Menu Printing - The Ultimate Guide To Pizza & Restaurant Menus
Pizza menus are absolutely critical to the success, growth, and profitability of your restaurant. Many small business owners use full color menus as their primary method of marketing with great results. If you want to generate revenue quickly, find new customers before they become loyal to other local restaurants, and combat the marketing efforts of the chains in your area – you should carefully read this guide and develop a pizza menu marketing campaign of your own.
Pizza Menu Design
Pizza menu design is a creative process that varies widely from restaurant to restaurant. However, there is some science involved that can increase response, highlight key items, and improve your image – while increasing profitability!
Menu Items
Categorize menu items by type: Pizza, Pasta, Salads, Subs, Beverages, etcList food categories in order: Appetizer – Soup – Salad – Entrée – DessertInclude a section on your menu for “Extras” such as bread sticks, extra cheese, etc. (This is a great way to increase sales and generate extra revenue on each order) Add some personality to your menu with specialty itemsClearly list customer options for each category (ie: Club sandwiches served on choice of white, wheat, or rye)Use mouth-watering images of food items for each category when possible (It’s a good idea to use images of your menu items as a background graphic)Group your menu items into categories so that you can make pricing decisionsAdjust pricing for each menu item depending on volume and profit (Once you know what an item costs to make, you subtract the cost from the selling price and you have the gross profit for each item on your menu) Never use “…” leading up to pricing – this makes your menu look like a price listNever use “$” signs on your menu – simply place the cost after the item description (This shifts the customer’s focus from the price to the food itemsImages Images should always be saved in high-resolution formatUse images that are 300dpi whenever possibleMake sure you use original images or images that are not copyrighted (you can find millions of inexpensive royalty-free images at istock.com)Always hire a graphic designer unless you are experienced in designPrinting Always print in full-color on glossy paper – your restaurant’s image will thank youPrint in bulk to save money per piece – color printing is very affordable this wayChoose an experienced pizza menu printer such as Taradel to obtain the best results, outstanding customer service, and the lowest prices…less than 4 cents per menu!
Paper
Choose a standard glossy paper durable enough to hold up to moderate usage. There is no need to use super-thick paper for takeout or pizza restaurant menus because it will cost you a fortune to ship and it will also increase production costs greatly. Choose a thin to medium thick paper depending on your budget and type of establishment.
60# Gloss – similar to a newspaper insert in your Sunday paper (this is the standard)80# Gloss – similar to the cover of a magazine (think Time magazine’s cover)100# Gloss – similar to a postcard or business card in thicknessChoose a standard menu size such as 8.5×11 or 11×17 Need More Help Deciding? Request free pizza menu samples from Taradel today!Folding Tri-fold – six panel front and back menuHalf-fold – four panel front and back menuDouble Parallel Fold – six panel front and back menu with coupon stripBleed, No Bleed, and Other Printing Terms Bleed: Graphics/images extend all the way to the edge of the pageNo Bleed: Page has small white border of ¼ an inch when finished When designing a menu, you must design to bleed or no bleed specifications4/0: Full color on one side only (the 4 stands for four color printing/full-color 4/4: Full color on both sides
Tracking Results
Under-price a hot selling item. The general idea in doing this is that enough customers will buy additional items to offset the losses created by the under-pricing of the lead item. This is a great way to measure increases in response.Create a name for a product that is only on your menu – For example: “The Beast” Pizza …soon enough customers will call and ask for these uniquely named menu items.Use coupons – customers will clip coupons off of your menu and you’ll know what worksCreate a “limited-time” promotion specific to one particular menu
Please check back often for updates to this pizza menu guide. We will be constantly updating this guide and incorporating input from pizza restaurants across the country! If you have you helpful tips for menu printing or design please email them to chris@taradel.com and we may include them in future updates to this guide.
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Chris Barr is an experienced marketing professional and graduate of Christopher Newport University. He specializes in print advertising, business development, web business strategic positioning, and technical writing. For the lowest prices on printed flyers, newspaper inserts, brochures, menus, and postcards please visit http://www.taradel.com/pizzamenus?ref=1004
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