Restaurant Advertising: How to Advertise a Restaurant
Great restaurant advertising has become even more important in today’s competitive landscape.
As a restaurant owner, you’ve probably tried to make your restaurant as memorable as possible.
Part of the reason why being a restaurant owner is fun is due to the fact that you get to create amazing experiences for your customers. However, you can’t do this if you’re not getting enough people coming to your restaurant.
So how do you convince more customers to come?
The answer to this question is simple; you need an effective restaurant advertising strategy.
Now when you’re thinking about advertisements, you’re probably thinking of those brightly colored billboards or flashy TV advertisements that are probably way too costly to even consider.
But advertising doesn’t need to be that flashy or expensive; instead, the main things that you need to make a good strategy are innovation, dedication, and a ton of research.
If you’re looking for a bit of inspiration to help set you on the right track then this article is exactly what you need.
Sit back, relax, and get ready to learn about how you can come up with restaurant advertising strategies that actually work.
You can jump to the section you want to read about by clicking on the links below:
1. Bloc is an excellent way of getting cost effective customers
2. Always start planning strategies by doing some research on your audience
3. Make your strategies as bold and creative as possible without going overboard
4. Customize your menu items to suit your audience
5. Social media is an essential tool when it comes to restaurant advertising
6. Food-related events are excellent ways of drawing in a niche crowd
7. Start hosting parties to widen your restaurant’s reach
8. Live performances can bring in some local talent to let your guests have an amazing experience
9. Boost influencer posts to reach your exact audience
1. Bloc is an excellent way of getting cost effective customers
At the end of the day, restaurant advertising can be tough to do as there are no guaranteed results.
You need to have the resolve and patience to keep coming up with innovative and new ideas.
The tips that we give below will provide a good starting point, but you’ll need to put in a lot of effort if you want these ideas to succeed.
But what if there was a way to guarantee an influx of customers without having to do much at all?
Well, there is, and the name of the app is Bloc.
Bloc is a social events platform that rewards people financially for attending restaurants.
Each restaurant is pushed to every user who is within 10 miles of the venue. The user can then check-in to the restaurant and if they attend, they can earn the apps in-app currency, stars.
Once they have collected enough stars, they can exchange them for real money.
Bloc literally pays its users to attend venues.
Bloc has its own advertising platform where restaurants can showcase their restaurant, so they get more check-ins on the app.
Special deals, videos, photos and call-to-actions can be promoted to ensure people attend.
The unique concept behind Bloc is that it’s the only pay-per-result platform of its kind.
Restaurants only pay for the advertising if a user checks in to their restaurant on the app and that user actually attends (tracked via geo-location).
The restaurant pays for their perfect result.
A user in their restaurant spending. Impressions, clicks and check-ins are all free. The user has to go for the venue to be charged.
This means it’s risk-free and budget friendly.
Restaurants can trial the service with £150 ad credit, which is 75 customers for free.
2. Always start planning strategies by doing some research on your audience
When you start coming up with restaurant marketing strategies, it’s good practice to begin every idea with a bit of research.
Each strategy must enable you to get guests into your restaurant without spending unnecessary resources.
However, this isn’t the only important aspect of marketing. You also need to ensure that your advertising strategy is designed specifically for the audience you’re trying to attract.
Take a look at your restaurant and jot down its strengths and weaknesses.
Say, for example, your restaurant serves some of the most delicious food in town but your place is relatively small, then this means that you need to market your restaurant as a cozy place with amazing dishes.
Alternatively, you have the perfect place that is designed for large crowds, and your restaurant always has a lively atmosphere where people come to watch the sports game. In this case you need to tailor your strategy to reward guests that come in large groups.
3. Make your strategies as bold and creative as possible without going overboard
One issue with a lot of marketing tactics is that they’re either too vague so that their message doesn’t hit the target, or they are way too upfront, which ends up making customers put off.
Your customers are looking for a fun, relaxing meal and marketing an event during their courses will just drive them away. You need to find the perfect balance.
So how do you achieve this?
It’s simple, put yourself in the shoes of your customer and think about your strategy from another perspective.
A handy tip is that you can try out a few strategies for a small period of time. Maybe you want to use a discount coupon to get people in; in that case, give out coupons for a week and see if it improves sales.
In case your profit rises during the promo coupon week and ends soon after then you know this strategy is only temporary and you’ll have to look elsewhere.
A loyalty system might be better because it sends a clearer message.
4. Customize your menu items to suit your audience
What’s your favorite food?
Maybe it’s that delicious ice cream from that shop you used to visit as a kid or it could even be a delicious dish that one of your family members makes, which you can’t seem to replicate.
Food is a deeply personal aspect of our lives. If you want to make your restaurant memorable, you have to start at heart, your food.
Being a restauranter gives you the ability to give your customer an experience that will stay with them for a while.
The best way to work towards this goal is to give them food you’re sure they’ll love.
Again, these food items will mainly depend on what kind of restaurant you have as well as your audience.
A cozy restaurant calls for more rustic comfort dishes that leave you feeling full. On the other hand, a more energetic place that is a hub for groups of people will want to serve greasy ‘guilty pleasure’ foods that are easy to snack on.
5. Social media is an essential tool when it comes to restaurant advertising
When we look around us, it’s hard to deny that one of the greatest inventions of our lifetime is the internet.
Now that smartphones have become so common, it should be no surprise that digital marketing is crucial for nearly all businesses.
Social media apps like Instagram, in particular, have millions of users who spend a significant amount of time scrolling through post after post.
The question is how do you use these apps to your advantage?
There are two main things you need to remember when you’re posting on any social media account; you must work with the algorithm and post content that draws your customers in.
The algorithm is a system that helps these apps recommend posts to their users.
Your SEO content level will determine whether or not you get recommended, so keep that in mind.
Next is the actual content that you put on this site. You’ll want to throw in a few posts that might get the audience involved.
You can host a quick giveaway for any person who likes your post and follows you, like an internet raffle.
Or you could also ask your audience to vote for their next favorite dish.
The opportunities are truly boundless when it comes to restaurant advertising online.
6. Food-related events are excellent ways of drawing in a niche crowd
People are passionate about food, whether it’s wine connoisseurs, cheese enthusiasts, or even just pizza lovers who want to try different varieties.
Your restaurant can tap into this crowd of people by helping them to explore their hobby.
These events will mainly depend on how many professionals are willing to participate in your event.
You’d be surprised at the number of people who would come just because they want to know more about food.
You could also ask a chef who specializes in a particular cuisine to have a showcase of their cuisine.
They could go through all the basics of what to do and give your audience a few of their favourite recipes.
This way you’re getting your customer base involved while also showing that your restaurant is deeply passionate about food.
7. Start hosting parties to widen your restaurant’s reach
Some people like small celebrations and some like them big.
Each one of us has our own special way by which we like to enjoy our special days. By opening your restaurant up as a venue for hosting parties, you will be able to cement yourself as a strong restaurant in the community.
Parties usually have people from all over town coming to attend. This way, all of these people will get to experience your superb food, making them drop by for a visit the next time they’re in town.
However, the size of the party will have to depend entirely on your restaurant.
First, you could try having small birthday celebrations and keep the number of guests low. Then, if you think that your restaurant can handle more then, go ahead and host a larger group.
8. Live performances can bring in some local talent to let your guests have an amazing experience
Restaurants are places where people go to hang out and have a break away from their day to day lives and a live performance is always sure to spice things up.
These performances give your bar a chance to get some of the local favorites to show their skills. So why not use it as a restaurant advertising strategy?
Stand up comedians are a good way to let your customers have some much-needed laughter after a stressful week.
A live band is sure to set the mood and get everyone singing along to some nostalgic tunes.
You could even have a karaoke night with a local instrumentalist giving your guests a chance to feel like a professional musician. Look around town and see who you can find, you never know which event might become a hit at your restaurant.
9. Boost influencer posts to reach your exact audience
Influencer marketing on its own is not effective.
The reason for this is because the majority of the people following an influencer don’t live anywhere near your restaurant and probably won’t travel to visit.
There’s a better way to use influencer marketing that’s incredibly effective.
On TikTok there is an ad option called Spark ads and on Instagram the same type is called a Brand Partnership ad.
This allows you to boost an influencers piece of content to your exact target audience.
Find micro-influencers in your area who would visit in exchange for a free visit with a plus one and make sure they create incredible video content for Reels and TikToks.
Allow them to post the content and if it does well in the first 24 hours (in terms of comments), boost their content to your audience.
The reason this is powerful is because it’s an ad that’s come from an influencer that people trust.
And it also doesn’t break the bank because you don’t pay for the influencer and PPC is cheap.
Final thoughts…
Remember that restaurant advertising doesn’t necessarily have a template that you have to use.
Although there’s no format that you have to follow, there are a few aspects that all good marketing strategies share.
First, their primary goal is to get customers into your restaurant and secondly these marketing strategies will ensure that you have a thriving customer base for a long time.
Now, even though getting customers into your restaurant and giving them an experience to make them return is your main objective, this isn’t a very easy thing to do.
If you’re not getting the reaction you hoped for, then try tweaking your plan a bit and seeing if it works.
A good tip is to try some of these tips for a week and see how it works out. A positive reaction will tell you that you’re moving in the right direction.
So just keep at it and bear in mind that persistence and innovation will go a long way in this industry.
Want more information on restaurant marketing but don’t know where to start? Our blog has a ton of useful information that will give you an insight into this field.
Maybe, you’re frustrated with making ideas from scratch and are looking for a hassle-free way to get customers in.
In that case, Bloc is your best bet. We offer a trial period at no charge to any business that wants to get a taste of our app.
