to pay a 15% commission to a third-party when customers order via an online platform, for example, why not offer a 10% discount for takeaway orders placed over the phone. This gives customers an incentive to call you but still allows you to maximise your turnover.
Creating Takeaway Menus
Professionally designed takeaway menus are often the best way to achieve your goals. With an experienced designer on board, you can ensure that your menus contain all the relevant information while using a theme that reflects your brand and engages your target audience. With professional design and printing, you can rely on top quality takeaway menus to help build your business.
