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Creative Restaurant Marketing Strategies to Boost Your Business

What specific steps are you taking to grow your Restaurant?

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you’re confident that your restaurant is one of the best in your city or town. At some point, your customers have even praised you for making such a delicious meal.

You felt on top of the world.

But, you’re still stuck. Not knowing what to do to get more customers. You reasoned that too many restaurants are spring up in your city. And competition will grow even stronger.

Here’s the solution: You need to stand out in through effective marketing.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been running this awesome “spot” for few years, you can’t do without marketing.

You may not attract angel investors, but at whatever level you operate right now, you can boost your sales – in the same manner Pinocchio’s Italian Eatery increased their sales by 16.7%.

Focus on achieving consistent daily sales. Because that’ll determine your weekly average, then monthly, and more.

Having said that, here are the 25 simple and creative restaurant marketing ideas that will work for you:

1. Engage local food bloggers

You can’t successfully promote your restaurant all by yourself. You need the help, audience, and expertise of other food bloggers.

These influential online entrepreneurs can promote your restaurant on social media networks and niche-specific discussion boards.

You may have heard stories about succeeding as a single body. It’s not entirely true. The local food bloggers of this internet-driven age understand what you’re trying to do, so they’ll go all out to help you.

Business is about relationships and team building rather than going solo. The overall victory seen on the outside can be broken down to individual input of a larger crowd.

So how do you engage local food bloggers?

Well, you can invite them to share their cooking tips with your website audience. You may even host an event and invite a handful local food bloggers as keynote speakers.

Most of these local food bloggers have built up a strong following on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They can help amplify your marketing efforts – and drive more customers to your restaurant.

2. Grow your email database

Are you building your email list?

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?

In case you’re not aware, it’s a fact that if you’re not capturing your website visitor’s personal information (e.g., email address, phone numbers, address), you’re not truly in business.

Sooner or later, you’re going to hit a deadend in your business.

As a restaurant owner/marketer, don’t be left out of this. Email marketing is not only for digital marketers, local businesses can take advantage of it, too.

However, when you pay attention and study your market, you can actually add more email and phone subscribers to your list – from those who are interested in foods and restaurant.

Building targeted list will produce better results for your restaurant business. Here are proven means to get it done effectively:

• Collect phone: Often times, you would have people call-in to make reservations, ask questions about your menu, cuisines, services etc.
• At the point of purchase: You can give a voucher or discount coupon to your customers who come to dine at your restaurant, on the condition they give their mobile phone/email.

Putting up a good creative show can equally help you add more targeted customers to your list. In this case, even timers to your restaurant will drop their mobile phone number/email, once they have derived a value from your event.

You can find out the opinion of the majority of your customers before moving on with your messaging.

With your targeted list, you can either use a bulk SMS or email autoresponder to send your customers special bonuses/freebies, especially during occasions of their birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc.

3. Build a tribe with your landing page

A tribe is simply a loyal group of customers who believe, trust, and will do anything to buy from you. Building a tribe takes time, and it’s better done with a landing page.

Restaurant owners are becoming aware of the need to build new landing page for their campaigns.

A landing page is your web page with a single purpose. When potential customers visit this page, it’s a good opportunity to get their opinions, feedbacks, emails, phone numbers, etc.

Getting it done the right way is the only way to get the right results. So, here are a few suggestions:

• Let your landing page load within 2 seconds: The human attention span is 8 seconds. Consequently, you need to build landing pages that are insanely fast, on both desktop and mobile devices that your audience uses to access it.
• Set the tone you desire on your landing page: Make it clear what the landing page is for. If you’re giving early access to a new recipe or food club, then your page must be about nothing else.

4. Get active on social networks

Are you actively promoting your restaurant website and center on social media networks?

Michael Lukianoff, Fishbowl’s chief analytics officer told CNBC in an interview that “social media gives smaller, independent, and regional [brands] a level playing ground to get their message/voice out.”

In other words, you can’t compete successfully with other restaurants without a strong presence on social media.

There are so many social media platforms, (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+), but you’re not required to use all of them.

Through years of experience with restaurant businesses, I can boldly say that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and the best – you should focus on them.

On the flip side, you don’t have to take my word for it. You need to find the social networks that suits your brand and stick to them.

This you can find out by clearly getting to know the kind of audience your brand serves, your industry, the social marketing technique that works best for you.

Above all, only share relevant information on these social channels. That’s the only way to differentiate your restaurant from others.

Your relevance can be looked at, from the quality of the content you share on those channels.

Use the resources available to you, to create beautiful content you so desire, in the forms of mobile apps, and source for useful information online.

Sharing useful and relevant information is important, but you share it matters, too.

For example, take a look at what Grubhub is doing. Among other things, they make you want to eat the food – just by the way the presented it on their website.

5. Have a functional, and professional website

You need a functional website to stay above the fold.

For you to be seen as an authority by your industry, your website must be designed to be practical and useful and professional.

Gladly, a Phoenix-based restaurant inc

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I effectively use social media for my restaurant marketing?

To effectively use social media for restaurant marketing, focus on platforms like Facebook and Instagram where you can engage with your audience through visually appealing content. Tools like Buildfire allow businesses to integrate social media feeds directly into their apps, enhancing customer interaction.

What are some creative ways to grow my restaurant’s email list?

Creative ways to grow your restaurant’s email list include offering discounts or exclusive content in exchange for email sign-ups. Platforms like Buildfire make it easy to manage and automate email marketing campaigns.

How do I engage local food bloggers to promote my restaurant?

Engage local food bloggers by inviting them to exclusive tasting events or collaborating on content. This can help amplify your marketing efforts and drive more customers to your restaurant.

What should I include on my restaurant’s landing page?

Your restaurant’s landing page should include clear calls to action, contact information, and engaging visuals. Buildfire, for instance, offers customizable templates to create effective landing pages.

How can I ensure my restaurant’s website is professional and functional?

Ensure your restaurant’s website is professional by using a clean design, easy navigation, and mobile responsiveness. Regular updates and integration with tools like Buildfire can enhance functionality.

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Which of these restaurant marketing ideas have you executed? Share your opinion.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is local SEO and why is it important for restaurants?

  Local SEO is the process of optimizing your restaurant’s online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. It is important because it helps your restaurant appear in local search results, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

• How can retargeting ads benefit my restaurant?

  Retargeting ads can help bring back potential customers who visited your website but did not make a purchase. By reminding them of your restaurant, you increase the chances of converting them into paying customers.

• What are some effective ways to optimize website images for SEO?

  To optimize images for SEO, ensure that you use descriptive file names, include alt text, and compress images to improve loading times. This helps search engines understand your images and improves your site’s performance.

• Why is building a relationship with delivery services important for a restaurant?

  Partnering with delivery services allows your restaurant to reach a wider audience by offering delivery options. This convenience can attract more customers and increase sales.

• What should be included in a restaurant’s marketing funnel?

  A restaurant’s marketing funnel should include stages that cater to customers at different points in their buying journey, from awareness to decision-making, with targeted content and offers at each stage.