How to Promote a Sub Shop

In 2018, sub and sandwich shop revenue reached $23 billion, an increase of 2.7 percent over the past five years. The number of sub shops has also increased by 0.3 percent and the number of employees has grown 2.8 percent over the same time frame. There is currently more than 37,000 sub shops business in the United States. Existing in such a competitive market, you must market and differentiate your sub shop from the competition more so now than ever before.

In this article, you will learn sub shop restaurant marketing ideas to help your sub shop stand out amongst the crowd and gain a larger market share of this billion dollar a year industry.How To Promote A Sub Shop

Offer Online Ordering

Ordering a sub over the phone can be a hassle. With so many toppings to choose from and different loaves of bread and condiments, relaying all the information over the phone for a single sandwich or multiple sandwiches can lead to mistakes. Online ordering via your website makes it easy and quick for your customers to place orders for multiple sandwiches and easy customization of everything they want on their sandwich.

Get Professional Photos of your Subs

You should be proud of the sandwiches you create for your sub shop, so why not display them in all their glory on menus, advertisements, banners, packaging, and labeling with professional images. A sub can be a work of art, and iPhone images are not going to capture all the glorious details that went into preparing and making your sandwich. Professional images help to make your already mouthwatering subs more appealing. And you can use them not just on prints material, but online on your website and social media accounts.

Offer Delivery

If you are going to offer online ordering, the next logical step is to offer delivery of your sandwiches. The sub chain Jimmy John’s has found success in offering people the option to have their subs delivered directly to them. You can partner with one of the many delivery services that have entered the food delivery space in recent years. UberEats, Favor, Eat 24, GrubHub, and Doordash are just a few of the services that you could partner with for your subs. Remember to make sure you have delivery friendly packaging and labels to make sure your subs reach their destination fresh. This is also an opportunity to include labeling with coupons attached. Try to create menu items that will travel well, or have the option for customers to receive condiments on the side to prevent the bread from getting soggy.

Offer A Wide Range Of Options

Give customers unique sandwiches to choose from, and make sure you have a variety of meats, vegetables, as well as hot and cold sandwich options. Offer specialty sandwiches that customers don’t see other places. A Technomic report found that 50 percent of 18-to-34 years-olds want sub shops to offer sandwiches with new and unique flavors. Nice menu boards that are positioned where you place orders will help explain all the toppings on the sandwiches and will help customers make an informed decision on what they are purchasing.

Have Daily Specials & Offer Soups

This is where that outside menu board comes in handy. Write out your daily sub specials and soup specials. Offering a rotating lineup of special sandwiches available for only a few days is a great way to generate new foot traffic into your sub shop.

Adopting these sub shop restaurant marketing ideas will help you see a growth in your customer base.