Restaurant marketing – 14 ideas in appetizer format

Competition in the restaurant industry is fierce. So fierce, in fact, that you might even see one of your competitors if you just look out your window. Whether you run a restaurant, food truck, or café, marketing is essential, and it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune to market your restaurant. 

We’ve compiled a list of 14 ideas for free or inexpensive restaurant marketing. Use this list as inspiration if you’re just starting out with marketing or looking to improve your existing marketing strategy. Read on below!

Why restaurant marketing is important 

A solid marketing strategy helps you attract new guests who might never have discovered your restaurant otherwise. Even if you already have many regular customers, effective marketing ensures they keep coming back again and again.  

In other words, restaurant marketing isn’t just about attracting new guests but also about building strong relationships with your existing customers, so they don’t get tempted by the enticing smells wafting from your competitors’ kitchens. 

Here are a handful of the most important benefits: 

• You get discovered by new guests. 
• You get more table reservations, and more people get to taste your delicious food. 
• Regular customers stay loyal. 
• Increased sales and upselling opportunities. 
• Your restaurant’s brand gets stronger and more competitive. 

Can I market my restaurant without hiring an agency?

The short answer is yes! Many restaurants choose to let an advertising agency handle their marketing. This can make sense, as an agency has a wealth of expertise in marketing for restaurants and other businesses. However, it can quickly become expensive. If you’re on a tight budget, you can absolutely handle the marketing yourself. 

Saving money isn’t the only advantage of managing your own marketing. You know your brand, menu, and customers better than anyone else. When you market your own restaurant, you have full control over the content and messaging of your campaigns.  

Moreover, marketing you create yourself is often perceived as more personal, which can be more effective than an expensive and showy ad campaign. 

Another alternative is to combine your own marketing efforts with services from an agency. Whatever you choose, you can draw inspiration from our 14 ideas below. 

14 ideas for marketing your restaurant 

1. Does your restaurant have a clear brand identity?

Before you start marketing your restaurant, it’s important to define your brand identity. Your restaurant’s brand identity is essentially its personality and atmosphere—or vibe, to use a well-worn term. 
 
Here are a few examples of elements that make up your restaurant’s brand identity: 

• Colours: For example, on menus, logos, interiors, and website colours. 
• Tone of voice: For instance, casual, humorous, formal, or friendly 
• Core philosophy: For example, serving affordable organic food that everyone can enjoy. 
• Price range: For instance, budget-friendly or a more expensive gourmet experience. 
• Cuisine type: For example, fine dining, bistro, café, or food truck. 
• Food: For instance, burgers, Japanese, French, international, or Turkish. 
• Location: For example, in central London, a small countryside village, or within a shopping centre. 

Once you have your brand identity in place, it becomes easier to ensure that the content in your marketing gives your potential guests a clear idea of your restaurant’s brand. 

2. Create a website for your restaurant

A website is the way forward if you want more guests. According to the SEO tool Ahrefs, there are thousands of monthly searches in the UK for terms like “restaurant London” and “Italian restaurant.” This doesn’t even include searches from overseas—think of eager tourists researching dining options online before they travel! If you don’t have a website, you risk missing out on customers looking for a great place to eat via Google. 

A website is also a fantastic opportunity to show what you offer and entice potential guests with an appealing online menu and inviting food photos. 

By using one.com’s website builder, you can create a website in no time, even if you’re not tech-savvy. Just enter a few details about your restaurant, and the built-in AI tool will generate a complete website for you in minutes. Of course, you can also customise everything to make the site your own, and it’s easy to do so using the drag-and-drop editor.

3. Attract traffic to your restaurant’s website with SEO

Now that we’ve touched on visibility in search results, let’s move on to search engine optimisation (SEO). This requires optimising a website to boost its chances of being found by search engine algorithms.   

You can improve the SEO of your site in various basic ways, such as using strong keywords in headlines and text on your website, ensuring fast page loading speeds, writing quality content, and adding alt text to images. 

one.com’s Website Builder has a built-in SEO tool that automatically scans your site and provides tips for improving SEO. Good SEO increases the chances of your restaurant’s website appearing at the top of search results. 

Check out our top 25 tips for SEO!

4. Create a business profile on Google

When you create a Google Business Profile, your restaurant will appear on Google Maps, in local searches like “Greek restaurant London,” and to the right of search results. On your profile, users can see an overview of your restaurant’s address, opening hours, a link to your website, a link to your menu, images (if you upload them), and Google reviews. You can set up a Google Business Profile for free here. 

5. Fire up your social media accounts

Sharing regular posts on different social media platforms helps strengthen your restaurant’s online presence.  

The most popular platforms for restaurants are Instagram and Facebook, but TikTok and YouTube may also be worth exploring, depending on your target audience. Share atmospheric photos of your restaurant, videos from the kitchen, short staff introductions, your new menu, or pictures of your freshly baked muffins. The goal is to create positive attention around your restaurant and ensure your guests remember you when they get hungry. 

6. Ask for feedback

75% of consumers read reviews online before making a purchase. You’ve probably done the same—when searching for a good hotel in Spain, for example, you might check Tripadvisor or Google for reviews before booking. The same happens when potential guests look for a restaurant. Online reviews act as social proof, as they show that previous guests have had great experiences. 

Ask your guests to leave a review on Google by including a request in a “thank you for visiting” email, on receipts, or via a QR code on your menu. You could also include a friendly request in a social media post. 

Don’t forget to respond to the reviews you receive. This enhances their impact and gives guests the sense that you value them. Responding to lukewarm reviews, although less enjoyable, is just as important. All restaurants receive reviews that aren’t glowing. By replying to these, you signal to potential guests that you take customer feedback seriously. You might even identify areas for improvement.  

7. Highlight positive guest experiences

Once you’ve collected reviews, maximise their impact by showcasing them on your website. This helps convince new visitors from the outset and gives them a glimpse of the dining experience they can look forward to.  

That’s why one.com’s Website Builder includes a feature for easily displaying Google Reviews and social media posts directly on your website. 

8. Tempt your customers with a tasty newsletter

A newsletter helps you stay connected with your guests after they’ve paid their bill and left satisfied and happy. In your restaurant’s newsletter, you can reveal dishes from your new menu, promote upcoming events, remind guests to book a table for Christmas parties, or share a customer story.  

Keep the text short and always include a call-to-action (CTA) with a link to your website. Sending a newsletter once a month is enough to stay in touch. 

9. Start a loyalty programme

The goal of a loyalty programme is to encourage guests to return to your restaurant. These programmes can take many forms, but the key is to ensure loyal customers feel they’re getting something extra.  

The simplest approach is a stamp card. For example, at a pizzeria, you could offer a discount on a pizza of their choice after 10 stamps.  

Alternatively, you could create a points system where guests earn points every time they dine with you. Once a guest collects enough points, they can redeem them for a dish from your menu, a drink, or an event ticket. 

10. Sell gift cards and restaurant merch

Restaurant gift cards are popular for holidays and birthdays and can help you attract new guests. For example, if James buys a gift card for your restaurant for his mum’s birthday, and she brings four friends to dine with her, you’ve just gained five potential regular customers!  

Many restaurants also successfully sell merchandise like branded T-shirts, coasters, caps, or signature chilli sauces through their websites. With one.com’s Business + E-commerce plan, you can easily set up an online shop on your restaurant’s website and earn a little extra by selling cool and tasty products online. 

11. Collaborate with influencers

Whether we like to admit it or not, influencers often sway us when they appear in our social media feeds. That’s why it can be highly effective if a popular influencer posts about your restaurant on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or their blog. Some influencers charge high fees for restaurant reviews, but many are happy to do it for a free meal.  

Reach out to a few influencers or bloggers, and you’ll likely secure a collaboration quickly. Naturally, the best approach is to ask for an honest and unbiased review. 

12. Start a blog

Number three on our list was SEO, and a blog can be a significant advantage when it comes to search engine visibility.  

On a restaurant blog, you can write longer posts on topics that appeal to foodies. This lets you use more keywords, attracting visitors who weren’t actively searching for a restaurant but were interested in reading, for instance, how to make the world’s simplest and tastiest tomato sauce.  

A blog also makes your website feel more dynamic and alive if you post regularly. If you’re not keen on writing blog posts yourself, you can invite guest bloggers to contribute to your restaurant’s blog.  

13. Run holiday campaigns

Holidays are perfect for marketing campaigns. They provide a theme to build around, and you can give the celebration your own unique twist. Create special menus and offers for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Easter, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or even Pancake Day—there’s always something to celebrate.  

Develop a marketing plan for six months at a time and include the activities and campaigns you plan for each holiday. Share details about your campaigns well in advance so guests have time to plan their visit and book a table. Use your newsletter, social media, and website to spread the word. 

14. Dig into juicy data

Analysing data from your restaurant’s website is one of the best things you can do for your business. This data reveals where your website traffic comes from, which pages visitors spend the most time on, and whether your campaigns are effective.  

With our Website Builder, you’ll get a personalised dashboard with all the essential data. For deeper insights, you can easily connect your website to Google Analytics. Website data helps you identify patterns that show what’s working well and where improvements can bring in more visitors and increase sales. 

Get ready for more dirty plates 

Effective restaurant marketing doesn’t require massive budgets or extravagant campaigns. The most important thing is to show potential guests that they can expect a fantastic dining experience every time they sit at one of your tables or lean on the counter of your food truck. If your food is delicious and your service always goes the extra mile, you’ll attract more guests with relatively simple marketing efforts. Good luck with all the dirty plates and happy diners!