12 Marketing Ideas for a Small Restaurant

In this guide, I’m going to share with you the best marketing ideas for a small restaurant specifically.

These ideas have helped our small restaurant customers establish their restaurant on the market, attract customers, and build strong connection with them.

Plus, many of these small restaurant marketing ideas have helped our customers win patrons from their much bigger competitors.

So, without any further ado, let’s do it.

Why Marketing a Small Restaurant is so Challenging?

It’s fact, with limited scale, resources, and so many other restaurants nearby, even the idea of marketing your small restaurant might seem daunting.

After all…

You (most likely) have a limited budget .

With profit margins around 3% – 6%, it’s hard to imagine your small restaurant to be able to afford big-scale marketing initiatives.

With small premises, fewer tables than the big guys, and lower revenue as a result, it’s only understandable that you might not have significant financial resources to implement advanced marketing strategies.

You’re facing high competition, too.

The restaurant industry is saturated with options, especially in urban areas. As a result, smaller restaurants like yours often struggle to stand out against larger chains or established local competitors that have more resources for marketing and customer retention.

Being small often means that you don’t have as easily recognizable brand and name as larger restaurants.

As a small restaurant, you actually need to first build your brand identity.

This includes creating a unique selling proposition (USP), logo, and voice that resonates with your target audience. And that’s no small feat.

You also depend a lot on the local foot traffic.

Small restaurants often have to rely heavily on local customers and foot traffic.

The problem with this is that today, patron’s dining choices are increasingly influenced by online reviews, social media presence, and digital marketing, which can be resource-intensive for a small restaurant like yours to maintain.

Finally, you need to drive word-of-mouth with fewer patrons.

Word-of-mouth is crucial for small restaurants but not only it requires proactive strategies like community engagement or unique events to sustain momentum. It also needs huge volumes of happy customers, people who could tell others about your small restaurant.

Unfortunately, with smaller restaurant means fewer numbers of potential promoters.

All that said…

…your unique situation does not mean that you have to solely rely on stroke of luck to succeed.

You can market, grow your small restaurant, and ensure new and repeat business, and more.

And here are the best marketing ideas to help you make it happen.

1. Create a Google My Business Profile

Google My Business is a free tool from Google that helps local businesses (incl. small restaurants, of course) control how their company appears in the local search results.

With Google My Business (GMB for short), you can control what information is displayed when people search for small restaurants like yours, what keywords or business categories you appear, and promote it with additional information:

• Photos
• Menus
• Customer reviews, and more.

Here’s an example of small restaurant listings in local search results. All the information you see is controlled by each restaurant through the Google My Business platform.

In other words, with GMB, you are in charge of how patrons find your small restaurant in Google, and also, what information they find there.

2. Collect as many online reviews as possible

Today’s patrons rarely just venture into a restaurant. They conduct at least some research before finding a place to dine in. As part of the process, they pay a particular attention to what others are saying about the place – its online reviews.

In fact, quite often, it’s the number of positive reviews and star ratings that attracts them to a restaurant’s listing, particularly in Google.

So, it’s safe to assume that the more (positive) reviews you have, the greater your chances for being noticed.

There are many ways to collect (or entice patrons to leave) reviews:

• Ask them in person as they leave the restaurant
• Offer an option to leave a review as patrons access your free WiFi
• Email them after the visit with a quick survey, and more.

NOTE: My platform – MyPlace – helps you collect email addresses from patrons at your restaurant, and then, use that list to boost your reputation with post-visit review prompts, NPS ratings, and automated feedback requests.

3. Work on your local SEO

Local SEO is a specialized area of search engine optimization designed to help local businesses (shops, restaurants, coffee shops, services businesses, and more) appear prominently in local search results and attract local customers.

However, I imagine that the above sounds like a mouthful to you, than anything. So, let’s break down this definition:

When we talk about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in general, we mean strategies aimed at increasing a website’s visibility in search engine results (like Google).

Local SEO, however, focuses exclusively on improving visibility in searches tied to specific geographic locations.

For example, someone searching for a phrase “Best restaurant” doesn’t necessarily have a local intent. For example, the person might be interesting in finding out what was the most successful restaurant in the world ever, and not in a particular place they could dine in that day.

However, someone searching for “best Italian restaurant near me” clearly seeks recommendations for local businesses that match their criteria (in this case, an Italian-themed restaurant).

Positioning a website for the former phrase requires general SEO strategies.

But to rank for the former, you need local SEO.

In other words, Local SEO ensures that your small restaurant will feature prominently in local listings when users search for relevant dining options within your particular area, city, town, or even a postal code.

4. Become more active on social media

I admit that social media can seem a serious time drain. However, one misconception about using social media to promote a small restaurant is that you need to be engage with your audience all the time.

No, you don’t.

Sure, you shouldn’t remain quiet on social media for too long. But you also don’t have to be present every day.

In fact, you can use social media scheduling platforms to schedule messages and visuals to showcase your food, ambiance, and the staff ahead of time.

5. Run Geo-targeted ads

One of the major objection small restaurants have for running ads is the cost sunk into non-local clicks. And it’s a valid concern.

After all, you don’t want anyone who’s not in your target area to click on your site. Such click would cost you money (and your budget is tight, after all) but deliver zero value, since the person is too far away to actually visit your small restaurant.

However, ad platforms like Google Ads or Facebook allow you to run geo-targeted ads, meaning that your ads will display only to customers in a specific location or within a specific radius of your restaurant.

6. Build a simple website

This advice may seem like a no-brainer but keep in mind that many small restaurants don’t have a website.

Some rely on the information they post on social media to convince customers to try the food.

Others focus entirely on offline marketing and local foot traffic.

But the reality is that patrons might want to check your menu before visiting the restaurant. Or get a feel for your prices, the decor, and many other factors.

Google My Business profile allows you to showcase some of that. But many customers will still want to visit your website.

I do that, too, when searching for restaurants to visit. I research a restaurant in local search results but invariably, I will want to see what it offers – the menu on the website.

Granted, you don’t need a fancy website. You just need a small online presence that will introduce your restaurant, showcase your best dishes, and your menu.

7. Communicate with customers through email

Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing ideas for a small restaurant. It really is.

With email, you can stay connected with patrons after they’ve visited your place. You can keep them updated on new dishes, showcase your best food, promote events, and ultimately, earn their repeat visit.

It is also a relatively cheap restaurant marketing idea. Most email marketing platforms cost very little to get started, and some even offer free plans for business with initial, small email list.

Unfortunately, I often hear small restaurant owners complain about one particular issue that prevents them to get started with email marketing:

Collecting customer emails and building an email list.

It’s a valid concern, of course. After all, you cannot launch any email marketing initiative if you don’t have anyone to email.

But at the same time, building an email list isn’t as complicated as it might seem:

• You can collect customer emails on WiFi, as patrons access your guest network.
• You can ask them for email on checkout, or at least, show a prompt for them to sign up.
• You can run social media contests that require signing up for your list to participate, and more.

NOTE: My platform – MyPlace – helps you turn your guest WiFi into a full marketing engine.

With MyPlace, you can – capture guest emails as they sign up for your free WiFi, – customize guest WiFi experience – boost online reviews and feedback – synchronize the data with your restaurant CRM, and more.

Find out more about how MyPlace can help use your guest WiFi to market your small restaurant better.

8. Offer seasonal specials

Naturally, the are more pros than cons of having a set menu.

– Set menu is more cost effective. Coupled with insights on customer preferences, it allows you to easily track costs and expenses at your small restaurant. – It also works best to keep regular customers coming back. After all, it might be their favorite dish served your style that keeps them to visit your restaurant over and over again.

But there is also a great marketing benefit in expanding the menu with seasonal specials.

Offering limited-time dishes based on local events, festivals, seasons, or any other events related to your restaurant’s theme might spark curiosity in new patrons and entice regulars to visit your more often.

9. Engage on review platforms

I’ve discussed the benefit of collecting online reviews already.

But there is another review-related marketing strategy that you could employ.

That strategy is responding promptly to reviews.

Think about it. What sort of an image a restaurant owner who dedicates their time to respond to reviews – thank reviewers, address their concerns, etc. – paints about their venue?

A highly positive one!

Seeing them actively engaging with online reviews communicates dedication to customer experience and satisfaction – the two factors that customers often look for when using reviews to select a place to visit.

Again, just like with social media, you don’t have to spend an awful lot of time managing reviews. A couple of minutes every morning might be enough to check for any new ones, and thank for and respond to those comments.

10. Encourage referrals

Referrals, like word of mouth, can truly be the biggest marketing strategy for a small restaurant.

After all, you don’t have the same budget or resources as a chain of restaurants, nor can you base your promotion on being a well-known brand.

But you can encourage patrons to simply refer you to (or bring) their friends and family.

Naturally, this isn’t the simplest strategy to do. For one, there isn’t one action that you could take to encourage referrals.

However, here are just some ideas of what might help you spark referrals for your small restaurant:

• Offer small rewards like a free appetizer, dessert, or drink for every successful referral. Alternatively, provide discounts on future visits for both the referrer and the referred customer.
• Assign unique codes to customers so they can easily share them with friends. This also helps track referrals effectively.
• Ask customers to post photos of your food or restaurant on social media in exchange for small perks like discounts or freebies. This creates organic buzz and reaches their network.
• Identify loyal customers (e.g., frequent diners) and personally invite them to participate in your referral program. Tailor rewards to their preferences, such as offering a free bottle of wine if they bring in a group of friends.
• Collaborate with nearby shops or services to cross-promote each other’s businesses. For example, leave flyers about your referral program at their location and offer to do the same for them.
• Finally, Ensure top-notch service and food quality so that customers naturally recommend your restaurant to others without needing incentives.

11. Create loyalty programs

Loyalty programs and referrals are often seen as quite similar.

Well, in truth, they are not.

• Referrals aim to help you expand your customer base to your patrons connections.
• Loyalty programs, on the other hand, help you to entice more patrons to return to your small restaurant over and over again.

A loyalty program is a system designed to reward your regular customers for dining at your restaurant. It encourages repeat visits by offering small, meaningful incentives in exchange for their continued support. These rewards can include discounts, free items (like appetizers or desserts), or other perks that make customers feel appreciated.

For a small restaurant with limited resources and budget, a loyalty program doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. It can be as simple as giving customers a punch card, tracking their visits, or offering rewards based on how often they dine with you.

The goal is to build a stronger relationship with your customers, turning them into loyal patrons who return often and recommend your restaurant to others.

12. Boost communications with in-store signage

Most of us think big restaurant chains when we think of in-store signage. All these places have their fancy posters, point-of-sale displays, window displays, and more.

But you can use in-store signage to promote a small restaurant, too. And do it on the cheap, and utilizing the limited space you have available.

Here are some ideas for that:

• Chalkboard or Whiteboard Menus: Use chalkboards or whiteboards to list daily specials or seasonal dishes. This is easy to update and adds a personal touch.
• Highlight Promotions: Clearly display promotions or discounts on these boards to encourage customers to try new items.
• Hang banners inside to promote loyalty programs, referral incentives, or special events like themed nights. (TIP: Use banners with removable graphics so you can change promotions without needing new banners.)
• Use decorative signs that match your restaurant’s theme to enhance the dining atmosphere.
• Hand-Painted Signs: Create unique, hand-painted signs that reflect your restaurant’s personality. This can be a cost-effective way to add character.
• Use Local Artwork: Partner with local artists to create custom murals or signs that become a focal point in your restaurant.

And that’s it…

These are the absolutely best marketing ideas for a small restaurant.

Most of these require very little (or even) no budget, and can be done with the limited resources you have.

So, good luck!