When you are busy running your restaurant it’s not always easy to think up creative restaurant marketing ideas. So we’ve put together our top 10 easy to implement and effective restaurant marketing ideas. By doing just one of these per month (we’ve given you enough marketing ideas for this year) you’ll start growing your restaurant exponentially. Let’s get started!
12 effective and cost-efficient restaurant marketing ideas
While most people focus on getting restaurant covers, don’t forget that getting people to come back is the most efficient way of building your restaurant profits. Getting restaurant customers through the door the first time is many times more expensive than getting customers to come back again and again. So make sure to split your restaurant marketing time between how to get restaurant customers and then how to get them coming back.
Get restaurant customers through the door
- Partner with the businesses around you to create co-marketing ideas (discounted cinema tickets, shopping coupons, etc). Go door to door or use networking sites like Alignable.
- Put flyers with a coupons for a free drink in all mailboxes within a two mile radius.
- Be active in the community and sponsor a team or association.
- Hold a monthly prize draw for the best customer photo of your restaurant, staff or food and use the images throughout social media.
- Be active in a charity or cause, preferably linked with your story, such as organic food, feeding the poor or helping disadvantaged youth find jobs.
- Have an employee referral program, awarding the employee that has brought in the most new customers as well as offering a discount for the new customer.
Keep restaurant customers coming back
- Put a survey in place that requests an email in exchange for offers and news
- Send out a quarterly (monthly if possible) newsletter with news of your restaurant to stay top of mind
- Have a referral program in place that rewards both the referrer and the referee
- Take birthday or anniversary details from your customers and send them a personal invitation they can use throughout their birthday or anniversary month.
- Create irreverent or fun events at your restaurant for ‘customer nights’. Masterchef with your customers as the chef, local talent night, mother’s day out or other ways to become the favorite neighborhood place.
- Put an easy to manage restaurant loyalty program in place that awards customers for visits and referrals.
There are a myriad of uncomplicated restaurant marketing ideas that you can implement quickly, even having your staff manage them during downtimes. Restaurant marketing DOESN’T HAVE TO BE COMPLICATED to be effective.
