Secrets to successful restaurant advertising

Advertising a restaurant is not a complex task, however, you should know some secrets that make the creation of strategies a simple and smooth task.

Through various marketing actions, both in the digital ecosystem and in the real world (known as offline), you can go a long way in promoting your business.

In this article you will find: steps, hacks and tips to follow to design and implement an advertising campaign for a restaurant.

First steps to advertise a restaurant

Restaurant advertising is the best tool you can use to attract customers to your business.

To design advertising strategies for restaurants it is important to know the type of customer you receive in the establishment, so you will have what you need to improve the service and have a strategy focused on them.

Become an expert in your sector

What is the best advertising you can have? Offering a unique dining experience that will encourage customers to recommend your business.

Within that experience you need to take care of every detail, from food safety to the originality of the dishes and their plating.

But the experience is not only about the dishes, you must also take into account the decoration and ambience of your premises . Making them pleasant for diners is part of an excellent service.

Finally, you can’t leave out customer service. This aspect is fundamental for the publicity of your restaurant

So, make sure it is a personalised, close and agile service for customers.

Recognise what your client wants and fears

There is a different gastronomic offer in each establishment and not everyone wants to eat some ofthem.

For this reason, it is wise to establish who your target audience is.

Create a profile or profiles of the customers that you frequently serve in your restaurant. In this way, it will be easy to establish actions to advertise your business, and attract people who respond to those interests.

Another advantage of recognising the type of customer that visits your restaurant is to make modifications to the menu, service and prices.

Actions and channels for restaurant positioning

After establishing the target audience of your business, comes the most important step.

Undoubtedly, that step is to plan the advertising campaigns that will serve to position the restaurant on the Internet and social networks, without forgetting offline actions.

Evaluate which channels are favourable when advertising a restaurant and start creating strategies to manage them.

Website

Having a website is vital for the times we live in. Through it, you will allow your customers to find you and access information of interest about your restaurant.

Use a simple website design, adaptable for mobile devices and with a structure that is understandable for any type of user.

Don’t forget to place a section for customers to make reservations to attend special occasions . Also offer a mailbox for feedback.

As for the image, make sure it has the logo of the restaurant and the colours that identify it.

Don’t forget to include images of your place, the idea is that customers get to know your place before entering and -once they get to know it- remember the moments they experienced there.

Publish and update your blog

The blog is the space to publish articles with content of interest to your target audience

The content you publish has to be related to the service and the theme you offer in the restaurant.

Before publishing articles, look for keywords that help to position the page at the top of the search engines. This way you will get a higher number of visits.

To advertise a restaurant, you can publish recipes, events or products that are associated with the business and encourage people who read the articles to visit the establishment.

Have a presence on Social Media

Nowadays, a presence on social networks is essential to advertise a restaurant.

Posting content of interest, such as images of the dishes you serve, will motivate people to follow you and become potential customers.

Competitions, offers and promotions are also a welcome part of a restaurant’s social media strategy and posts.

Another essential aspect of social media is that people have direct contact with the account through comments and messages, so there is always a need for a response.

To complement this customer service, it is a good gesture to republish photographs that customers have taken in the restaurant.

The content that will be published should be organised in a calendar, to establish a fixed rhythm of publication and always appear on the homepage of the followers.

SEO actions

In order for a greater number of people to get to know the restaurant, the advertising of a restaurant must go hand in hand with SEO.

To appear in the top positions of search engines you must write with your target audience in mind. Analyse the keywords that are among the most searched for, offer original and quality content.

Using tools such as Google Analytics will help you to know everything that happens -behind the scenes- with your website.

It is important that you have the support of an SEO professional to achieve the positioning of your website.

Email Marketing: Traditional, but very effective

Email marketing keeps customers informed about the restaurant’s news, promotions, offers and competitions.

Customers can subscribe to your restaurant’s newsletter through the website or with the strategy known as Social WiFi, which consists of giving diners the wifi password in exchange for a means of contact such as their email address.

Email marketing can be invasive for customers, so don’t send emails every day. Send personalised mailings every week or month, as well as on special dates.

You can use these emails to advertise the restaurant and the content that is published on your website, using attention-grabbing messages and associated images.

Want more? Influencers!

Food influencers are all the rage and are a good strategy to advertise a restaurant.

Talk to one of the influencers in your city or the nearest city to spend a day at the restaurant with a guest.

While the restaurant offers the gastronomic service, the influencer will advertise the restaurant by taking photos or recording videos recommending each part of the service.

That way, their followers will be encouraged to visit the business and become potential customers for the restaurant.

Let your marketing be the experience

Experience is the best advertising campaign for restaurants, where the customer is the main actor.

By offering different experiences within the dynamics of the restaurant, people will be surprised by the difference you represent compared to the competition.

And, thanks to this, they will recommend your business to their friends and family

Show cooking

Show cooking allows people to watch how the chef prepares the dishes they ordered.

During the show cooking, the chef explains a bit about the ingredients and the preparation process of each dish, while surprising them with some cooking manoeuvres.

Techno-emotional gastronomy

Techno-emotional gastronomy as a gastronomic movement aims to create or develop emotions in diners.

This is achieved by making use of technologies that allow customers to be always active when tasting each dish.

Tastings

An attractive activity for adults is wine and beer tastings.

During the tastings, you have the opportunity to teach about the different types of wines and beers served in the establishment, some examples of pairing and the correct way to distinguish their flavours.

Friend of the best friends

If your restaurant is a pet-friendly space, it’s great for people with pets.

While customers are enjoying their meal, pets can be there with them so they don’t have to be left alone at home.

Promote fun

In terms of entertainment, organise entertainment to keep customers happy while they are waiting or tasting their food and drinks.

Within this type of entertainment you can offer live music, karaoke nights, blind dinners and magic or comedy shows.

Create atmosphere with your décor

The décor is an important aspect of any restaurant, as it is responsible for bringing the theme of any business to life.

If your restaurant has a defined theme, make sure that every element gives the impression of having been transported in time or place.

This will surprise diners from the moment they enter the establishment until they leave.

Ways to advertise a restaurant online

There are several ways to advertise a restaurant online in a few simple steps.

With each of these ways to create restaurant advertising, you will get the flow of potential customers you are looking for.

SEM

Getting your website to the top of the search results is the goal to get more people to your website.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the strategy you need to achieve this goal, through advertising that positions you.

For this positioning, the keywords that characterise your restaurant, the design of ads that capture the attention of the target audience and analysing the results of the strategyare important.

As the ads will appear on different pages, redirect people to the home page of your website and let them know everything about the restaurant.

Display

Display advertising in electronic media is another alternative way to advertise a restaurant.

By simply paying for the communication channel where the banner or advertisement will be placed, people will get to know your business by going to that page.

By publishing the restaurant’s advertisements, your business will have a prestigious image by investing in various communication channels that people consider important.

And, best of all, this type of advertising is the most economical and you can establish greater cost control.

Mobile apps

With the development of mobile apps, access to information or the Internet in general is through them.

In some applications there is programmatic advertising, which is usually associated with the application in which it is promoted.

If you are a restaurant, you should look for a mobile app that has programmatic advertising available to advertise your restaurant ad.

This type of advertising gives you more choice of formats, so the ad campaign for the restaurant can be an image, video, GIF or full screen ads.

The offline world exists, use it to advertise your restaurant

Although the digital world is an important element of our daily lives, traditional marketing never goes out of fashion.

Have a logo and name that are eye-catching, related to the service and easy to remember. That way, they will recognise your restaurant just by seeing the sign from a distance or an advertisement.

A large part of the customers you receive in your establishment will come through recommendations from friends, acquaintances or relatives.

The staff must take care that the service is always the best, maintaining the cleanliness of the establishment and the tidiness of the furniture.

It is important that the customer is received and dismissed as courteously as possible. Waiters and waitresses shouldalso bear in mind that the customer is always right.

The experience of offering to have the right tableware

As part of the experience as a strategy to advertise a restaurant, the tableware is one of the elements that demonstrate the quality of the service received.

If you don’t have the right crockery and cutlery for a five-star service, in Monouso – our online shop – you will find a catalogue with products that adapt to your needs.

If your business has a natural and sustainable theme, we offer you biodegradable tableware, made from natural raw materials such as corn starch or sugar cane bagasse.

On the other hand, if you are looking for reusable or disposable options, you are in luck. Here we have a section for this type of products made from cardboard, plastic, kraft paper and other materials that have an impressive resistance and hardness.