10 Marketing Tips and Ideas for your Restaurant
Marketing your restaurant can be challenging due to the fierce competition and constant change in consumer behaviours. You may feel as though you don’t know where to begin or which experts to source to support you with your marketing activities.
There’s no one best way to market a restaurant as there are many things to consider which is why we have created a list of our 10 top marketing tips and ideas to help get you started.
1. Follow the latest trends on social media
Social media is effectively a free marketing method! You can connect and interact with current and potential customers to attract them to your restaurant through regular posting, commenting, and reacting. To utilise social media, it is important your restaurant keeps up to date on the current trends. Posting content focused around popular trends is likely to increase post engagement and keep your audience interested. Currently, some popular trends on Instagram are the use of reels, influencers and the ‘’Add Yours’’ collaborative threads on stories. To discover how your restaurant can benefit from influencers, check out our other blog.
2. Build a website with marketing in mind
A good website will need to be clear and easy for people to read, use and navigate. For a website to be successful, you need all the relevant information about your restaurant available in an attractive and logical format. To do this, we would recommend the use of pop-ups to showcase your current offers and events, pictures and videos to display some of your most-loved dishes. Make sure your email and phone numbers are clickable for a good user experience on mobile. A location map on your contact page which with a click button takes them to Google maps will also help your visitors to easily find you.
You should also encourage visitors to connect. You can do this by having a newsletter sign up button and social media links. You may also want to showcase your Instagram or TikTok feed. Alongside this, we would suggest linking to OpenTable and delivery sites so your customers can book a table or order a delivery within a few seconds.
3. Sponsor a local event
Sponsoring a local, community event is a great way to increase brand visibility in your location. As well as reaching people who attend the event, you also have the opportunity to promote your restaurant within their marketing collateral like social media posts, newsletters, local press releases and on the organiser’s website.
4. Run a Google Ads campaign
Google Ads are a remarkably effective way to gain more exposure for your restaurant, allowing you to target guests who are actively looking to book a table at a restaurant like yours. You can target geographically as well as target people based on their demographics and interests. However, this method can be expensive so we would recommend that you keep a close eye on the performance of your Ad campaign to ensure you are achieving a good ROI. To monitor your ROI, don’t forget to set up your conversion tracking – linking your website and booking system to Google.
5. Write regular blogs for your website
Blogs are a great way to increase organic traffic to your website as regular posting will increase your visibility on Google. It is also a great way to highlight to your potential customers what is happening at your restaurant. Include offers, competitions, events, new menu options and other news pieces that help tell your story. Blogs help your restaurant to stand out from the competitors, increase your company’s brand awareness and support your SEO.
6. Get on TikTok
TikTok may seem too young, fast and confusing for restaurant marketers. But it’s worth overcoming those hesitations. TikTok is a rapidly growing platform with over 1 billion monthly active users, giving restaurants the power to reach thousands of potential customers. TikTok has the opportunity for restaurants to showcase staff, share promotions, work with influencers and show their playful side. The hashtag #restaurant has had 623.4M views to date. To learn more about how powerful TikTok can be for your restaurant read our blog on The Power of TikTok for Restaurants.
7. Get to the top of Google organically and lower your Google Ad cost
SEO is the process of improving your position in search results to rank higher by enhancing your website through content, backlinks, keywords and website speeds. Ranking higher in search engines increases your visibility giving you more opportunities to convert consumers into paying customers. Do not ignore your Google Business profiles – add posts, photos and encourage reviews – these should be responded to. To learn more about Google Business profiles check out our blog!
8. Send regular emails to your customers
Email campaigns allow you to personalise your content and communicate directly with your customers building your trust and credibility as a business. It is an effective way of updating your customers on any promotions, new menu items or limited-time special dishes – all of which is an incredibly powerful way of enticing customers to visit your restaurant. You can even take your emails to the next level with enhanced personalisation – set up a VIP group or send birthday messages for example.
9. Connect with local micro influencers to get them to promote your restaurant
Micro Influencers vary from those who have a high following on Instagram, to those who are well connected in your local area. They are a fantastic way to reach a new audience and build trust and credibility as those who follow your chosen influencer are likely to have confidence in their recommendations and will view your brand in a similar light. Make sure you have a strategy and plan for how you are going to manage influencers. Offer your chosen influencers a free meal or discount in exchange for content shared on their channels.
10. Hold social media competitions and promote giveaways
Running competitions on social media is a clever way to build a larger following, generate bookings and increase post engagement. Giveaways have a conversion rate of 34% giving you the opportunity to rapidly grow your business and generate sales. Before you post a giveaway, think about what you want to achieve from it. You might want to gain more reviews, collect data for re-engagement, increase footfall on quieter days or create brand awareness.
How we can help
We are a full-service marketing agency specialising in helping your restaurant to get found online, increase your covers and grow.
At Appetite we understand how stressful it can be to know where and how to reach your audience. Our skillful team take away the stress and pressure of managing your marketing, leaving you to focus on delivering the highest level of service and giving your customers an unforgettable dining experience.
Our flexible marketing packages can include; marketing strategy & planning, local SEO, email marketing, social media management, content creation, websites & graphic design, PR, and digital advertising. We track absolutely everything and share our analysis with you, so you understand the ins and outs of what gets customers through the doors and more importantly return again and again.
Our packages are built around your needs and budget.
Get in touch
We hope you have found these marketing tips useful and they have given food for thought. If you would like to find out more about our marketing services and how we can help your restaurant, call us on 01494 396366 or email appetite@whitecommunications.co.uk.
