Getting Into Your Client’s Head Using Menu Design Tips
Finding the easiest way to increase restaurant sales can sometimes turn into a hassle. But it doesn't have to be. Because the answer is right in front of you. Intrigued? You'd better be.
Advantages of menu engineering: did you know that you can use restaurant menuengineering tips to actually squeeze a 30% higher revenue out of your current menu… just as easy as taking candy from a baby? But what is menu engineering? What does it entail? It refers to combining restaurant menu design tips with menu psychology to stimulate yourclients' appetite and encourage them to spend more. - Menu Engineering Trilogy -It’s like extending your arm to pick the juicy, low hanging fruit. And in your case, that lowhanging fruit is an extra profit that is out for grabs. And the crazy part is that implementing these menu engineering tips is something that you can easily do within a very short period of time; and the results can be seen almost instantly.Yet, less than 40% of restaurant owners actually take advantage of the following menu design tips to craft a deeply persuasive menu that will stimulate their clients into ordering more food. So then... how to do menu engineering? Well, all you need to do is just use the following design related tricks, to craft a deeply persuasive menu. Such a menu is filled with visual triggers that will stimulate your clients into ordering morefood. That’s the goal, right? Remember, the majority of your clients are as hungry as a bear when they first see your menu. So make sure to tap into that opportunity everytime the situation presents itself.
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Menu Design Tip #1:
Cross-selling: Provide Them with Additional Food Options
Do you remember the famous McDonalds saying “Would you like fries with that?” You have to give McDonalds credit for inventing cross-selling, which is one of the greatest marketing concepts of all time. Since the purpose is to get your client to order more food - and spending big time -providing him with additional and related products will certainly do the trick. All crafty marketers actually use this technique to sell you something, whether it’s McDonald’s fries or that extended warranty for your fancy new phone or TV of yours.
And they’re successful because they make you feel that you need that extra additionalproduct. And sometimes our needs intertwine with our wants.So that’s exactly what you should do - give your clients the chance to add...
● extra snacks, like french fries
● extra pizza toppings
● or/and provide them with some of your most delicious dessert options
They want what you show them. So give the people what they want. (See what I did there?)
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Menu Design Tip #2:
Add Vivid Imagery to Your Menu
Having some great looking images accompanying your food items on your menu has the potential to increase restaurant sales by 30% nonetheless. Researchers at the Iowa State University tested a digital display of a salad on kids at a YMCA camp. They discovered that those who saw the salad image were up to 70% more likely to order a salad for lunch.
Here’s the interesting take that should stick with you: “You respond to the image on the display like you would respond to a plate in front of you. If you’re hungry you respond by saying, ‘I’ll have what’s in that picture.’
Brian Mennecke - Associate Professor of Information Systems, Iowa State University
The more vivid the image, in terms of movement, colorand accuracy of representation, the more realistic, the more it’s going to stimulate your response to it.
Fast food chains have already employed this tactic. They use digital menu boards to entice their customers into ordering the food items with the highest rate of profitability. It’s a smart strategy to boost your sales.
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Menu Design Tip #3:
Place Most of the Visual Content on the Left Side of Your Menu
The right hemisphere is in charge of our more creative side. Which means that it is our rightside hemisphere that helps us process images. Or any type of graphic content for thatmatter.However, what few people know is that the right side of the brain is responsible forcontrolling the left side of the body.And there’s more.Due to this in-built neuroanatomical structure, the right hemisphere can best processimages when they’re located on the left side of the menu:“…a stimulus presented in the left visual field (LVF) is initially received and processedby the right hemisphere (RH), and a stimulus presented in the right visual field (RVF)is initially projected to and processed by the left hemisphere (LH)…” (Bourne, 2006,pp. 374)
So when you show your client an ad that his tired mind is able to process extremely fast, then this produces an enjoyable sensation in his brain. And he attributes it to the menu that’s currently sitting in front of him. According to Alter & Oppenheimer, 2009, when you place images and graphics on the left side of your ad, you increase processing fluency. This refers to the ease and speed with which our brains process information. But why is this important? Well, in this day and age, we are constantly bombarded by a lot of things that drain us ofenergy:
● working,
● planning,
● paying the bills,
● taking care of your family,
● etc.
And sometimes your brain needs a break from all these things that tire and put a strain on him. So, in other words, by placing most of your menu images on the left side, your customers will be able to process your promotional materials quicker.
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Menu Design Tip #4:
Menu Item Placement -> Position the Products in aWay that Stimulates Mental Interaction
Menu item placement matters. Ok, so what does that mean? Well, in layman’s term, this tactic encourages your client’s mental interaction with the product that you’re selling.It helps him visualize eating your food. Take a look at the two mouth-watering images below. Although they’re the same, the one on the right will seem more appealing to your right-hand customers. Because it will help your customers see themselves grabbing a slice of that hot pizza slice with dripping mozzarella.
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