Top 15 Best Way to Promote a Restaurant

Posted by Elias Haider on January 14th, 2021

Do you own a restaurant, and are you looking for the best way to promote a restaurant? Don't you know how to go about promoting your restaurant effectively? If so, obviously this article is made for you.

Here you will get 15 tips to boost your restaurant and attract new customers to your business. It is time for you to improve your restaurant's communication to make yourself known as a restaurateur.

Are you want to attract more local customers to your restaurant? Let's go!

1. Have a Website to Promote your Restaurant

You ask yourself how to attract customers to your restaurant? Start by showing yourself where people are looking for a restaurant, i.e., on Google.

To promote your restaurant easily, you absolutely must have a website that is correctly referenced, and that will give all the information that your future customers are looking for (your menu, your opening hours and days, your address, if you offer a delivery service, etc.).

Always remember that your business website is the heart of your restaurant business brand, and it's even more important now that the customer will be ordering online. And in order to be a real tool for attracting new customers, it will also allow you to retain your customers to encourage them to come back to visit you.

Make Sure it Contains these Items:

  • A simple home page that makes you want to visit your restaurant

  • An easy to read the menu

  • A registration form for your newsletter

  • Online command button (if you offer it)

  • Reservation button

  • Icons to your social networks

  • A page with your contact information and address

Make sure that the texts and images on your site are of the best possible quality, and encourage your visitor to come and taste the dishes at your restaurant. You can also present the history of your establishment, its owner, your team, and share customer reviews.

The more you succeed in creating a universe that is specific to you, the more successful your restaurant communication will be.

2. Use Restaurant Automation Software

Nowadays the restaurant business’s technology updating day by day. On the other hand, the restaurant business is popular and much more competitive. So if you want to long run your restaurant business you should use restaurant management automation software to beat your competitor. Restaurant management software helps you to minimize your manpower cost to manage your restaurant business and increase your ROI. In this system, you can manage your restaurant business’s A to Z restaurant workforce including billing as well.

3. Be Present on Social Media Networks

Creating Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages is an essential way to promote your restaurant business in a local market. It is essential that you can use at least one of them to communicate directly with your community of customers or prospects.

These platforms are also a great way to publicly display positive reviews from your customers to the rest of the world. Do not deprive yourself of it.

When it comes to catering, Facebook and Instagram remain the best platforms to promote you and your establishment. Instagram will allow you to publish beautiful photos of your establishment, your dishes, or your team. Now it is enough to attract customers to your restaurant.

Here are the main key points you should consider when posting to social media:

Post Images of your Restaurant

Make sure your photos are bright and full of color, so they stand out on social media and best represent your offerings.

Choose the Right #Hashtags

Using hashtags such as your “Restaurant Keyword” [Restaurant name] HappyHour, #restaurant [location], etc., or #pizza will also help you gain more followers and give your restaurant more visibility. Use them wisely.

Update Your Restaurant's Info

Social media is also a popular way to keep customers informed about your restaurant business's latest changes, such as new hours of operation, new company policies, or new products and services.

When you publish, the timing should be strategic. For example, feature a tasty food item or special dish a few hours before lunch, so customers have time to plan their order. Ideally, posting a photo of the food before eating is the best time to post in a restaurant.

Process Customer Reviews

If you have a Yelp account, Facebook, Google My Business, etc, now you can encourage customers to write reviews, and since these accounts exist even if you don't create one, it's essential to have an official Google My Business, Facebook, and Yelp account.

Whether reviews are negative or positive, always treat comments in a friendly and professional manner.

You can also re-share positive comments on your social media to give them even more weight and encourage new people to do so.

Measure Your Success on the Networks

Finally, don't forget to monitor the success of your social network using measurement tools such as Google Analytics, Social Media, etc.

With these few points, you have the basics to launch the communication of your restaurant on social networks.

However, we remind you that the management of these platforms is a profession in its own right and that if you do not know how to use these tools, it is preferable to opt for one of these options:

Delegate to a Community Manager

Form Automate its Platforms InstaSchool training is currently one of the best Instagram training courses to develop your account.

And for those most determined to boost their restaurant, here's something to learn more about using the Instagram bot and Instagram automation.

4. Integrate a newsletter into the restaurant's communication

Integrating an email campaign into your restaurant's marketing plan is a great way to promote your restaurant and build customer loyalty.

The concept is simple, ask your customers to register (through your website and when they dine at your house) to receive a regular email from you. Once registered, you can send them a daily, weekly, or monthly email to share a new menu, a promotion to encourage them to come back or remind them that they had eaten well at your place and that they are welcome to come back.

The most important thing in this medium is to be authentic and to provide real information to your customers. You have succeeded in making your restaurant known to these people, making them come back to boost your restaurant.

You don't know how to do it, read this article detailing how to do an email campaign.

5. Update the Menu Regularly

One of the best and trendy ways to promote your restaurant is to have regulars who come back regularly to taste your meals. They will then talk about it around them and promote your quality dishes.

And to encourage these people to come back, what better way than to offer them a menu that changes regularly?

Updating your menu regularly will encourage your customers to come back for a dish they love and which is available for a limited time or to go and discover your new products.

Are you having difficulty creating your card? Use Canva. It's free and easy.

Here are two examples of templates you can use for your restaurant communication:

6. Create a Customer Loyalty Program to Boost Your Restaurant

Nowadays, customer loyalty is more important than ever. If you don't start a loyalty program, now is the time to start.

A loyalty plan is an excellent way to retain your customers and promote your restaurant for free. People will tell their friends about it or compare the prizes they can have with their current points.

To implement this, several possibilities are available to you:

  • The good old card with a stamp on each visit

  • Use loyalty Programs

  • Innovate and Find your own way to retain your customers.

Incorporate this into your marketing plan now to make it easier to advertise your restaurant.

7. Come up with New Marketing Ideas for Your Restaurant

The number of restaurants is continuously increasing in all cities, so you need to stand out. For that, you have to do your tests, try new things, come up with new products and unique experiences.

Are there any unique products and services that you can offer? Are there any special promotions that can attract more customers to your restaurant? Your marketing goal should be to create a buzz among your customers or prospects?

Here are some examples of restaurant ads that can help you stand out and promote your restaurant:

  • Cooking workshops

  • Tastings

  • Event reception

  • Make one or more promotional videos.

After their meal, offer customers a sheet with a simple recipe to make at home. Offer a special promotion every day of the week.

8. Organize Contests and Competitions to Attract customers to Your Restaurant

Organizing contests or competitions related to your restaurant can be a great way to encourage interactions with your customers and liven up your social networks.

For example, suggest that your customers leave a positive review or comment on one of your Instagram posts, perhaps to be drawn and choose the name of the dish that will be released next month on your new menu. It's up to you to be original and consistent with the image of your restaurant. But I guarantee it will encourage word of mouth and attract new customers.

9. Use the Local Media to Promote Your Restaurant for Free

Try to send out a press release when you have news to share about your restaurant. You have sure also to share positive press on your website and social media network pages to promote your restaurant to local customers.

10. Use Effective Keywords for SEO

You now have your site to advertise your restaurant, and you have to be well referenced on relevant queries.

When thinking of keywords for your restaurant, try entering queries that you think your prospects will use to find a restaurant in your category and region, such as "[your city] restaurants," "[your category of food] [your city] "and" restaurants in [your city]. "

Now that more and more people are looking to take out restaurants and ordering online, your site's SEO is more important than ever.

11. Make Partnerships with Your Local Delivery Services

Nowadays, customers want to be able to order foods from most of the local restaurants through delivery services. You can also offer your own delivery services to meet these needs.

The market-leading applications are:

  • Deliveroo

  • Uber eats

  • Foodpanda and more

12. Offer Coupons and Discounts to Promote Your Restaurant

What better way to promote any restaurant's business than by offering savings? Join a local online savings site, such as Groupon, to provide discounts where customers are already looking for local deals.

13. Team Up with Local Suppliers

If your budget available, team up with a local vendor who already specializes in fresh produce or ingredients so that you can both cross-promote your brands as well. What could be better than making your restaurant known by the person who supplies you with the products?

When two companies have the same goals, it's a win-win situation.

Promote the products of the producer who supplies you by clearly specifying the origin of your restaurant's products to your customers, and he will recommend you to his customers who have been looking for a place to eat well.

14. Join the chamber of commerce in your Local

Membership in your local chamber of commerce gives you valuable access to the local community and the ability to host events and parties for members.

You will also receive a link on their website, which can help you rank in the search engines. It can also help you connect with mentors, advisors, and other professionals who will guide you in your efforts to boost your restaurant.

15. Boost your Restaurant on Facebook

I’m a digital marketer and I have already written a Step-by-Step Guide to Facebook Marketing for Restaurants, so you can learn and then implement it in your restaurant business. I think this article help you to promote your restaurant on Facebook very effectively because I discussed beginner to advance A to Z Facebook marketing tips. I think this article will help you very much and if you help with these exclusive and hidden tips content please share it with your social media.

Final Thoughts: How to promote a restaurant?

I hope these 14 best way to promote a restaurant will help you better understand how to promote a restaurant and attract more local customers to your business establishment. These Restaurant promotion ideas are very popular over the internet. Everybody in all restaurants loves these promotions strategies because for working, proven, and powerful strategy ever.

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Elias Haider

About the Author

Elias Haider
Joined: December 19th, 2020
Articles Posted: 1