Top Restaurant Marketing Ideas to Attract Customers in 2023 – Tips and Trends!

The Restaurant Marketing Ideas are not confidential unless you understand the real competitive edge of the Restaurant Business.  

Okay…Don’t get tense to see words like Confidential and Competitive. We’re not going to make this blog Cheesy! The thing is, whether you’re opening your first business or you’ve got half a dozen venues to your name, current trend Restaurant Marketing Ideas are a cheery on the top to visually impress and crave to get more (customers) to your restaurants.   

We just want to tell you one thing, but we not sure whether it will make you feel happy or drastic. The momentum of the Restaurant Industry is picking up and constantly growing. There’re two possibilities; if the restaurant business is picking up, it would bring you more revenue in terms of customers, or your restaurant could sink among the competitors in terms of business competition.  

So, how to overcome these challenges? Obviously, through this Blog! We mean through Restaurant Marketing Ideas. You might wonder why you should consider Restaurant Marketing and whether it’s the only way out.   

Ultimately, the answer is YES! Restaurant Marketing is the only way in 2023 and in the upcoming years. The reason is…Wait, why don’t we see that on real-time numbers?   

Know Your Numbers, Know Your Customers

We’ve included some handy real time Restaurant Marketing Statistics that can help you think about our point. For more food marketing trends and statistics.

Top Restaurant Marketing Ideas to Bring in More Customers, Ideally Revenue

Your Restaurant Marketing Plan doesn’t need to be complicated. As a Restaurant Marketing Agency, based on our previous marketing experience and industry trends, we created something simple, but effective (like hot and fresh Sushi); never mind if you don’t like Sushi, we’ll leave some space for you to fill the dish as well as your marketing strategy in this post. 

1. Define Your Brand Identity

Initially, your Restaurant has to be recognized as a Brand. Unfortunately, many Restaurants overlook this process. Don’t be one of those restaurants. It’s your responsibility to ensure that your customers remember your Restaurant after they’ve dined. Defining Your Brand Identity is the priority to bring in more customers. 

However, following the traditional trend to build Brand Identify will not support your restaurant in any way. The efforts should have creativity on your end. That can be like this (yes, we’ve covered that too).  

#1: Develop a Mission Statement for your Restaurant, explaining why your Brand exists, and the purpose it serves. For instance, let’s look at the Mission Statement of Great American Restaurant – “To create outstanding experiences in hospitality for both guests and employees, where GARStars feel that they are part of something special.” 

#2: Determine your Brand’s value and position within the market, by analyzing how your price, promotion, what you offer, and place to compare other restaurants in your area. 

#3: Develop your Brand voice. The most important factor in Restaurant Marketing strategy. Use a consistent tone and language for your Brand journey when communicating with customers on social media or websites.   

#4: Develop your Brand’s look & feel. This is about everything from the Logo to Brand color, keeping that connection with the audience.   

2. Build a Website, First

Not only Restaurant Businesses, but every business should have a Digital Assets Website. Diners nowadays use Google to find restaurants, before deciding where to eat. In that case, you have to put your Website in front of them to get noticed. Build an updated and visually appealing Restaurant Website to reach new customers who are searching for a delicious place like yours to eat.  

Hiring a Restaurant Marketing Agency can help you build an optimized Website that can impress customers and search engines to rank. 

Pro Tips

• Make it mobile responsive. People look up your Restaurant on their phones just as often, or even more, as on desktops.   
• Optimize your Website for speed. A general advice is not to add too many plugins and pages that slow down your Website (That’s not applicable to high-quality images).   
• Select the right keywords. You don’t have to cover all the vegan customers unless you offer excellent meat. Only play with the keywords that are appropriate. 

3. Restaurant Email Marketing

One of the best ways to retain your existing customers. If you’re not building a list with customers’ contact information, you’re simply leaving money on the table.  

So, place a form on your website, to allow customers to sign up for a newsletter and special offers. At your Restaurant, collect their contact information, including email IDs, with their concern to increase your contact list. This, combined with collecting emails from your online ordering and reservations, allows you to build a large customer database quickly.  

Pro Tips

• Be consistent with your emails, let them know about new menus, offers, discounts. 
• Use same brand color throughout your newsletter journey.  
• Printed versions of your menu that highlight the latest specials or signature dishes. 

4. Elevate Your Food Photography

These days people eat with their eyes before they actually eat with their stomachs.  Customers will leave your table for the best if your restaurant photography isn’t top-notch.   This part also includes decorating restaurant’s ambience.  

Pro Tips

• Be attentive on your tableware. Use high-quality plates or bowls in your photographs. The ambience speaks a lot more than your dish, so concentrate on the surroundings. 

• Keep the background clean and Posh. Plain backgrounds are best for the food photography because they eliminate any distractions. However, don’t forget about your brand color, splash that too.  
• Mix up your angle. Experiment to find your best angle for each dish. For example, some dishes look great when you shoot them head on (Sandwich cut into two halves to show off what’s inside), while some look great if you shoot down directly above from the table (Pizza with extra loaded toppings) … Yummy…! 

5. Update Your Google Business Profile

Forget about traditional offline directories; keep your Restaurant listed on one of the top online directories, Google. If you aren’t set up with Google Business Profile (previously called as Google My Business or GMB), now is your time to start.  

Why Google Business Profile? It’s free, easy to start and allows you to manage your online presence across Google; the good part is that it includes Search and Maps. This helps customers find you more easily through various marketing tactics that engage guests.  

Pro Tips

• Add your business hours of operation and stick with that.  Be sure to schedule ‘Special Hours’ if your hours change on Public Holidays or during special events. 
• Add photos that show off everything from your ambience and dining place to your dishes.  
• Add a business description that makes your restaurant to stand out from the competition. 

6. Create Social Media Profiles

Be active on that too! One of the best Restaurant Marketing Ideas to get more customers. Social Media is a great way to reach customers, as both a platform for personal expression and a method for businesses to communicate with potential clients.  

However, choosing the right platform to promote can be difficult. Since so many new ones are constantly popping up, the question is whether you need a profile on every platform. 

As a Restaurant Marketing Agency, we suggest for you to start with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you are already on these platforms, focus on Instagram.  

Instagram has over 2 Billion Active Users, and is the best platform to place high quality images for customers.  

Pro Tips

• Post consistently. This is the thumb rule for every business out on the internet. So, aim for 2-3 posts per week.  
• Use high resolution images. As we said earlier, “Let your customers visually eat first”.  
• Use unique Hashtags on Social Media. Using unique Social Media Hashtags helps you to track conversions.

Additional Promotion Tactic

You can use it to ask your loyal customers to post pics of your food, in exchange for a free appetizer or dessert the next time they visit. Give it a try. (I’ll be on the line, definitely!) 

7. Digital Advertising; All the Way Out to Reach!

Digital Advertising is the form of Restaurant Marketing technique that lets you target particular locations or demographics online.  

The Story Time!

To put it simply, for instance, let’s say I’m living in Texas and looking for a good restaurant with a particular dish, maybe Pizza… In that case, I don’t wish to walk on the street to find the best one.   

Simply, I take out my mobile and search for the restaurant, so I get various results; out of that, I’m going to select one, which is in the top 5 results. Obviously, everyone does that, I guess.   

You have the Website, Business Profile and everything. So, how do you surpass your competitor in search engines? That’s where Restaurant Marketing plays in.   

The two well-known Restaurant Digital Advertising Platforms are Google Ads and Facebook Ads (Meta). Through the restaurant PPC Campaigns, you can get your Restaurant (Website) in front of people. Hiring a Restaurant Marketing Agency for Digital Restaurant Advertising can help you reap the results.   

8. Promote Your Restaurant on Food Delivery Apps

If you work with Third-party Food Delivery Apps like Uber Eats or DoorDash, your Restaurant Marketing is on the perfect track. Though every application is different, most offer easy advertising options. For instance, Uber Eats lets you set up Sponsored Listings, which put your Restaurant front and center in the Uber Eats Feed for a designated period. Just keep in mind that these kinds of promotions come with extra fees. 

9. Use Restaurant Reservation Apps

More and more customers use Restaurant Reservation Apps when deciding where to eat. In fact, one in 4 tables served is booked through the Reservation Apps. Reservation Apps let diners choose the Restaurant in their area and make bookings, all in one place. Considering Reservation Apps on Restaurant Marketing is a great idea to fill your tables.  

Pro Tips

• Your Restaurant Marketing’s description. Briefly describe your venue by mentioning the type of food you serve, the atmosphere diners can expect, and the dishes you’re famous for. 
• Create suitable tags. By creating suitable tags, the App recommends your restaurant to customers who search for certain types of food and locations.  
• Highlight your availability. Make sure people know when you’re open – is there anything worse than going to get something to eat, only to be greeted by a “closed” sign? 

10. Improve Your SEO Strategy for Restaurants

Local SEO Strategy is another important factor in Restaurant Marketing. Do you ever wonder why some restaurants appear in Google Search Results while others don’t? It’s all about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)  

Simply said, SEO entails making changes to your website to ensure that it appears when users search on Google, Bing, and other search engines, for goods or services associated with your company. Restaurant SEO aims to increase Website traffic, which translates to more potential consumers. Moreover, the SEO part involves more technical factors and time to achieve the results. Hiring an SEO Agency for Restaurants can help you get more customers.   

Final Thoughts

Did you find this very easy? Of course, as we conveyed it to you perfectly! However, we are still available to help you execute these Restaurant Marketing Ideas to get new customers. We’re the Restaurant Marketing Agency in Texas, helping many food businesses to achieve their results. We offer complete Digital Marketing Services for Restaurants, from tempting Websites to SEO services with extra cheese. Download your Free Proposal for your Restaurant Marketing.  

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