I’m lucky to stay in a metropolis that has a thriving restaurant scene (it’s most recognized for its barbecue and Tex-Mex, if that offers you any trace). And whereas I don’t contemplate myself a meals connoisseur by any means, I used to be a meals journalist in a previous life, so I proceed to remain on prime of the most recent tales and tendencies surrounding the restaurant business.
To do that, I comply with a variety of eating places on social media. I additionally subscribe to their newsletters, attend their particular occasions, enter their giveaways, and join their rewards packages.
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And since my advertising and marketing mind by no means shuts off, I can’t assist however be interested by these restaurant advertising and marketing methods. How properly do they work? Which channels do these eating places carry out finest on? How do established eating places preserve curiosity after the grand opening buzz wears down?
To determine the solutions to those questions, I’m digging deep into restaurant advertising and marketing concepts, methods, and real-life campaigns.
Restaurant Advertising and marketing Methods That Work
I needed to get extra perception into the world of restaurant advertising and marketing, so I spoke with Rachel Ayotte, the founder and CEO of Bread and Butter, a communications company that works with hospitality purchasers.
Why do eating places of all sizes want a advertising and marketing technique? What does an efficient marketing campaign appear to be today?
“In New York Metropolis alone, there are over 25,000 eating places, which might take the common individual 22 years to strive,” shares Ayotte.
She provides, “With an enormous stock of choices and a comparatively brief time to succeed, individuals should know your restaurant not solely exists however can also be someplace they wish to go.”
This is the reason having a restaurant advertising and marketing technique is crucial.
If you wish to stand out on-line and convey extra individuals into your restaurant, listed below are examples of profitable restaurant advertising and marketing methods and campaigns to take inspiration from.
Buyer-First Content material
A vital restaurant advertising and marketing technique is to focus in your prospects. This is applicable not solely to the best way you market your restaurant but additionally to the menu gadgets and merchandise you create.
One inventive instance of that is Chipotle’s restricted version Serviette Holder, which is impressed by its prospects.
Right here’s the backstory: It’s frequent for Chipotle prospects to seize a stack of napkins to retailer of their vehicles on their manner out of the restaurant.
As a substitute of reprimanding its prospects for stocking up on napkins, Chipotle created a chance for elevated model loyalty by making a branded automobile serviette holder.
As a bonus, the marketing campaign launched across the holidays, making it an ideal gifting alternative. Every serviette holder additionally got here with a present card for a free entree to encourage prospects to go to a restaurant to “restock” their serviette provide.
Chipotle’s restricted version Serviette Holder was not solely a superb customer-inspired product, however the marketing campaign was additionally an ideal instance of social listening in motion.
By listening to their prospects’ behaviors and what they’re sharing on-line concerning the restaurant, Chipotle was capable of create a viral second out of it.
Chipotle’s aim on social is to “meet [their] followers the place they’re,” in response to Candice Beck, the restaurant’s director of social, influencers, and Web3, and this marketing campaign fully aligns with that technique.
To make use of this technique, get to know your prospects on a deep degree. Immerse your self within the platforms they spend their time on, whether or not that’s Instagram or TikTok, and make word of their pursuits, behaviors, and targets.
Nostalgic Advertising and marketing
To today, I can’t hear the phrases “child again ribs” and never consider Chili’s. That’s as a result of I, like many millennials, grew up listening to the enduring “I need my child again ribs” jingle on TV and the radio.
Chili’s has tapped into its Y2K previous and created a number of nostalgic advertising and marketing campaigns this yr to focus on its now-adult millennial viewers.
The campaigns embody a industrial that introduced again the restaurant’s well-known jingle, now sung by Boyz II Males (one other popular culture fixture of the 90s and 2000s).
Utilizing nostalgia in advertising and marketing has been a preferred technique in recent times as many companies’ goal audiences are rising up. If you happen to’re a longtime restaurant, don’t be afraid to rehash the previous.
This might imply bringing again an outdated menu merchandise, promoting merchandise with retro branding, and even sharing flashbacks from all through your restaurant’s historical past.
Nostalgic advertising and marketing works not solely as a result of it faucets into individuals’s reminiscences and feelings but additionally as a result of it serves as a reminder of how lengthy you’ve been round.
Social-Pushed Content material
In my expertise, eating places that prioritize social media of their advertising and marketing technique are likely to generate a variety of on-line buzz.
An instance of a restaurant that creates social-driven content material is Austin-based El Arroyo. Though El Arroyo is a Mexican restaurant, you received’t discover any photos of meals on its Instagram.
With virtually 700K followers, the restaurant is as a substitute recognized for its real-life marquee signal that shows cheeky jokes and ideas, typically submitted by followers.
The account shares an image of its signal with a brand new message daily on Instagram.
El Arroyo has constructed a big following round its day by day signal, giving its viewers one thing to stay up for seeing — and sharing — daily.
The restaurant additionally makes use of its signal to tie in present occasions or make main bulletins. For instance, when the hit Netflix present, Queer Eye, was filming in Austin, El Arroyo partnered with the forged to generate buzz.
If you wish to use social media to drive site visitors to your restaurant, create one thing shareable. This could possibly be a mural or an indication that folks wish to take photos of or a singular menu merchandise that will stand out within the feed.
Signature Model
After I consider a restaurant with a signature, distinct, and memorable model, the primary place that involves thoughts is Taquero Mucho.
The Austin-based restaurant is understood for utilizing the colour pink in every part — from its decor to its margaritas — even the tortillas are pink.
Pink is splashed throughout its model imagery, making it unmissable on-line and in social media feeds. The colour pink typically evokes a sense of playfulness, optimism, and femininity, that are all phrases I’d use to explain Taquero Mucho.
Creating a robust model is an effective way to make your restaurant memorable, as a signature model primarily markets your restaurant for you.
Model Partnerships
“One among our favourite and simplest advertising and marketing concepts for eating places to maximise consciousness is a partnership with a like-minded model to faucet into their viewers,” shares Ayotte.
Ayotte says it is a low-lift manner to attract on what you have already got — an awesome restaurant and an awesome menu. You possibly can “leverage that by one other model that shares an identical ethos and has entry to prospects the restaurant may not,” she notes
An instance of a profitable partnership Ayotte’s staff developed and executed was between the dessert model, Woman M Confections, Netflix, and Pearl Studio prematurely of the discharge of the extremely anticipated musical Over the Moon.
To have a good time the discharge, Woman M created a mooncake lantern. As soon as the partnership was able to be introduced, Ayotte’s staff reached out to media and influencers to share the information, in addition to samples of the mooncake lanterns.
“The partnership was a convincing success,” Ayotte remembers. “It [resulted] in an enormous bump in gross sales for Woman M [and generated] over 1.7 million impressions and 19,804 complete social engagements.”
10 Restaurant Advertising and marketing Concepts for 2024
Primarily based on the methods above, together with extra perception from Rachel Ayotte and my private encounters with restaurant advertising and marketing that works, listed below are ten restaurant advertising and marketing concepts and finest practices to do this yr and past.
1. Construct a easy but efficient web site.
Whether or not I’m trying to find a restaurant close to me on Google or I’ve found a brand new place by Instagram, my subsequent step is all the time to take a look at the restaurant’s web site. Having an internet site in your restaurant is a necessity.
“Even when a restaurant has the perfect service and finest meals on the earth, company want a option to discover out info and join ultimately,” states Ayotte. “In our expertise designing web sites for eating places, we emphasize the necessity for frequently up to date, user-friendly codecs that make it simple for company to see the menu, hours, location, and easy methods to make a reservation.”
What we like: The excellent news is you don’t have to have web site improvement abilities to construct an efficient web site. “Eating places don’t want a massively complicated web site to achieve success,” says Ayotte. “A web site could be comparatively easy if designed properly.”
2. Handle and replace your Google Enterprise Profile.
Along with their web site, one other factor I instantly check out when trying to find eating places is their Google Enterprise Profile.
Your Google Enterprise Profile is the profile that pops up on the precise facet of the display when somebody searches for what you are promoting. This snapshot of what you are promoting creates a primary impression to searchers who wish to see what sort of meals to count on and what the environment is like.
It additionally shows info they’re most probably on the lookout for straight away, similar to hours, location, and evaluations.
It’s essential to maintain your profile up to date so prospects have probably the most correct and up-to-date info. Eating places that actively preserve this info get 89% extra calls, web site visits, and path requests, and 79% extra evaluations, in response to information from Cellular.io.
Right here’s an instance of a Google Enterprise Profile for a neighborhood pizza restaurant right here in Austin known as By way of 313:
The profile consists of the restaurant’s important info similar to location, hours, and telephone quantity. However it additionally consists of issues that may assist diners make their choice, just like the menu, service choices, evaluations, and loads of pictures.
Professional tip: You possibly can add your personal pictures to your profile in the event you don’t need it to solely function pictures from buyer evaluations.
3. Monitor on-line evaluations.
“Folks like to broadcast unfavourable experiences and evaluations,” Ayotte states. “This will hang-out a restaurant for years.”
When you can’t management what individuals write of their evaluations, you may select the way you reply. Take the time to learn and reply to each optimistic and unfavourable evaluations.
Right here’s one other instance from By way of 313, the pizza store I discussed above. The restaurant takes the time to thoughtfully reply to each buyer assessment on Google, even acknowledging their suggestions when prospects share it.
Finest for: Monitoring your restaurant’s on-line evaluations isn’t solely so you may keep on prime of unfavourable evaluations. You may also use buyer suggestions to enhance your restaurant service, get inspiration for brand new dishes, or accumulate optimistic evaluations as social proof in your web site and social media posts.
4. Share UGC (user-generated content material).
For me, seeing posts created by different accounts and prospects helps persuade me to strive a restaurant. That is known as user-generated content material, or UGC.
UGC establishes social proof, which is the idea that prospects are influenced by different prospects’ experiences, conduct, and suggestions.
For instance, the Reel beneath was created by a meals influencer sharing their expertise on the New Orleans-based restaurant Willa Jean (which, by the best way, I can verify is a good brunch spot within the metropolis!).
The restaurant shared the video by itself web page to amplify the influencer’s optimistic suggestion.
What we like: Not solely does UGC present social proof in your restaurant, nevertheless it additionally provides you loads of content material to share, so that you by no means run out of issues to publish.
5. Be a part of a reservation platform.
If you wish to get prospects within the door, it’s a must to make it simple for them to return. This typically means assembly them the place they’re, which, within the case of upscale eating, is on the reservation platforms.
Reservation platforms like Resy or Tock are nice channels for eating places to extend their discoverability and get in entrance of latest prospects.
On the client facet, these platforms are handy. Reserving platforms typically curate eating places for purchasers, organizing them into classes similar to “Prime Rated” or “Finest Brunches” so individuals can navigate their choices higher.
Resy, as an example, even has a class known as “E-book Tonight” that shows openings for last-minute reservations.
Professional tip: If you happen to supply reservations or group eating, make it simple in your prospects to ebook a desk by including a reservation web page or plugin in your web site.
6. Interact prospects instantly with e mail advertising and marketing.
In 2023, I had considered one of my most memorable eating experiences at Bar Marilou in New Orleans. From the library-inspired inside design to the mouth-watering bites and flavorful drinks, the expertise has caught with me for almost a yr.
So, after all, anytime I see the title “Bar Marilou” pop up in my inbox, I instantly open the e-mail simply to be reminded of my magical expertise.
That is the facility of e mail advertising and marketing. When completed proper, emails can be utilized to extend buyer loyalty and function a reminder of your story, your menu, or your occasions. E mail is a option to attain your prospects instantly, whereas social media posts can get misplaced in a sea of content material.
Bar Marilou solely sends out emails as soon as a month (typically much less) to share upcoming occasions or updates. This cadence is sufficient for me since I don’t even stay in the identical metropolis and might’t simply drop in at any time when I need.
Nonetheless, you probably have sufficient information in your prospects, you can ship extra personalised emails relying on their places, demographic, and eating historical past with you. For example, if you recognize your prospects’ birthdays, you may ship them rewards to redeem on their particular days.
Finest for: If you wish to talk essential info or share upcoming occasions together with your prospects, e mail advertising and marketing is usually a extra direct channel than social media.
7. Create shareable moments.
Shareable content material is essential to succeeding on social media. Once you create content material that draws and resonates with individuals, they’re extra more likely to share it and assist you improve your restaurant’s on-line attain.
There are a number of methods to create moments or content material that folks wish to share. A technique is to make your dishes Instagram-worthy so prospects are compelled to take photos and share them.
Right here’s one other instance from the pink restaurant, Taquero Mucho, I discussed earlier. The restaurant creates a enjoyable new drink each month and shares it on Instagram. This one aligned with the Barbie film that premiered final summer time.
One other manner is to design your restaurant in a manner that’s share-worthy by creating an Instagrammable spot inside or exterior of your area, like a mural.
8. Begin a loyalty or rewards program.
Everybody loves free stuff. A rewards program is usually a enjoyable option to encourage prospects to develop into frequent guests to earn free meals and drinks.
McDonald’s provides an awesome instance of easy methods to execute a rewards program. To encourage individuals to make use of its app, McDonald’s provides prospects free massive fries after they make a purchase order.
The extra orders you make within the app, the extra factors you get and might use in the direction of future orders.
However you don’t have to have a elaborate app or be a big restaurant chain like McDonald’s to start out a loyalty program.
My native espresso store, Sorrento’s Espresso, provides a rewards program that’s arrange by its POS system, Sq..
Each time you purchase a drink, you get factors. 140 factors get you one free drink. (Which jogs my memory — seems to be like I’ve a free espresso or two ready for me!).
Finest for: Loyalty packages are supposed to reward frequent prospects. In my expertise, the rewards packages I’ve been most probably to take part in are locations that I already frequent.
These packages work nice with espresso retailers or lunch spots in a busy workplace space — anyplace the place you’re more likely to see the identical prospects frequently.
9. Create branded merchandise.
Creating bodily merchandise or branded merchandise is an effective way to let your prospects do your advertising and marketing for you.
Just like the Chipotle marketing campaign I shared above, branded merchandise is a good advertising and marketing concept for eating places with a loyal buyer base. The important thing to creating branded merchandise is to create a product that not solely displays your model however can also be one thing your prospects would take pleasure in.
For instance, El Arroyo, the restaurant with the well-known marquee signal, additionally provides a full line of merchandise that’s synonymous with its signal. The cheeky nature of the signal lends itself properly to different gift-type gadgets like doormats, coasters, and enjoying playing cards, just like the merchandise beneath.
What we like: Branded merchandise is an effective way to encourage prospects to advertise your model for you and improve word-of-mouth.
10. Accomplice with related manufacturers.
As Ayotte talked about earlier when speaking about restaurant advertising and marketing methods, model partnerships are an efficient option to amplify your model by getting it in entrance of latest audiences.
To get probably the most out of your model partnership, accomplice with a model that has a special but like-minded viewers. It doesn’t even must be one other restaurant or meals model. The aim is to be launched to a brand new viewers that will profit from or take pleasure in your product.
For example, in the event you’re a small native restaurant that simply opened in your city’s essential road, you can accomplice with different small companies on the block for an in-person occasion or a social media giveaway.
Professional tip: Model partnerships must be mutually helpful. Take into account what the opposite celebration will obtain in return for partnering with you while you make your pitch.
What I Realized About Restaurant Advertising and marketing
The largest factor I’ve realized from digging into totally different restaurant campaigns and methods is that there’s a ton of room to be inventive with restaurant advertising and marketing.
There’s no proper or unsuitable manner. Eating places can incorporate tendencies of their social posts or stick with publishing high-quality pictures of their dishes. They’ll attempt to get in entrance of latest audiences by partnering with related manufacturers, or they’ll construct loyalty with present prospects by e mail advertising and marketing.
The important factor your restaurant must succeed is an internet site with the next key info:
- Menu
- Hours
- Location
- Cellphone quantity
- E mail
- Reservations (if relevant)
The very best restaurant advertising and marketing technique is to know your model and your prospects. From there, you may experiment with totally different on-line and in-person channels to execute your imaginative and prescient and convey extra individuals into your restaurant for years to return.
