For caterers ยท Marketing planning
A marketing plan for caterers.
Weddings, corporate, drop-off, family parties. Each is a different buyer with a different calendar. The plan picks which ones you want more of and builds around them.
Or text (508) 546-9942
Slide it
You vs. Joe & Mama Catering.
Left is your website today. Right is the one Joe & Mama Catering has. Drag the line, then hit the button.
Crickets on the left. That is the problem.
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Illustration. Joe is made up. Your competitor is not.
The catering company version
Why it matters.
Catering companies often grow by saying yes. A wedding here, an office lunch there, a graduation party for a friend of a friend. Eventually the calendar is full of work that pays very differently, and the marketing tries to speak to everyone at once. A plan forces the choice: which events make you the most money for the least chaos, and how do you get more of those.
Timing sharpens the choice. Weddings fill the warm months and book far ahead. Corporate work peaks around the holidays and runs on its own fiscal rhythm. Planning means knowing when each buyer is shopping, not just when the event happens, and putting the effort there.
What I would build
For a catering company.
A written position: what you cater, for whom, and why you over the alternative. For one company that means relaxed family-style weddings. For another it means corporate lunches that always arrive on time.
The offer, defined tightly enough to put a price on: tiered packages, a minimum, what is included. Easier for you to quote and easier for a planner to say yes to.
Which channels get effort and which get ignored. Couples might arrive through venues and directories, offices through search and repeat orders. Effort follows where your best events start.
What gets measured, like inquiry to tasting and tasting to booking, plus the threshold that triggers a decision. If tastings stop converting, that is a menu or pricing conversation.
The mistake I see
Pricing every inquiry from scratch
Custom quotes for every event feel personal, but they eat your evenings and make your prices inconsistent. Planners comparing caterers want options they can understand quickly. Defined packages with clear add-ons make quotes faster, make your pricing defensible, and leave room for custom work where it is actually worth the time.
What you get
Marketing planning.
Before anybody designs anything, I figure out what you are selling, to whom, and what has to happen every week.
- A written position: what you sell, to whom, and why you over the alternative
- The offer, defined tightly enough to put a price on
- Which channels get effort and which get ignored
- A weekly rhythm somebody can actually keep
- What gets measured, and the threshold that triggers a decision
How it goes
For a catering company, step by step.
→ Keep scrolling. It moves sideways.
One long conversation
Your numbers, your best customers, the jobs you wish you had more of.
Narrow it
Most plans fail from doing six things badly. I pick two.
Write it down
One page. If it needs ten, it will not survive a busy month.
Set the review
A date to look at it honestly and change it.
Step five is you.
The free Receipt shows what your catering company should fix first. About half a minute, no card.
Print my Receipt →
Questions
What caterers ask.
Should I stop taking small events?
Maybe, but decide with numbers, not frustration. Small events can be steady and low-stress, or they can tie up a weekend that a bigger booking wanted. A minimum, or a separate drop-off menu for small orders, often fixes it without turning anyone away.
When should I start planning for wedding season?
Well before it. Couples book far ahead, so marketing for next year's weddings runs during this year's season and through the winter. The plan sets what goes out when, so the effort lands while couples are still choosing, not after they have signed with someone else.
Does charging for tastings make sense?
Often, especially when tastings take real time and real ingredients. Some caterers credit the fee toward the booking, which keeps serious couples happy and filters out people looking for a free dinner. The plan is where you decide, then the website states it plainly.
Same service
Marketing planning for other businesses.
Where I work
Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Start here
See what your customers see.
The Receipt looks your catering company up the way a customer would and itemizes what is costing you calls. It is free. Or skip it and book fifteen minutes with me.
Or text (508) 546-9942