5 Best marketing strategies for restaurant

If you want to get more customers, you need a marketing strategy for your restaurant.

In the past, restaurants relied on word of mouth and newspaper ads. Nowadays it’s all about digital marketing strategies for restaurants.

With so many options out there, it can be hard to know which ones are most effective and worth your time and money. This blog post will give you 5 tried-and-tested digital marketing strategies that work for any restaurant in any city or country!
Build a website for your restaurant that is mobile-friendly

Create a blog and use it as a content hub for your restaurant. This is free, and it allows you to share recipes, new menu items, events at the restaurant, etc. This is great for search engine optimization, so you can get more traffic to your site.
Also, go the extra mile by creating an online booking system for your restaurant (FT link). This will increase sales and allow customers to make reservations directly from the website. Google Analytics helps you track which channels are driving people to your site so that you can double down on the channels that are bringing you the most business.

Use social media to promote your business and marketing of your restaurant

Get on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are all great places to promote your business. You can also increase your reach by following popular accounts in the food industry.
For instance, if you’re a sushi restaurant in San Francisco, follow accounts like @SushiRestaurantSF and others in the same genre. That way they’ll likely check out your profile and consider following your page too!
Customers are on social media all day long. Make it easy for them to find you by creating profiles that accurately represent your business.

Invest in paid advertising on social media or elsewhere

If you want to get the word out about an event, special offer, etc., it might be worth investing in some paid advertising on social media.
For example, Facebook’s Boost Post option lets restaurants quickly increase the reach of any given post by targeting new people who have liked your page.
You can even target existing customers by age, location, interests, etc. You’ll need to experiment with different kinds of posts and see what works best for you!
If you’re not seeing the results you want from organic social media promotion, consider boosting those posts using paid features. Facebook is a good place to start to invest in advertising for your restaurant.
If you have a brick-and-mortar restaurant, offer online ordering
This is particularly effective if your business is based in the suburbs or another place where people don’t want to spend much time shopping.

Offer an online menu that customers can order from at their convenience. If you have a sit-down restaurant, consider partnering with a third-party delivery service like GrubHub or DoorDash. This way you can offer online ordering without taking on the risk of delivering your food.
In this day and age, if your restaurant isn’t easily accessible to customers from all walks of life, you’re going to lose business. Digital marketing strategies for restaurants are increasingly important to reach new people so that they know your business exists.

Create an email marketing campaign to reach out to potential customers

Email is still one of the most effective communication tools. Even more so if you give something away, like a free drink or appetizer at the restaurant.
For instance, if you own a bar in New York City, send an offer for free drinks to anyone who’s just moved into the area. Take advantage of automated email marketing software that sends emails to people according to their location, interests, etc.
Also, be sure to add the email address of the designated recipient in your signature for any offline communication with customers – it’s a great way to cross-promote!

Make sure you have an active presence on all major review sites, such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Reviews
Your customers are busy people, too. If you make it easy for them to leave positive reviews about your business, chances are they will.

Always make sure that the footer of every page on your site contains links to all major review sites – or at least Yelp!
You can also add a button that lets people review your business directly on the website of a third-party review platform. If you don’t want to leave it up to chance, there are marketing agencies that will distribute coupons in exchange for reviews.
After all, some reviews are going to be negative – but if most of them are positive, more people will consider visiting (and spending their money at) your restaurant!

Conclusion
Restaurant marketing is one of the toughest jobs around. Fortunately, there are plenty of digital marketing strategies that can help you reach new customers, promote your business, and keep existing clients happy. What’s your favorite way to market your restaurant? Comment below!