16 Cool Marketing Ideas for Restaurants

There are many restaurants worldwide, ranging from simple cafes, fast food joints, and hole-in-the-wall bars to five-star luxury restaurants and steakhouses. That’s why you need marketing to help your restaurant stand out from all the other options for spending money. Today, we’ll share some of the best marketing ideas for restaurants. These strategies promote what makes a restaurant unique through social media, promotions, or teaming up with local businesses. They focus on showcasing the menu, vibe, or excellent service, turning a spot into a favorite choice for diners.

If you are a restaurant owner, new or old, you compete against every other restaurant in your area for a customer’s meal dollar. Plus, you compete with non-restaurant food options, such as meal delivery services, grocery stores (and, increasingly, these stores offer hot prepared foods and heat-and-eat options), and even the local ballpark or food truck. Face it: consumers only have so many dollars to spend and must make tradeoffs between their food choices and other things they can spend their money on, like going to a movie or buying a new shirt.

Here are some tactics you can employ to creatively and strategically win over your next customer. These are the most remarkable marketing ideas for restaurants, especially since we haven’t covered this topic in several years, and things change quickly.

Marketing ideas for restaurants

Unless you own a Michelin-star restaurant, most of your patrons are local folks who either live, work, or visit your area. That dramatically impacts your marketing strategy, as you can target these folks using digital marketing and local marketing strategies that are more cost-effective than those used by national or international brands.

Thus, while you’ll likely find good marketing advice on these pages, it makes sense to focus a post on just this industry. So, read on and let me know what you think in the comments section of this post.

Try different tones

Restaurants can adopt any number of tones and personalities in establishing their brand identity. Some use humor and wit; others develop a high-end persona of indulgence and extravagance, health and freshness, or family and comfort. Consider where your tone lands by asking your target market, not just relying on what you think. Experiment with elements of your brand if it doesn’t hit where you think it should.

Below, you can see some iconic brands associated with the types of brand personalities identified by experts.

Offer new weekly specials

New weekly menu items or specials get customers tuning in to your restaurant to see what’s available. You can advertise these specials through social media or email newsletters, which has the side benefit of encouraging customers to subscribe. Note specials that drive customers into the restaurant so you can include them in your regular menu or run them into the rotation of specials more frequently.

Use care, however. A customer who orders a menu item and then returns, anticipating the same dish, will be disappointed if it’s no longer on the menu. Hence, keep your regular menu fairly stable and identify weekly specials so customers know what to expect.

Use local influencers

Local influencers are your gateway to finding customers and creating a loyal customer base, especially if you run a newly opened restaurant. Scour Instagram for foodies and invite them in for a free meal to get them to sample what you’re offering. The more influencers rate you positively and share your info, the better.

Feature your staff

In your marketing, treat your staff like the rockstars they are. Feature them! Show off your chefs doing their best work, the wait staff having fun, and even the folks at the back of the kitchen working hard. This humanizes your brand. It also binds your staff to your restaurant. Instead of the constant turnover most restaurants experience, which reduces customer satisfaction as new folks must learn the ropes, you’ll have a dedicated staff who work hard and remain loyal to your business.

Digital menu boards

In your primary waiting area, you can use digital menu boards to engage your audience and market the partnerships, local events, and initiatives your restaurant is involved with. Keep your customers informed of your values, what’s happening in the community, and more. Signage in this part of your establishment is very versatile.

Fill in your Google business profile

Use your Google business listing (Google My Business) as an opportunity to advertise and market to your target audience. Add menu photos, question-and-answer, photos of the inside of your business, and more. Encourage reviews and link your profile to your website. Below, you can see the benefits of optimizing your Google business page as a restaurant owner. This result shows above other search results for customers in your local area.

Use a restaurant app

More restaurants create mobile apps that allow customers to order food, earn points, and more. While this may not be the route for every restaurant, it can be another way for those with a loyal following to connect with and market to their base.

Encourage and respond to reviews

Encourage customers to leave you a review. When someone leaves a review, respond to it, whether it’s positive or negative. Don’t try to hide negative reviews, as they tend to remain despite your best efforts. Instead, apologize and be open about how you plan to fix the problems.

Responding to reviews shows that you value your customers’ input. If it’s a negative review, remain prompt, polite, and professional with your tone. This will say a lot about your business.

Social media marketing for the community

Enhance your marketing strategy by offering holiday-themed promotions. For instance, crafting a promotion around a personalized holiday card can not only elevate dining experiences but also serve as a unique takeaway item, engaging customers beyond their visit.

Build a culture and community for your restaurant. For example, keep your Facebook page updated, interact with followers, repost customer reviews and user-generated content, advertise upcoming events, and inspire discussion.

California Tortilla does an excellent job of engaging its community. They invite feedback on everything from the new logo proposed below (which didn’t fly with the community) to new menu items. When a decision made by the company was a mistake, the community lets them know and, by responding, they build their following.

Make it easy to find your menu

Have an accurate, easily accessible menu online on your Google Business profile, social media accounts, and website. Share this menu everywhere so customers can easily find it and begin thinking about what they’re hungry for.

Menu boards

A menu board is the ultimate digital signage solution for restaurants. As customers order at the counter, they can see the top-selling menu items advertised, food on display, and a full rundown of what’s available for order.

Public order queue systems

After customers have ordered and are waiting for their food, direct their attention to a digital order queue system. They can see where their food is, the order and ETA, and be reassured that their food is being made.

Experiment with QR codes

We all got used to using QR codes rather than being handed a menu during the pandemic. QR codes can direct customers to a special offer, entry into a contest, your menu, or social media. They can also be added to digital signage or in different areas of your restaurant, integrating the offline with the online.

Outdoor signage

Use a digital screen on the exterior of a restaurant to draw new and old customers in. Highlight new menu items, promotions, or in-store events. See how you can use media and video to offer something new to your target audience in your signage alone.

Get listed on delivery apps

Delivery apps like SkipTheDishes and Uber Eats are prime real estate for restaurant marketing. For those expanding into direct ordering, pairing with the best ecommerce platform for grocery can provide full control over the ordering experience. This not only boosts margins but also lets restaurants maintain brand consistency and better manage customer relationships. List your menu and pertinent information to get in touch. You may be surprised at how many first-time customers you receive from delivery apps.

Touchscreen menu

Install a touchscreen in the restaurant’s lobby or waiting area, where customers can quickly order and pay for food. This allows you to receive orders faster while giving your customers more power to customize and arrange the meal without waiting.

Conclusion

So, now you have sixteen cool marketing ideas for restaurants. Let me know how it goes.

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