Three Tasteful Marketing Ideas for Your Restaurant

As a restaurant owner, you have a lot to handle, including marketing your restaurant. It’s not always easy to find new ideas to update your guide to restaurant marketing, but this is a crucial step that can help your business thrive. To enhance your restaurant marketing plan, implement these three essential ideas.

1. Make Local SEO a Priority

Local SEO is an essential part of your creative restaurant marketing ideas. If you appear at the top in the search rankings for your area, people will click on you first and are more likely to consider your business. To improve your SEO rankings, you can use these tips:

Update your Google Business Profile

The Google Business Profile for your restaurant should include specific key details, such as your address, phone number, and business hours. Provide a description in your profile of how your restaurant meets your customers’ needs, such as the food you serve and the atmosphere. Build trust with your customers by regularly uploading photos of your food, restaurant, and employees to your profile. 

Monitor online reviews 

Many websites allow users to leave reviews, but TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google are the most well-known. Set up your restaurant’s listings on social networks like Facebook to increase your chances of showing up in local searches with customer reviews. Engage with reviewers, update your company’s information, and include your food and restaurant photos. 

Use customer reviews for your ads

Customers’ star ratings from your Google Business Profile ratings can also be part of your Google Ads. To show the ratings on your Google ads, Google requires your business to have at least 100 reviews. 

You can also use Facebook ads with reviews to target first-time customers as part of your restaurant promotion ideas. Once you know someone has visited your restaurant’s Facebook page, displaying ads in their feed that includes customer reviews may help persuade them to visit one of your locations.

Optimize your website

To keep up with restaurant marketing trends, you need a strong online presence, including a website. Having high-quality content on your website helps you rank higher in search results. Consider including various keywords related to your local region, such as landmarks, cities, and towns, within your website content. 

Make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices specifically, so it’s easy to read even when customers are on the go.

Informative restaurant blog posts can provide relevant advice and tips on how to run a restaurant business to aspiring business owners. For example, create blog posts that teach customers to make specific meals or cut and prepare food correctly. 

Your restaurant blog can also feature guest food bloggers to write about your food and help you gain more positive attention online.

These restaurant marketing ideas for your website, online listings, and ads will highlight your positive press. Seeing reliable sources praising your restaurant and customer service encourages consumers to buy from you.

2. Use Email Marketing to Your Advantage

Sending out regular emails and newsletters is one of the best restaurant marketing ideas. Create an email submission form on your website for customers to sign up for your email list. You can include a link to your website on your social media bios, customer receipts, and your menu to encourage more people to subscribe. 

Then, as a thank you, offer your customers these incentives to return to your restaurant:

Offer email-only coupons and deals

When your visitors first sign up for your email newsletter, you can give them special discounts. Offer holiday email-only deals in your emails to attract more potential customers. Consider providing incentives to social media followers who sign up for your email list, such as free meals on their birthdays.

Feature menu items

Sending delicious photos of the restaurant’s specials will persuade your subscribers to reserve a table or order takeout. You can also talk about new menu items, changes to existing menu items, and the most popular meals you offer in your emails. 

Set up a referral campaign

Referral links can help encourage subscribers to forward your restaurant’s emails to their friends, colleagues, and other connections. As an incentive, provide your subscribers with a limited-time discount for their next lunch or a complimentary dessert for referring a friend.

3. Take a Fresh Look at Coupon Advertising 

Your restaurant marketing tactics must include coupons since they can help attract new customers and motivate existing ones to return to your venue. Below are some methods of distributing coupons to your customers.

Post your coupons on social media

Giving coupons via your social media accounts is one of the best local restaurant advertising ideas because you’re reaching out directly to loyal consumers who will come to your restaurant. Social media advertising also allows you to reach many potential clients who want to use your coupons.

Send limited-time coupons through text message campaigns

A brief text containing a discount code is the best method to get someone’s attention. If there is an upcoming championship sports game in your region, you can send a limited-time offer. This offer could be a family combo deal to buy fries and four burgers and get the fifth one free. 

Print coupons on the back of grocery store receipts

Coupons on grocery store receipts are a great way to reach your local community. People have to buy groceries regularly, so couponing on grocery store receipts can help drive more traffic to your restaurant weekly. 

Use this blank space for advertising upcoming deals at the restaurant or collaborating with the grocery store chain for discounts on a specific food item at your restaurant if they spend over a certain amount on their grocery bill. 

You Can Improve Your Restaurant Marketing Campaigns

You can pique your customers’ interests with these restaurant marketing tactics, especially if you employ special promotions and discounts to convert them into regulars. By combining online and offline restaurant marketing ideas, you can help your business become a favorite spot among locals in the community.