21 Proven Restaurant Marketing Ideas: This is How You Promote a Restaurant

Peadar Gormley • December 6, 2024

This is the most comprehensive list of marketing ideas for new and established restaurants.

It will show you how to establish your restaurant in your locale, let potential customers learn about it, and attract them to visit you for the first time. You’ll also learn how to scale your business by attracting repeat visits, building loyalty, and expanding your market presence.

Here are the marketing strategies we’ll discuss:

Creating a strong brand
Developing a unique USP
Google Business Profile
Local SEO
Food delivery services
Online menu
Online reservations
Setting up high standards for quality service
Social media presence
Social media contests
WiFi marketing
Review management
Email newsletter
Loyalty programs
Paid ads
Coupons and discounts
User-generated content on social media
Online reputation monitoring
In-store signage
Try out events
Customer feedback

It’s a lot to cover. However, before we get to the good stuff, we need to discussing an important issue…

Why Promoting a Restaurant is So Challenging?

It’s a fact, running a restaurant is no small feat.

The business itself is quite complicated in nature, and customer demands for quality are pretty high (and growing.)

On top of that, there’s restaurant marketing.

It’s something you simply CAN’T ignore (unfortunately, the “build it and they’ll come” option rarely works in real life.)

At the same time, it’s quite a challenging thing to undertake, and that’s for several reasons.

1/ High Competition

Unfortunately, the numbers here are quite staggering:

According to the National Restaurant Association, in 2023, there were 749,000 restaurants in the US. Granted, there were over a million of restaurants before the Pandemic, but the level of competition still remains high.
What’s more, the market continues to grow. 10,608 new restaurants opened in 2023. That is 5.7% more than the year before.
The average metropolitan area in the US has about 17 restaurants per 10,000 residents (source)

So, it goes without saying, just opening a restaurant and hoping patrons would come is not a sustainable marketing strategy.

You need to proactively reach out to and connect with the market, and continuously entice patrons to visit and return to your place.

2/ Limited Budget

Another unfortunate factor affecting a restaurant’s ability to market itself well is the typical small margin that restricts its marketing spend.

Luckily, as you’ll shortly see, not all restaurant marketing strategies require major spending, and you can successfully promote your restaurant even on a tight budget.

3/ Changing Consumer Preferences

I admit that this might or might not be a factor affecting your marketing.

It might if you operate a restaurant with a specific food theme. In that case, evolving food or dietary trends might affect your ability to attract the market.

In that case, much of your marketing might revolve around adjusting your offering to align with the market preferences.

4/ Customer Retention

With so much choice, customers are becoming less loyal to a particular restaurant. This results in difficulties with turning first-time patrons into regulars, and that’s even after a highly satisfactory visit.

5/ Staff Turnover

Without a doubt, turnover is one of the most grievous problems plaguing practically every restaurant.

In fact, 79% of restaurants report being short at least one position in 2024 (source) And the average restaurant staff tenure was just 110 days. (source)

Shocking…

But high staff turnover not only affects your ability to work on day to day basis. It also results in inconsistent service quality that affects customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth.

Restaurant marketing ideas I’ve listed below aim to help you overcome those issues and promote your restaurant so that your business can scale.

Here they are…

Best Marketing Ideas and Tips for When You’ve Just Opened

1. Create a strong brand

I realize that brand is an elusive term. We often consider it practically synonymous with a logo above your door and on the menu.

And yet, there is quite a bit more to a restaurant brand than this.

A restaurant brand embodies the restaurant’s unique identity. It communicates its values, and develops an emotional connection with customers.

This, in turn, shapes customer perception of a restaurant and develops loyalty.

In practical terms, a restaurant brand includes:

The restaurant’s identity (which actually is the logo, the name, etc.)
The story which explains the concept behind the restaurant, it’s origin story, the values, etc.
Menu and culinary concept: The type of cuisine and unique offerings that define the dining experience.
Atmosphere and ambiance: The design, decor, and overall feel of the restaurant.
Customer experience: The service quality, interaction, and emotional connection with guests, and more.

Naturally, if you own a small, single location restaurant, you don’t need to the same lengths in building the visual identity as you’d when operating a chain.

That said, a strong brand (with everything that it includes) will create the first impression, and build connection with your target market.

FURTHER READING: Building a brand identity for a new restaurant

2. Develop a unique value proposition

Value proposition is another a bit elusive concept in restaurant marketing, but it’s one you absolutely must understand and then, implement.

In simplest terms, restaurant value proposition is what makes your restaurant different from other establishments in your area. It sets you apart from the competitors by targeting and fulfilling specific customer needs.

However, a restaurant value proposition is more than just an idea you think of for your restaurant. Granted, it starts that way but the actual value is based on several aspects of your business. For example:

Unique offering: This might include signature dishes, unique culinary focus, or exclusive menu items.
Target market appeal that targets specific demographic or customer preferences (e.g., families, foodies, health-conscious diners, etc.)
Differentiation that explains what makes the restaurant distinct. It could be that you’re using only organic ingredients, or a fusion cuisine, or cultural authenticity.
Price Positioning. Your pricing strategy can also serve as a differentiator. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to be the cheapest. Far from it. Many restaurants successfully use their premium pricing, combined with unique differentiation, to target high value customers.

Now, developing a unique proposition is a process. It’s not something that can usually happen over one sitting. But do invest time into it. Your value proposition will be the first thing that will attract people to your door.

3. Set up Google Business Profile

I’m sure you’ve heard the name, Google Business Profile (or Google My Business, a name by which this product’s been known in the past) before.

It’s a free tool provided by the search engine that helps local businesses (incl. restaurants, of course) to attract more customers by boosting their online visibility.

Google Business Profile (GBP) is all about allowing you to control how your restaurant is presented in local search results.

For example, when someone searches for “best restaurant near me,” a well-optimized GBP profile will help your restaurant stand out.

That’s because GBP results are featured in Google Maps and the local pack results, meaning that customers immediately learn more about your restaurant than just its name.

With Google Business Profile you can showcase your menu, post photos, and manage customer reviews.

Customers searching for restaurants will also see your star ratings, reviews, etc. which can further entice them to check out your place.

Here’s an example of what a typical GBP profile looks like in search.

To get started, set up your Business Profile here.

4. Work on local SEO

Local SEO is a branch of search engine optimization strategies that aims to position companies and attract them customers in local search results.

Now, I understand that this definition contains several unique concepts so, let’s break it down a little:

SEO (search engine optimization) is a marketing strategy that aims to improve website (or company) visibility in search engine results (like Google.)
Local SEO is a branch of SEO that focuses on local search results only. This means that it focuses on positioning the business and its website in local listings for searches relating to a physical location (area, town, city, zipcode, etc.)
Local search results target search queries and keywords that customers use to find a local business.

Here’s an example of local search results for the keyword “best restaurant near me.”

(NOTE: I am based in Ireland and Google shows results that are local to me.)

And needless to say, as a purely local business, local SEO is one of the most important marketing strategies for your restaurant.

This is the strategy that ensures that your restaurant appears prominently when customers search for things like “best restaurants near me,” “best pizza near me,” “best restaurant for families,” etc.

Naturally, the actual keywords you’ll target would depend on the type of restaurant you run, your unique positioning, and the type of people you want to attract.

TIP: The best way to uncover those searches is by conducting extensive keyword research for your market.

Local SEO is an extensive strategy, encompassing several aspects of your website and online presence, from Google Business Profile optimization, to website optimization, citation building, and more.

SUGGESTED READING: Local SEO for Restaurants

5. Create an online menu (and ideally, a website)

FACT: Not every successful restaurant has a website. However, most have some form of an online menu.

Both a website and online menu help you target, connect with, and attract potential customers.

Website allows you to avail of local SEO fully. You can still create Google Business Profile without it. But if you want to truly dominate the local search results, you’d need a website.

Online menu allows customers to check what you’re offering, compare you with others, and make a fully informed decision about visiting your place.

Again, this is important because in this day and age, when the cost of living is continuously rising, customers are less likely to try out a new place without at least gathering some information about it.

And let’s face it; the first thing they’ll want to know is what sort of food do you offer on menu (and those more budget conscious patrons might also want to know your prices.)

TIP: You can feature a link to your website or online menu in Google Business Profile, ensuring that customers who find you through the search engine be able to learn more about your offering.

6. Work with food delivery services

Most restaurants offer a take out option. It’s not a must have, of course but it’s a great way to expand the business.

At the same time, many customers choose to order food, rather than visit a physical location, giving you an opportunity to scale your business.

The thing is, most such people will not turn to Google to look for food to order.

They’ll use food delivery services like UberEats, GrubHub, or DoorDash.

By joining those services, you can present your restaurant as a great option for those customers at home.

TIP: Research the commission fees for the service you’d like to use, along with any additional fees it might charge. Some of these services can charge up to 35% commission, and also charge you for menu charges, etc. which can eat into your already tight margins.

7. Add an online reservation option

It’s true, going to a restaurant in hope to get a table may seem thrilling… but only if you do get a table. In the opposite scenario, it’s actually quite a let down.

Calling a restaurant to book ahead is fine but not everyone has the time for it.

But everyone today can (and are willing to) make a booking online.

That’s why, an online reservation and booking system is practically a must for any restaurant, new or old.

With a proper online reservations system, you’ll allow customers to view available tables, book their visit, and edit or amend the booking if they need to do so. And they’ll be able to do it conveniently from their computer or mobile device.

8. Set high standards for customer experience

We rarely think of customer experience and customer service as marketing strategies.

And yet…

According to Helpscout, 71% guests will not visit a restaurant again after just one poor customer service experience?
A just one-star increase in a restaurant’s Yelp rating correlated with a 5-9% increase in revenue. (source)
75 percent of consumers will not visit or patronize a restaurant with negative reviews about its cleanliness. (source)

Needless to say, customer service is directly linked to word of mouth your business receives. And that directly affects how many new and returning patrons you’ll see coming through your door.

Naturally, setting up standards for customer experience isn’t as simple as listing some general suggestions for staff and keeping the restaurant clean.

But they are a great place to start.

SUGGESTED READING: How to improve restaurant customer experience

9. Get on social media

For a restaurant, social media presence is beyond a must-have. I do realize that my statement may sound pompous but consider this…

90% of mobile users decide where to eat within 24 hours of searching online. (source)
Nearly 50% of restaurant patrons in the US share food photos on platforms like Instagram.
Not to mention that restaurants that actively engage on social media experience higher customer interaction and brand loyalty.

Of course, such statistics paint only a partial picture. That said, no matter what data you look up, it will confirm that, together with local SEO, social media is one of the most important marketing strategies for a restaurant.

After all, many people today learn about great places to eat on social media. They spend quite a lot of time on those platforms, too, and much of that time is spent sharing and seeing recommendations from others.

Social media helps restaurants stay in touch with their customers unobtrusively. Even a simple fact of sharing photos of new dishes can be a great way to keep your restaurant on top of the customers’ minds.

So, join the most relevant social media platforms for your audience. In most cases, these will be Instagram and Facebook but, depending on your audience and location, there might be others.

Develop a strong social media media plan. Decide what you’re going to be posting (TIP: Your competition might be a good source of inspiration here.) But be realistic here. You’ll rarely have the time to post a couple of times per day. But even 2-3 posts a week will help you start making waves about your restaurant.

TIP: Invest in a social media scheduler tool. There are many such platforms available, and each will help you schedule your social media posts in advance.

SUGGESTED READING: Restaurant social media tips.

10. Run social media contents to spread the word on your new restaurant

Contests seem like one strategy that’s best reserved for established restaurants.

But that’s actually far from the truth.

In fact, for a new restaurant, contests provide an opportunity to spread the word about the business, and start building brand awareness among potential customers.

For one, social media contests can boost engagement significantly. For example, restaurants running contests see a 34% increase in social media engagement. This means that, potentially, 34% more people were actively exposed to the brand. (and by actively I mean that they have engaged with the brand’s content, meaning they’ve become actually and consciously aware of the brand.)

Not to mention that restaurants using contests also report an average increase in followers of 7% over a short period, helping to build their online community and audience. (source)

There are many different types of social media contents you can run:

“Like, Follow, or Tag to Win” to build up your audience
“Leave a Review”
“Best Plate Shot”
“Caption This Dish”
“Recipe Guessing Game”
A “Menu Item Creation Contents”
And many more.

TIP: Match the type of the contest to your current social media and marketing goals. For example, if you aim to grow your social media audience, focus on contests that require participants to share something with their network. If you want to convince your audience to visit your restaurant, use contests that promote dishes and would make them intrigued about your place.

11. Get started with WiFi marketing as early as possible

Today, free, guest WiFi is practically a norm. Customers expect it in every restaurant. For many, a lack of guest WiFi is often a reason not to visit an establishment.

But did you know that your guest WiFi can also be a powerful marketing machine?

The term – WiFi marketing – refers to strategies that restaurants and many brick-and-mortar shops use to:

Capitalize on the free access to WiFi they provide to customers.
Collect their customers’ contact details.
Promote the business or deals or promotions.

This typically happens in several ways:

Requiring a signup with email. In this case, companies use guest WiFi to collect their customers’ contact details and add them to the mailing list.
Requiring social signup. In this case, the person begins to follow the company on social media in return for access to its free WiFi.
Promoting deals and promotions on the signup page.
Running ads.
Running loyalty programs,
Asking for ratings or reviews, etc.

All this happens through a simple process.

A guest decides to connect to a free WiFi.
So, they look up the network and tap their mobile device to connect.
However, before they can start using the network, the company requires them to sign up either by email or through social media.
The login process happens on a page we call a captive portal. This page simply captures the person’s contact information and acts as a gateway to connect them to your free network.
Once captured, the data is added to your CRM or email marketing list.

How you can use WiFi marketing to grow and promote your restaurant?

First of all, your captive portal can show customers ads, promotions, and any other information you want them to see.

You can show them videos, images, social widgets that they could tap to connect with you on social media, and more.

You can ask them to provide a rating or review of your restaurant, too.

And then, you can use the data captured to trigger highly targeted email marketing strategies.

SUGGESTED READING: What is WiFi Marketing?

Marketing Ideas that Will Help You Scale an Established Restaurant

12. Ask for (and respond to) reviews

The role reviews play in a restaurant’s success cannot be refuted.

After all….

61% of diners check online reviews before visiting a restaurant. (source)
34% relying solely on peer review platforms like Yelp and TripAdvisor to decide where to dine. (source)
Among 18-34 year-olds, 53% state that online reviews are a crucial factor in their dining choices. (source)
Not to mention that customers often use star ratings and reviews when selecting places to dine in Google search results.

Now, reviews are difficult to attract when you’re only starting out. However, when you’ve established the restaurant, they should be the first marketing strategy to target.

There are many ways to attract and generate reviews:

Include prompts to leave a review on platforms like Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor on receipts, table tents, or posters.
Use WiFi marketing to ask customers for reviews. You can display prompts to leave review or even directly connect users with a review platform when they’re signing up to your guest WiFi.
Send follow up emails and texts asking for reviews.
Provide small incentives, such as a discount on the next visit or a free appetizer, for leaving a review.
Train your team to ask for reviews during interactions, particularly if customers express satisfaction with their meal or service.

The key is to consciously work towards getting as many (positive) reviews as possible.

TIP: Remember to interact with reviewers. Thank them for positive reviews, and respond to any concerns mentioned. Your responses will go a long way towards creating a positive image of your restaurant.

13. Send regular email newsletter

A newsletter is an ideal way to keep customers informed about your restaurant – new menu offerings, upcoming events, promotions, or even general updates that would keep your brand on top of their minds.

You don’t have to send the newsletter too often. In fact, too many emails from you might generate brand fatigue. But an email once a month, supported with a more regular social media campaign will be enough to keep customers remember about your place.

Here re some ideas for newsletter issues:

New menu items
Promotions
Upcoming events
Exclusive deals
“Behind the scenes” stories
Staff intros
Trivia and fun stuff, and more.

TIP: Use WiFi marketing to generate signups for the newsletter. Add their details to your email list, every time a customer signs up for your guest WiFi.

14. Develop loyalty programs

The goal of a restaurant loyalty program is simple: To encourage patrons to return and order from your restaurant again and again and again.

And it works.

Restaurants with continuous loyalty programs, on average, see a 20% more return visits, and an equal increase in order value. (source)
51% of consumers use restaurant loyalty programs (source)
Restaurants that implement effective loyalty programs often attribute a significant portion of their revenue to these members. (source)

There are several different types of loyalty programs you could run at your restaurant:

Point-Based System Customers earn points for every dollar spent, which can be redeemed for discounts, free items, or exclusive rewards.
Tiered Rewards Members unlock better rewards as they progress through tiers based on spending or visit frequency (e.g., Silver, Gold, Platinum levels).
Punch Card or Visit Tracker A traditional system where customers earn a reward after a set number of visits or purchases (e.g., “Buy 10 meals, get the 11th free”).
Spend-to-Unlock Perks Customers receive a reward or discount once they reach a specific spending threshold within a set period.

15. Run paid ads on Google and social media

Local SEO and social media are great ways to connect with potential customers, let them know about your restaurant, and entice them to check it out.

But they usually take time to generate results.

Of course, any effort you put into those is going to be well spent. But you might also need to supplement those strategies with something else, something that could deliver results quicker in the meantime.

And that something could be paid advertising.

Paid advertising relies on you placing small ads that promote your restaurant to highly targeted audiences.

There are many potential platforms to advertise, however, from experience I can tell that two of the best are:

Google Ads

Google Ads is an advertising platform by the search engine that displays your ads within the search results.

In fact, with Google Ads, you can create targeted local ads that will appear when users search for keywords relevant to your restaurant.

Instagram and Facebook Advertising

I’ve grouped the two platforms together as they’re not only owned by the same company, Meta, but they also work in similar way.

With Instagram and Facebook Advertising, you can display your ads in user’s feeds, reels, and stories.

This means that you can easily reach your target audience whenever they’re engaging with their social media feeds.

16. Coupons and discounts

It’s true, no business owner likes the term, discount. It suggests that you’re going to receive a lower margin from that sale.

But at the same time, discounts and coupons offer a fantastic opportunity to entice customers to return to your restaurant.

You can merge them with loyalty programs, to boost the effectiveness of those efforts.

You can also offer discounts through your WiFi marketing captive page, and collect more customer signups this way, boosting your newsletter in the process.

And remember, discounts don’t have to go on forever. In fact, the best discounts and coupons are time-limited. They create urgency and prompt more customers to act on them.

17. Encourage user-generated content on social media

One of the key objectives to focus on when you’re scaling a restaurant is getting more people to learn about you. And that is often best done when your existing customers create buzz and word of mouth about you.

Now, here’s a relatively simple method to do it: Encourage customers to share photos and reviews of their experience at your restaurant on social media.

You can merge this strategy with competitions or discounts to further increase the chances of customers posting about your restaurant on their feeds.

TIP: Share their content on your channels, too. Not only you will provide an example that others are already sharing about your restaurant. You will also support people who have already done so, and show them that you care about their support.

18. Monitor your online reputation

Yelp, Google, or TripAdvisor will notify you of any new reviews posted about your place so you can keep tabs on what people are saying about you there.

Social media platforms will do the same but only if someone tags you in their post.

And you’ll never get a notification when someone talks about you on their blog, Medium, or any other platform.

Which basically means that for most of the time, you are in the dark about the conversations happening around your brand.

Unfortunately, this also means that you cannot react, respond, thank someone for their comments, and further build up the community around your restaurant.

So, to overcome that issue, start monitoring what is said about your brand online.

Tools like Mention let you monitor for mentions of your brand online, be it on social media or generally on the web.

With tools like Podscan, on the other hand, you can monitor any chatter about your restaurant on podcasts.

19. Create engaging in-store signage

Granted, on its own, in-store signage may be nothing more than a decoration.

But if you merge it with other marketing initiatives: discounts, promotions, new dish announcements, review prompts, etc… well, it can become a powerful marketing tool.

Of course, your signage, and whether you even can display it, will largely depend on the your overall decor.

But if possible, create even subtle posters to promote your restaurants to patrons who are dining with you already.

20. Launch theme-based events

Events almost always result in at least some buzz around your place.

People post about them on social media.

They tell friends about them, particularly if they had a great time.

Not to mention that they often bring someone to an event, helping you introduce the restaurant to new audiences.

And you can quickly capitalize on this by launching theme-based events.

For example, if you run a family restaurant, you could host an Easter egg hunt event. Not only this would attract your target audience, families with your children. It would also get them talking about it to their friends, most likely other families with small children.

21. Collect customer feedback

Last but not least, constantly ask your customers for feedback.

But this time, I do not mean reviews. I mean actual feedback about their overall satisfaction with your place, or the likelihood of them talking about you to someone else (ie., NPS survey), the quality of service, the food, etc.

Their feedback will help you identify any areas where you might be falling short, and improve them to make your place even better.