Having the best food in town doesn’t mean much if nobody knows about it. Here are some ideas for marketing your restaurant.

Top 10 Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Here are 10 creative restaurant marketing ideas to attract customers and keep them coming back.

1. Local SEO – You need to show up when potential customers search your local area. You want to rank in the top three Google map spots when people search specific keywords to get the most traffic. To get the best ranking in local SEO, get good reviews that create trust. Encourage people to review your business on Yelp, Google, Facebook, etc., and respond to any negative ones. Use Google My Business to share your hours, address, contact information, photos, and reviews. Claim your business on Yelp, Foursquare, etc. Be consistent with your name, phone number, and address. Update your website and make sure that every detail is correct.
2. Social Media Challenges Or Contests – A social media contest is a fun way to gain more followers, boost your brand visibility, and get more customers to check out your restaurant. Try a giveaway contest that asks people to tag their favorite dining friend. If the winner has never dined with you it’ll give them a way to try your restaurant risk-free.
3. Hashtags – Hashtags can help build brand awareness, increase engagement, and bring in customers. Consistently using a hashtag will increase customer engagement and builds a community. A popular hashtag will grow your customer base and bring online followers to your restaurant. Use local hashtags so that your posts show up in your area. Pay attention to how many hashtags you use, too many can be annoying and decrease engagement and not enough can be ineffective.
4. User-Generated Content – Using content that followers post can save time and money. People trust recommendations from other people more than sales-y branded content. Use content from regular people, such as photos of their food. User-generated content is usually seen as an indicator of a trustworthy or reliable brand. When other people promote your brand it’s like them giving you a great review. Using content from followers helps you connect your brand with people on a human level and feel authentic.
5. Web Design – A great web design allows the dining experience to begin before the customer even walks into your restaurant. Use your website to show people the atmosphere, your drinks, and menu items. Make sure that your site is mobile-friendly since hungry users are probably using a smartphone to quickly find a restaurant.
6. Boosting Posts And Sponsored Ads – When you pay to advertise your posts you can choose your target audience, location, etc. Boosting a post is paying to advertise a post that’s already on your Facebook or Instagram page to get more traffic. An advertisement is a post you create specifically to generate leads, clicks, or conversions. Paying for boosted posts and ads give you access to analytics that can help you grow.
7. Loyalty Program – Start customers in your loyalty program by collecting their emails through a website, a landing page pop-up, or social media. Loyalty programs keep customers coming back to get free items or coupons.
8. Blog – Blogging is a great way to help you get found online by sharing recipes, tips and tricks, or the story of your restaurant. Use can also use your blog to tell local customers about local activities and events that you’re a part of. When people read your blog they are spending time on your website. Which tells search engines that your website is relevant and useful. Which leads to your restaurant ranking higher in search results.
9. Email Marketing – First, build your list using a pop-up on your website or a landing page to collect emails, or collect them in your restaurant to manually add later. Once you have your list, start crafting email campaigns and automated emails. You can email customers your menu if it changes, send out the weekly specials, tell them about upcoming events, create exclusive discounts for subscribers, and share your restaurant’s story or history. Provide subscribers with quality content and they’ll keep opening your emails and engaging with you.
10. Influencers – Invite influencers to try your restaurant and ask them to post photos or their thoughts about your food. If you can get a food influencer in to try your restaurant you can take advantage of their massive following and gain some loyal customers.