Restaurant Marketing Strategies To Boost Your Revenue in 2024

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A restaurant’s success is directly proportional to its marketing plan.

However, restaurant marketing is a tricky business. You not only need to create a good first impression but also be able to make customers come back again and again.

Further, with the changing needs and wants of customers, it has become difficult for restaurants to play their marketing cards right.

But if restaurateurs turn to the right restaurant marketing tips, drawing in customers and boosting sales isn’t going to be a difficult task.

In this article, I am going to discuss some of the most popular restaurant marketing strategies. From creating memorable experiences to using social media to gain exposure, I am touching base on almost all aspects.

So if you’re looking for some tips on how to market a restaurant effectively, THE RIGHT WAY, then keep reading!

Why Is Marketing Important for Restaurants?

What would happen if you don’t deploy a proper marketing strategy for your restaurant?

Well, the answer to this isn’t something you would like.

You’d fail to attract new customers and end up with only a handful of them. Going forward, even your existing customers may not be aware of your menu, new cuisines, or discounts that you offer.

Simply put, your restaurant’s business growth would slow down and eventually come to a standstill

Hence, if you want to run a successful restaurant business, then be ready to invest in promoting your brand. And for that, you need to implement effective marketing strategies at your restaurant. 

With the help of innovative marketing ideas for your restaurant such as digital marketing, social media platforms, and viral marketing, you will be able to reach out to a large audience.

Moreover, if done correctly, they can even help you gain the best amount of business in no time.

Which Are the Best Restaurant Marketing Strategies?

Before you start marketing, you need to understand who your target market is i.e millennials, the older generation, families with kids, or couples.

The clearer you are about your audience, the easier it will be to plan and select the right restaurant marketing strategies.

We’ve listed down the most effective restaurant marketing ideas for you to implement and understand better. Have a look at them below:

1. Research and analysis

When it’s about the promotion strategy for your restaurant, a proper analysis of the past and present is the first step for devising a long-term strategy. It helps you to have a good and thorough overview of your restaurant. 

This means, you should monitor the different marketing plans executed during the year, how effective they were, the sales they generated, which were your peak and weak seasons, and a lot more.

For this, you’d need to perform 2 major kinds of analysis:

1.1. Competitor Analysis

Well, this goes with a saying – keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Having said that, when you are forming a restaurant marketing plan, you cannot overlook on how and what your competitors are doing. 

So, find out the various strategies they are implementing to enhance their sales and attract customers.

If they are doing better, you can learn from them what to do. If you’re doing better, then learn about what NOT to do.

1.2 Target Audience:

Know about what type of guests visit your restaurant, whether they are youngsters, families, couples, corporates, etc.

Figure out the purpose of the visit; is it a party, anniversary, get-together, or just a casual lunch or dinner?

Also, try to find out and list some qualities of your guests, such as their attitude, expectations, likes, dislikes, type of cuisine they prefer, and so on.

Getting hold of such data can make your plan and implement the right set of strategies. So make sure you USE THAT WISELY.

2. Design your restaurant’s website

Having a website for your restaurant business means you have your brand presence in every part of the world.

However, it’s no hidden fact that many restaurateurs do not consider it essential to have a brand website. This is because they’re already getting a good number of customers and their brand has a recognized name in their city.

But here’s what you are missing out on! Well, it’s not just about getting customers or being famous, but you also need to ensure that you are in line with the hundreds of competitors emerging every day.

Hence, if you want your restaurant to expand, then you’ve got to get a professional website. This not only opens up opportunities for a larger audience but also boosts your sales.

For instance, if any of your guests recommends your restaurant to his friends or family, their very first step would be to look for your website.

A survey found, 77% of diners visit a restaurant's website before they dine in or order. So if you don’t have a web presence, then you might not be on their list. 

Showcase the best of your restaurant on your website by adding those amazing pictures of your location, ambiance as well as signature dishes. 

You can also keep your customers posted on any promotions, such as festive menus, lunch deals, combo packs, and even happy hours.

3. List your business on Google

Fact stands, Google receives 5.6 billion searches per day (on average). Moreover, according to a study:

There are over 63.5 million searches every month with some derivative of “restaurants near me” on Google alone. 

So, firstly get your restaurant business listed on Google My Business Listing (GMB). Include all your details like name, description, phone number, address, hours of operation, photos, menu, and so on.

Google has made it easier for restaurants to become more discoverable and showcase the best of their menu items. You can also add your restaurant’s menu directly on the Google My Business platform.

Here, when a user searches for “Your Restaurant”, it will display the information you have given to Google along with a link to your menu. (You can also upload and edit the menu that is displayed.)

Google also allows your guests to directly review or message from the site itself, thereby connecting them with you instantly.

4. Drive sales through local SEO

The current pandemic has significantly changed the way the food and beverage industry once operated. It has led to a tremendous rise in safety measures favoring social distancing.

Gone are the days of having long waiting queues, filling every seat, and hosting DJ nights and parties till 2 AM at restaurants.

Now, F&Bs are more focused on having strict safety protocols, and restrictions on capacity, and offering new ways of dining, such as contactless services.

It has made people search on the web for various information about the restaurant; thereby making online presence and use of the right keywords a necessity. 

Once your business is listed on GMB, update the on-page SEO or local landing pages by making alterations to title tags, meta descriptions, and H1 tags. 

These updates will keep your customers informed whether your restaurant is open, the hours of operation, and the services offered.

Along with that, it’ll simultaneously boost SEO for search queries such as “COVID-19 safe restaurants near me” or “hygienic restaurants near me.” 

Both these updates on GMB listing and local SEO give restaurants a substantial boost to search queries and help you welcome more customers.

5. Give a try to online advertising (Ads)

When it comes to digital marketing for restaurants, online advertising holds a prominent spot. These ads have a low barrier to entry as they are easy to set up and can start with a very small budget too.

If we take the example of Google Ads, it allows you to create and display ads on the Google search engine or on the Google Display Network.

Further, they provide you with all kinds of free customization and targeting options that bring the most out of your bids.

Give a try to Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads as well. Each of these ad platforms has its own unique features and target audience to gain maximum customers.

You can also create an awesome brand video of your restaurant showcasing some of the mouthwatering dishes and promote that video on all the social media platforms. 

Moreover, ads let you choose the RIGHT target audience you want to cater to; let that be age, gender, interests, location, city, etc. 

They have the capability to boost your online presence, increase your customers, and yield you a positive ROI.

If you’re looking for a restaurant advertising platform where you only pay-per-result, you could consider Bloc ads.

You’re charged only if a customer from their app actually visits your restaurant (using geo-location technology). It’s also quite budget-friendly costing £2 per customer (inc. VAT).

6. Develop your brand identity

Building a brand for your restaurant and creating an effective identity has a huge and direct impact on your potential as well as loyal customers. 

Your brand is something your restaurant is best known for. Having such a unique identity will have an unparalleled outcome on your customers, social media, ads, and other marketing strategies.

The first step to building brand identity is to KNOW your target audience. Here when we say know, it doesn’t just include the age group but also their likes, dislikes, preferred cuisine, and a lot of other demographics.

Your brand identity should be built around your target patrons i.e. are the majority of your guests health-freak, families, or teenagers?

Figure out what your potential customers would ask for at your restaurant. Once you have an entire chronicle of the targeted customers, you are all set to build a unique brand for your restaurant.

Post that, flaunt your brand identity on every social media platform, advertisement, and other promotional campaign.

7. Work on your ambiance

Consider it secondary, but the ambiance is one of the important factors your diners acknowledge before choosing any restaurant. If you don’t have an appealing ambiance then your customers might give a second thought to visiting your restaurant.

Let your ambiance be the USP (and also one of the key marketing tactics for your restaurant). When your guest selects your restaurant, it’s not just the food they consider, but rather the whole experience.

While reviving the ambiance of your restaurant, keep hygiene at the top of the list. None of your guests would appreciate eating food in a shabby place.

Right from good music, and spacious and comfy places to the lights of your restaurant and alluring art on the walls; everything should be taken into consideration. An appealing ambiance has the ability to attract more guests.

If possible, create a space or a corner called a SELFIE area to stay in line with the trend. This will attract more guests and also enhance your branding when they upload such pictures on social platforms.

8. Promote contactless services

Contactless hospitality is the new normal. Customers at your restaurant expect modern touch-free services from your end. 

You can grab such customers’ attention by highlighting the contactless or digital services of your restaurant on social channels, websites, and every platform that reaches your guests.

Below are some ways to promote them:

• Share a QR code or link to your digital menu.
• Provide an option for selecting when and where they want to dine.
• Encourage takeaway, delivery, and curbside pickup orders.
• Share their bill via SMS, email, or WhatsApp.
• Ask them to make payments digitally via payment gateways, cards, or bank transfers.

Touch-free services help you to speed up your operations and deliver a delightful experience to your guests.  

Right from ordering to receiving payments, contactless services enable you to offer your guests a safe and secure dining experience.

9. Implement a digital menu and online ordering

Your menu is the most eyed and essential aspect of your restaurant marketing. And, with the changing expectations, a digital menu is the new talk of the town.

Here you can switch to a QR code-based digital menu with an online ordering option for your guests. 

This helps your customers to easily check out your menu, select what to order, and directly place their order from their smartphones. 

Having an easy-to-understand and well-designed digital menu also favors your customers to choose your restaurant over the competition.

Ensure that your menu is mobile-optimized and has a font that is good for the viewer’s eye. You can also consider including images beside your dishes. 

Just like Starbucks has shown on the online ordering portal, Zomato below.

Because most users like to stalk your restaurant online before actually visiting. Showcasing such images online encourages them to visit you and order mouth-watering cuisines.

10. Food – make the most of it!

Food is certainly at the core of any restaurant business and you definitely CAN NOT compromise this important aspect.

The food you’re serving is the trademark of your restaurant. It acts as a differentiating factor from your competitors.

Now the question is, how can you use food as a part of your restaurant promotion?

No matter how strongly you boast about your restaurant’s service, location, and brand; NOTHING, absolutely nothing can match the quality of the food that you serve. 

There is no love sincerer than the love of food.

So, be consistent with the food you are serving. Also, make sure you often add some new and really toothsome delicacies to your menu.

For example – potato tornadoes, Turkish ice creams, Nutella-dipped chocolate brownies, and so on.

This will definitely attract more customers to your restaurant in search of the delicacies you offer and their craving to try something new.

11. Begin with social media marketing

While planning your restaurant marketing strategies, social media can NEVER be left out. It is a platform that helps you to reach your audience effortlessly.

Living in an era of food porn, social media platforms are bustling with several pictures of delicacies. If you want your orders to roll in, then take advantage of social media platforms to promote your restaurant online.

When approaching the digital era it is necessary to walk hand-in-hand with the latest trends, especially when it comes to restaurant promotion.

We know, there are several social media platforms, but when it comes to food Instagram is the King, Facebook is its Queen.  

Here’s how you can effectively perform social media marketing for your restaurant:

a. Facebook

Create your restaurant business page and get started by posting regularly.

Do consider posting some high-resolution pictures of your food with some catchy and mouth-watering description that induces your followers to visit your restaurant. 

Also, post videos of various cuisines and events taking place at your restaurant; followed by creating an event on your Facebook page.

Ask your customers to check-in to your restaurant and make attempts to gain as many followers as possible.

b. Instagram

Instagram is the most trending social media platform. Here you can gain more customers by posting delicious images and videos of your famous cuisines.

Similar to Facebook, set up an Instagram business profile, and start engaging with your guests. 

Moreover, NEVER do a post without a hashtag; ALWAYS consider using the right hashtags to reach a maximum audience.

Also, regularly run different contests and create a unique hashtag for your restaurant; making it trending on every post that you do. 

Give equal importance to videos. For example a slow-mo video of your chef kneading pizza dough, or a boomerang of lasagne being baked in the oven, or any of your signature dishes being garnished.

Lastly, give a try to the newest addition – Reels. They can help you reach a 2x audience. And, keep the engagement consistent by sharing the content regularly.

If need be, hire a social media expert too. These restaurant marketing strategies may take some time to come into action, but they’ll yield long-term benefits. (Check out other  social media promotion ideas for restaurants here.) 

12. Get listed on food ordering portals

Well definitely, gone are the days when guests had to actually visit your restaurant to eat a meal or get a takeaway.

Times have moved to serve your customers at their favorite place – their doorstep.

And, one of the best restaurant marketing strategies these days is to get your restaurant listed on food delivery portals like Swiggy, Zomato, Foodpanda, Dineout, and more.

Becoming a trend, they have brought convenience and comfort in just a matter of clicks i.e ordering online.

That’s why connecting or listing your restaurant on these food delivery portals will help you get a gleaming online presence.

With this, you are open to accepting and catering to all your online orders in real-time and even and reach to a wider clientele. You can also offer discounts, combo meals, promo codes, and so on.

Listing on these food delivery portals enables you to boost your sales as well as increase the reach of your restaurant.

13. Run promotions

Running effective promotions is one of the certified restaurant marketing tactics to increase sales and business.

Promotions can be offering coupons, discounts, happy hours, Tuesday or Saturday night deals, takeaway discounts, and so on.

You can also consider running promotions on festivals and special days (if you found them fruitful previously). For example, Republic day, Valentine’s day, etc.

You can even make your own days, for instance, celebrating vegan day – get a 20% off on all the vegan food.

Set some really interesting and easy-to-attract promotions that will actually bring the visitors back to your restaurant.

This can be like – Get 10% off on Sushi on your second visit. Get free fries on your third visit and much more.

14. Run a loyalty program

Making efforts to repeat customers should always be on your mind. They are likely to get you more business by sharing experiences with their connections.

For this, make use of Loyalty programs; a traditional as well as a profit-making restaurant marketing idea.

Such programs include offering memberships to guests and in turn presenting them with reward points to get discounts or free meals on their next visit to your restaurant. 

You can also run these programs by offering them reward points on the total amount of their bill. For example, if their bill total is 50 USD; then on their next visit they get a free soup or starter.

The reason why you should include loyalty programs in your restaurant marketing plan is, they increase your brand value, repeat customers, and eventually enhance your restaurant business too.

Besides, it works best for filling the slow periods in restaurants. If managing your loyalty programs is a major concern for you then you can opt for restaurant loyalty program software.

15. Participate in festivals and events

Food festivals and events are an excellent podium for the restaurant to showcase the best they’ve got. Getting along with such food festivals is an ideal way to connect with more customers and market your brand. 

Some famous food festivals like the Gourmet High street or Bacon festival or Pizza fest receive enormous crowds. And, participating in such events will bestow your restaurant with a golden opportunity to highlight the best delicacies and attract more customers. 

Moreover, you can personally connect to a large potential audience and market your restaurant better. The most important advent of getting along with such events is, you can collect more customer data and feedback too.

Also, know about the improvements (if any) you can make and see what specialties other restaurants offer.

16. Connect with food bloggers

One of the most powerful restaurant promotion ideas today is to attract the crowd with the help of social media influencers aka food bloggers. 

An influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility either in a specific industry or a city. They have a large fan following and can persuade their audience through their words and recommendations.

It’s really easy to contact and approach them through email from their social media handle.

Partner with such bloggers and provide them incentives like discounted food or drinks to show appreciation for their effort or even free dining experiences. And, in exchange, they will share that experience with all their engaged followers.

In case you’re planning to introduce a new dish or revive your restaurant’s ambiance, then this is the best time to invite an influencer.

These food bloggers don’t only write about the food, they tend to share their thorough experience with your restaurant.

Their audience trusts what they say and thus they can substantially increase your website reach and customers too.

17. Start with a Blog

We know blogging may seem like the last thing you want to do for your restaurant, but this can be a great way to engage with your guests.

It is one great strategy to promote your restaurant as well as its branding. Through blogs, you can share recipes, promote your cuisines, give tips and tricks, or highlight the story of your restaurant. 

Additionally, you don’t need to be posting regularly, but it’s good to have a restaurant blog setup that might help you when you want to make any huge announcements or host events, and so on.

Lastly, keep your blog as simple or comprehensive as you want. Besides, if you don’t feel like writing, consider focusing on visual content in your blog, and use just a small amount of text for context.

18. Manage your reviews

The importance of online reviews these days has reached another high. However, managing reviews and reputation remains a neglected aspect. And more or less, reviews can either be a blessing (positive ones) or a curse (negative ones). 

So, make sure you proactively reach out to your guests for feedback. Getting good reviews will definitely increase branding as well as customers. Moreover, taking reviews itself is not enough, you need to manage them well.

Getting a negative review will have a bad impact on your business. But, replying to them correctly and on time will help you to overcome the bad remarks.

Take out time to respond to each of them (especially the negative ones). Also, highlight a few on your restaurant’s website (if you have one). This will show that you really care about their views.

Besides, having multiple 5-star reviews will encourage your guests to choose you over any other restaurant.

19. Make use of email, SMS, and Wifi marketing

Email and SMS marketing is still one of the most essential marketing tactics for restaurants.

Certainly, with a social messaging platform like WhatsApp in the picture, you don’t need to rely on anything else.

However, SMS and email still play their own role of importance. All you need to have is a proper list of email IDs and contact numbers of your customers.

This will help you to inform your guests about the happy hours, deals, offers, and promotions you are running at your restaurant.

If you have enough resources, you can also create a newsletter to send to the customers. Moreover, highlight the new dishes you’re introducing, some health tips, and more in the newsletter to make it more attractive.

Remember to personalize such emails and SMSes. And that, not every email you send should be promotional. Provide your subscribers with quality content; so the open rate of your emails is higher.

Apart from these, WiFi marketing (i.e offering free WiFi) is another great way to fetch your guests’ data.

This means, providing free WiFi at your restaurant, will encourage guests to visit again and spend some quality time.

It will create a detailed customer profile that includes their contact information, at the time they log into your WiFi.

Over time this will help you build a list of thousands of customers. You can then send automated marketing messages or emails by filtering and adding them to your list.

20. Offer freebies

Customers love freebies. A gift, a takeaway, a souvenir, or even a small token or gesture of appreciation can go a long way. Restaurants can offer freebies in a variety of ways.

You can either give a complimentary shot, a welcome drink, or a dessert (if they are your regular guests). Some other ideas are – free WiFi, 1+1 meals, additional discounts, and so on.

Such freebies might cost you a small amount but will definitely make your guests happy and likely to visit you again.

21. QR code marketing

Lately, QR codes have taken the world by storm. It is now bridging the gap between traditional and digital marketing.

And doesn’t matter whether you’re a new small restaurant or a giant with chains, QR codes must be a part of your restaurant’s promotional strategies.

Without a doubt, QR codes are one of the best ways to market your restaurant. But to milk its benefits, you must know the right places to put your QR codes.

Here’s a real-time example:

Rajat has recently started a Japanese Restaurant. And from Day 1, he has witnessed a great number of customers coming in. While the taste of food is certainly a factor in bringing repeat guests, billboard banners are also one of the major factors.

But what is so special about those billboards?

On every billboard advertisement, Rajat has placed a QR code (big enough to be visible and scanned), and the ads read “Hey Osaka! is offering free sushi platter. Scan this QR code to grab yours. (of course, terms and conditions apply.)”

Every time someone scans the QR code they are redirected to a form and upon filling it the user receives a personalized code that s/he needs to show at the restaurant for their free sushi platter.

This is one brilliant example of the use cases of QR codes. The marketer can decide where they want to redirect their audience with that QR code.

So, if you haven’t considered betting on this methodology of marketing then it is time to do so. 

22. Proximity marketing

Proximity marketing is an advertising method that allows businesses to target customers based on their location. And it is indeed one of the best ways to market a restaurant.

If you’re completely unaware of this particular type of marketing, restaurants use location technologies like Wifi and Bluetooth and deliver marketing content whenever you’re close to the restaurant.

Let’s understand this in simple terms.

You’re strolling in the streets of Indiranagar, Bangalore and suddenly you receive a notification about a Sports Bar that is now telecasting live football matches.

Not just that. It also offers a discount and tells you how to go to the bar.

Isn’t this something really exciting?

Proximity marketing in the restaurant industry has gained great traction in recent times and it’s for all the obvious reasons. 

It allows you to market your restaurant to your customers at the right time and place. Also, it entails creating highly personalized and relevant marketing messages which can deliver outstanding results if combined with the right tool.

Also Read: Why and How to Use Proximity Marketing for Your Restaurant?