10 Restaurant Marketing Strategies to Win Your Market

Restaurant marketing strategies used to be pretty simple: Cook great food, take out an ad in the local newspaper, and wait for people to walk through the front door.

But, in the last five to 10 years, the recipe for success has changed. With mobile devices in everyone’s pockets, before a customer even tastes your food, they’ve probably seen pictures of it, your menu, and your dining room online.

Take control of these modern marketing tools, but don’t neglect the “old-school” strategies that worked well in the past (and still work well today).

In this guide, we’ll break down some of the best restaurant marketing strategies to help you grow your brand, reach new customers, and keep your regulars coming back again and again.

Key takeaways

• Use high-quality video and photography to show off your food and your restaurant’s personality.
• Maintain an active presence on social media platforms like Facebook, X, and Instagram to meet customers where they already spend time.
• Optimize your Google and Yelp listings so hungry locals can find your restaurant easily.
• Great marketing gets people in the door, but great service keeps them coming back. Optimize your team’s schedule with software tools to make this happen.

Winning restaurant marketing strategies

1) Take customers behind the scenes with video

Short video is one of the most popular types of content online right now, and you don’t need a Hollywood budget to get started. Use your smartphone to film your kitchen crew preparing a signature dish or your bar team mixing a popular cocktail.

Then, post the video on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, and consider making it a weekly tradition to give your followers something to look forward to.

2) Invest in professional food photography

Consider this: Humans eat with their eyes first. So, if your website has blurry, dark, unappealing photos of your dishes, potential customers might think that the actual food is unappealing too.

And, don’t just snap a few pics of your food with your six-year-old phone camera and call it a day. Instead, consider hiring a professional photographer who knows how to use lighting to make everything look delicious.

3) Use text message marketing for instant connection

Text message marketing has a very high “rate of return.” Why? Because most people check their texts within minutes of receiving them and are accustomed to acting on what they see there.

How can you get started with this restaurant marketing strategy? Advertise with small tents on your dining tables offering a 10% discount on a popular dessert if the customer texts a keyword like “YUMMY” to your business number.

Then, take those numbers and advertise flash sales (see strategy 10 below), weekly specials, and other opportunities that will get them through the door again.

4) Master the big social media platforms

Younger generations spend a lot of time on their phones, so if you’re not on social media, you basically don’t exist.

Keep this in mind, though: You don’t have to be everywhere. Just pick two or three, and do them well.

For example, Facebook is great for reaching families and posting long-form updates or events. Instagram is the perfect place for those professional food photos you had taken. And, TikTok is ideal for the short videos of your chef making a dish or your bartender making drinks.

5) Hit the road with a food truck

A food truck can be a powerful marketing tool for your restaurant because it serves as a rolling billboard for your brand and allows you to get your name out in neighborhoods where people might never have driven to your main location.

If you choose to try hitting the road with a food truck, don’t offer your full, main-location menu. Instead, pick your three most popular items and perfect them for preparation in the truck.

And, to make this a good thing for your brick-and-mortar location, consider including a coupon to that location in every order you deliver out of your truck.

6) Use the classic “fish-bowl” giveaway

Modern restaurant marketing strategies are great and all, but don’t neglect some of the tried-and-true methods that worked in the past. The perfect example of this is the “fish-bowl” giveaway.

Place a clear bowl near your cash register and invite customers to drop in their business card for a chance to win a free dessert, entree, or an entire lunch. Then go through the cards and add the names and numbers to your mailing list.

Be sure to include the business on your list as well. There’s always the possibility that they’ll need catering for an office function.

7) Claim your spot in local search results

When someone types “Best pasta near me” into Google, does your restaurant show up? If not, you’re losing money every day and need to focus on Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Claim your Google Business Profile (it’s already there anyway) and make sure your hours, address, and phone number are correct. Then encourage your happy customers to leave reviews on Yelp and Google.

The more positive reviews and photos you have, the higher Google will rank you in their search results.

8) Host an event for local influencers and media

Make your restaurant’s five-year anniversary or the launch of your new summer menu and event. Invite local food bloggers, reporters, and influencers to a VIP tasting night.

When these guests post about your event to their followers, it creates a buzz that can bring new customers into your business.

9) Build a professional website

Think of a professional website as your digital front door. It needs to be clean, easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and have your “Order Online” button (if you offer that) and your address front and center.

Perhaps, most importantly, you want your menu to be easy to read on a phone screen, so don’t just upload a PDF or image that people have to zoom in on.

If all of this sounds daunting, keep in mind that you don’t have to be a computer genius or have experience building websites to put up something really good. Tools like Squarespace or WordPress offer templates specifically for restaurants and make it all point and click.

10) Run flash social media specials

Flash sales are a great way to make the customers who follow you on social media feel like part of a “secret club.”

For example, post an Instagram story saying: “The first 10 people to show this post to their server get a free appetizer!” Or, you could post on X a “Rainy Day Special” where followers get 50% off a bowl of soup when it’s wet and dreary outside.

Such short-term deals create a sense of urgency and build excitement that keeps people checking your page every day.

Great marketing starts with great management

You can implement every single one of the restaurant marketing strategies on this list, but if a customer comes in and the service is slow or the staff is stressed, they likely won’t come back. This is why a great schedule is so essential to customer experience.

If you’re understaffed during a busy Friday night, your service will suffer. If you’re overstaffed on a slow Monday morning, your business loses money.

That’s why the employee management and scheduling tools from Sling are one of the foremost restaurant marketing strategies you can choose.

With Sling, you can build schedules in minutes, not hours, and the app will even warn you if you’ve accidentally scheduled someone for a double shift or if the shift will exceed your labor budget.

Sling also helps with other essentials, including communication, time tracking, shift trades, and time off.

When your schedule is organized and efficient, your staff will be happy. And, when your staff is happy, your service will shine. That’s the best restaurant marketing strategy you can get!

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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Frequently asked questions

How much should I spend on restaurant marketing?

A good rule of thumb is to spend between 3% and 6% of your sales on marketing.

That said, if you’re just starting out, you might spend a bit more to get the word out. However, many digital strategies (like posting on social media or creating a Google listing) are free.

Do I really need a professional photographer?

You certainly don’t have to hire a food photographer, but those professionals often have specialized lenses and lighting equipment that can make your food look its absolute best.

What’s more, you’ll be able to use these photos for years to come on your website, menus, ads, and social media, so it’s worth the one-time cost to get it right.

How often should I post on my restaurant’s social media?

There’s no absolute rule, but consistency is more important than frequency. It’s better to post three times a week, for example, than to post five times in one day and then go silent for two weeks or more.

Aim for at least three high-quality posts per week to keep your customers engaged.

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