How to promote your restaurant in 10 steps

If you are a restaurant owner you might have heard lots of confusing and conflicting ideas for restaurant promotion. But to grow your business you have to put efforts from inside. To promote restaurant you must have a good starting plan so that you can build your business on a solid foundation.

Whenever you do promotions for your business, remember not to create unsustainable expectations from customers like getting food for half price. If you are confused how to promote your restaurant then do not worry, today we are going to tell you how to promote your restaurant in 10 simple and easy steps so that you can attract more customers and build a huge customer base.

Promotions are the great ways to bring back old customers and create the pool of new customers. So follow these steps and make your restaurant popular and profitable.

1. Set your goals

The first step for you restaurant promotion is to decide to whom you want to reach so that you can make a roadmap to reach them. Until you do not know who your target customers are, your marketing efforts will be inefficient. An efficient marketing campaign can cost you too much and you will end up wasting your resources. So, it is important to decide your target segment.

2. Get a user-friendly website

In this digital era, you need a functional and interactive website to promote your restaurant. Your website must be responsive so that your customers can leave feedback and you can respond to their reviews. It will also help your prospective customer to make an informed decision.

Whenever you get reviews reply to them as soon as possible whether it is positive or negative. It will help you to build a relationship with your customers and by responding negative reviews you will get a chance to turn your dissatisfied customers into regular visitors.

Make the website as your first priority because all your marketing campaigns need a website to anchor. Website is as important as the physical address of your restaurant, so do not forget to publicize your website on all your promotional and advertising materials.

3. Optimize your online and offline presence

To attract more customers it is important to optimise your online presence. You can claim your listings in local directories and review sites. Nowadays people prefer to check the reviews of the restaurant before dining out so reviews available on your website and other review platforms. This helps your customers to know better about your restaurant and its services.

Whenever you have press releases send them to local newspapers, magazines, nearby manufacturing facilities, and other businesses so that they can know your restaurant is open for business.

It is also important to place the menu on your website and other third-party food providers so that your customers can see it online and place orders and make reservation from anywhere.

4. Stay active on social media

If you are not using social media to promote your restaurant means you are losing business. Some restaurants create social media accounts but do not post regularly.

If you want to promote your restaurant on social media, start actively involving on various social media platforms to find which one and what works best for you. Whenever you are posting on social media do remember to include keywords related to your menu, concept, location, etc.

5. Add visuals in your social media posts

When you include some pictures and videos of your restaurant in social media posts, they become attractive. If you want to grab the attention of your prospective customers use visuals in your social media posts.

6. Use multiple promotional and advertising channels

To achieve your short and long-term goals you must have an action plan to market your restaurant successfully.

For this, you have to test the available marketing and advertising options and measure their effectiveness. You can allocate 80% of your marketing budget to digital marketing and 20% to traditional marketing such as pamphlet, newspaper ads, banners, etc. The allocation of the marketing budget can also be changed if you feel there are fewer people who are using internet in your nearby area.

7. Set Google alert

You can set Google alert and monitor the web and know where and why people are mentioning you. If it is reviews or queries respond to them as soon as possible. A fast response can leave a positive impact on your customers and they feel valued when you respond to them.

8. Differentiate your restaurant

Differentiate your restaurant from its competitors by telling a story. Make a story which includes your personal style, point of view and restaurant theme.

9. Delivery services

By introducing delivery services you can cater to the customers who do not have time to come for food. It not only gives you the business opportunity but also offer you advertising opportunity.

You can put your brand on the vehicle which you are going to use for delivery and let the world show your message. It will help you to grow your brand.

10. Use restaurant management system

To make your restaurant efficient it is important to make the operations smooth for everyone. You can use a restaurant management system not only to simplify the operations but also to engage customers by collecting feedbacks, offering membership and loyalty programs. Restaurant management system can help you increase your profitability.

Follow these simple and effective steps to promote your restaurant and become successful.