26 Ideas on How to Market a Restaurant — Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Competition in the restaurant industry has touched an all-time high, especially since the Covid-19 crisis set in. Each restaurant is battling to create a space that competitors cannot crumble.

Through this article, we list out 26 marketing ideas and strategies that can create a huge positive impact for restaurants. It will help you develop your business and win the attention of all hungry-struck customers.

1. Photographs

Food photography can bring customers to you in seconds. One of the most important ways to promote a restaurant online is to use superior quality photos of food that will look irresistible and drool-worthy. Visual content across the restaurant’s website and other social media pages can attract hungry foodies to you.

Clicking high-quality photographs is possible even with normal smartphones these days. Your photographs could also be clicked by professional photographers if your budget allows you to hire them.

Use proper lighting to highlight the great aspects of the food that you serve. Research about lighting for food and then set upon the task to provide a great output of photographs.

2. Loyalty programs

Establishing a partnership with online food delivery apps should mandatorily find a place in the restaurant marketing plan.

A partnership with online apps will motivate visitors to learn about your restaurant via games and customer loyalty programs (offering visitors a discount for a certain number of visits or any free purchase).

You could also use the traditional way of handing out punch cards. Although they would not look modern, they will still reflect the way you value your customers and seek their loyalty.

3. Yelp

Yelp is a powerful player in the restaurant industry. With a strong base of positive reviews about your restaurant on Yelp, you can create magic in the business.

As far as Yelp is concerned, people will be able to review your restaurant even if you do not have an account. Therefore, you, as a restaurateur must be proactive and use your Yelp account judiciously to make things work in your favor.

Details to add on Yelp:

• Restaurant timings
• Location
• Menu
• Prices
• Facilities — Parking, WiFi, Outdoor Seating
• Photographs

Add as many details as possible on Yelp.

Always react in a polite manner to feedback, both positive and negative. Keep thanking Yelpers. Create yourself an image of the gracious host amidst Yelpers so that they eventually begin trusting you and favoring you.

4. Google+

A Google+ account is as important as a Yelp account because:

• When businesses are searched using Google, its Knowledge Graph provides the details in the sidebar.
• This Google Knowledge Graph gathers information from Google+.
• Setting up the business on Google+ is mandatory to make the restaurant appear via the Knowledge Graph, thus allowing more prime search real estate, that too for free.

Motivate visitors to review your restaurant on Google+. This is because Knowledge Graph keenly aggregates user reviews on Google.

5. Geo-targeted ads

Winning the local market is winning the game. This is true for most restaurants as people are looking for good restaurants situated close to them.

So, investing in geo-targeted ads will:

Create great value

Save money

Ensure that only people in certain cities or within a specific radius see the ad

6. Instagram

Promote the restaurant’s best visual content through Instagram.

Post pictures of the restaurant’s interiors and exteriors, of the most preferred unique dishes of the restaurant, and build a brand identity that will impress Instagram users.

Either use existing popular hashtags or some new ones that offer an opportunity for users to have fun.

7. Email Newsletter

Newsletters sent via Email need not necessarily be weekly. You could even send them once every month so that subscribers are not frustrated with a flooded inbox.

Newsletters can be used to discuss new menu items, special discount offers or success stories.

8. User Generated Content

User-Generated Content (UGC) can help develop an intimate relationship with users.

You could request customers to share a photo of a meal that they liked in your restaurant and host a photo contest.

These entries can be shared on a dedicated page meant for the contest. Lucky contestants could be awarded a free starter or any other exciting prize.

Through such activities, customers understand that they are appreciated. Thus, they will soon become your devotional patrons.

9. Staff Stories

Highlighting the human element behind your restaurant business can do wonders. Joyful and smiling employees can help build a good reputation for your restaurant as guests like to be served by happy workers.

Pleasant employees are immediately noticed by guests who award you several points for running a business in a motivating environment.

10. Social Media Monitoring

Restaurants that have a strong social media presence perform better than others. Ignoring social media can prove to be fatal.

Create a Facebook business page and a Twitter account so that you can share information about special discounts, photos of new dishes, food coupons, or your new achievements.

Do not stop with setting up accounts. Keep updating them continuously for better results.

11. News articles

Whenever you are mentioned in a newspaper or magazine, use the opportunity to boast about your good publicity on your restaurant website and social media.

Your fans will eventually spread the message and new guests will be encouraged to visit the restaurant in person.

12. Google Alerts

Whenever the name of your restaurant appears in a new piece of content on the Internet, Google Alerts will send you a notification. With this, you can easily keep a track of people talking about you and your positive side.

13. Blog

Blogs help to build a community of like-minded people. It will be an enlightening way to engage with customers. You can experiment with the restaurant’s personality through your blogs. Share literally everything about your business that your readers might find engaging — your success, downfalls, funny incidents, staff accolades, recipes, etc.

14. Invite Food Bloggers

This could be of great help especially if you are a new restaurant. Invite food bloggers to your restaurant to try your food. Find out if they will be willing to review your restaurant online.

While some bloggers might decline to visit or share positive feedback online, the more you request, the greater are the chances of leading them to accept your offer.

Food bloggers with a huge fan following can have a huge impact on your restaurant even if they do just one write-up or make a mention about you.

15. Keep online details accurate

Restaurant details like address, phone number, timings, menu, etc. should always be accurate and updated on the Internet. This is because 89% of consumers search online before they set out for dining.

16. Brand Identity

Build a brand identity keeping the target audience in mind.

Keep in mind the choices that your target audience makes. Do your patrons prefer healthy eating? Do your guests enjoy a beer-and-wings vibe better?

Reflect the answers to such questions in your social media platforms and other promotional materials.

17. Tweet Timing

Time your Twitter Tweets to precisely target hungry stomachs. Craft and schedule tweets at different times of the day. Tweeting during breakfast, lunch, and dinner time could attract better responses from the hungry crowds.

18. Functional Online Menu

Publishing a high-quality, easy-to-read menu is very important for users who wish to order food online. Visitors must never be made to scramble the website just to locate the Menu icon. Keep the menu and the prices updated.

Remember, your menu is the most important detail that an online visitor is looking for. Give your customers access to your online menu. Otherwise, they will turn to your competitors.

19. Partnership with delivery services

If you offer ease of use, you have won the hearts of the visitors.

Partnering with online delivery services is essential to streamline the food ordering process.

Most of today’s internet-savvy population love to order food via delivery platforms like GrubHub, DoorDash, Foodler, Delivery.com, Seamless, etc.

Through these food delivery apps, customers might even notice you for the first time.

20. Discounts and coupons

Offer a free dish to new subscribers of your monthly newsletter. Advertise a discount through your website and social media platforms to get customers running to you before the discount period ends.

21. Online Reservation

Use online reservation tools to enable customers to make table reservations online. This would excite existing and new customers alike.

22. Mobile Ads

Users are mostly searching for dining choices when they are on the move. So, it is wise that restaurants make optimal use of mobile ads.

Half of all paid clicks on Google this year will come from the mobile. Conversion rates through mobiles are also impressively higher. So, use mobile ads that are much cheaper than desktop ads.

23. Business Cards

Encourage customers to drop their business cards into a bowl placed in the restaurant. Choose a lucky customer for a reward like lunch for the winner along with 5 friends.

Use these business cards to get your hands on original Email ids. Mail customers information about discounts and offers going on in the restaurant.

Persuade them to subscribe to your newsletters too.

24. Food Truck

Starting a food truck is a herculean task. It can prove to be expensive too.

But, through a food truck, you can take food to people who might, otherwise, never come in contact with it.

25. Local Ingredients

When ingredients are sourced locally, your customers will support you more vehemently. This is because foodies love to eat local food made with local ingredients. This will help you build a positive image in your local community.

26. Special day observances

There are several days every month meant for certain causes or observances. Restaurant-friendly days can be identified and used effectively to provide discounts, offers, content, or events to attract customers to the restaurant.

Some of the restaurant-friendly days special are:

• February — National Pizza Day
• March — National Baked Scallops Day
• April — National Picnic Day
• August — International Beer Day
• September — National Food Safety Month

Having read the exhaustive list of restaurant marketing ideas, you could have, by now, deciphered that owning a professional restaurant website is the most important prerequisite to initiate any digital marketing strategy.

Use an intelligent, modern, functional, cost-effective, and easy-to-use restaurant website builder to create a restaurant website professionally — within minutes.

Restaurantify is one such restaurant website builder. They offer hundreds of aesthetic and customizable restaurant templates that are gadget compatible. These templates will allow you to enable online food ordering and receiving online payments. Tailored exquisitely for restaurants, they offer an easy-to-use interface that can help you retain existing customers, attract new ones and foster business development during the Covid-19 pandemic situation as well.