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Find money-making restaurant marketing ideas and sales techniques

Editorial Team

6 min read
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How do you attract customers to your restaurant? Savvy sales and restaurant marketing. Marketing is a crucial part of your overall business strategy, not a once-in-awhile activity you think about when the table service is slow.

The restaurant industry is extremely competitive, and smart marketing techniques are what cultivate regulars and keep your restaurant afloat when a new eatery opens up across the street.

We’ve curated a collection of the best restaurant marketing and sales techniques. Whether you’re just launching or ready to up your game, you’ll find actionable insights below to get restaurant marketing done right.

1. Make a restaurant marketing plan

The pastries are perfect and your staff memorized the specials…now it’s time to get diners in the door. From boosting your restaurant’s visibility to figuring out your marketing budget, here are some restaurant marketing strategies to get started.

Believe it or not, optimizing your menu is a key marketing strategy for restaurants – whether they’re brand-new establishments ready for launch or well-known local favorites. Perusing your menu is an important factor in how customers decide whether to dine at your restaurant. And how you design your menu visually can nudge them towards dishes that improve your bottom line.

2. Grow your full-service restaurant (FSR)

Ready for a more in-depth restaurant marketing plan? Here are the best strategies for growing your restaurant or cafe.

3. Try some restaurant mobile marketing ideas

Want to reach customers near your restaurant? It’s time to try mobile marketing. With mobile marketing, you can send customers digital coupons right to their smartphones. Here are a few mobile marketing ideas for restaurants.

4. Grow brand awareness with social media marketing for restaurants

Social media is an incredibly powerful tool for restaurants to market themselves. In fact, Yelp! and other social media review sites are often the first place new customers will look for a new restaurant. Even better, if you can get your loyal fans sharing posts about your restaurant, you’ll generate some awesome word-of-mouth marketing.

5. Optimize your restaurant’s website and offer online ordering

The restaurant industry is the most searched type of business on mobile devices. Considering 85% of people search for local businesses online, this should be a crucial part of your restaurant marketing plan. Want more customers? Optimize your website for mobile and make sure you’re considering your restaurant’s SEO (search engine optimization).

If your restaurant doesn’t already offer online ordering, it’s time to put that plan into action. You may also want to optimize the online ordering and delivery strategy you have in place.

6. Attract more “regulars” with loyalty marketing for restaurants

It’s not just the gazpacho that keeps customers coming back to your restaurant. It’s how you make them feel. Everything from your specials to the atmosphere, to your loyalty program affects your sales. Treat your patrons well and they’ll keep coming back for more.

7. Address common problems with these restaurant marketing ideas

Every restaurant has its ups and downs. From location problems to low volume, here are some targeted restaurant marketing tactics to try.

8. Accept every form of payment

Marketers know that reducing friction is crucial to the success of any marketing campaign. Make sure you’re providing a frictionless ordering and payment experience at your restaurant. From placing the initial order, to getting their food in a fast and efficient way, to settling the bill, customers expect a hassle-free experience. Make sure your restaurant delivers.

Gift cards are a great payment type that are often overlooked by restaurants – but crucial to smart restaurant marketing. Gift cards gained more traction during the pandemic as a way to support a favorite eatery, and they’re always popular during the holiday season. But restaurants should consider promoting gift cards all year long. Gift cards help drive new restaurant discovery, bring new customers in the door, and encourage them to spend more than the gift card amount.

Tackle your restaurant marketing ideas with Clover

The industry has new restaurants opening all the time, and competition is fierce. It’s time your restaurant POS system did more than ring up a sale. From mobile marketing to email marketing, Clover has an app for you. Get Clover in your corner. Contact a Business Consultant today.

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Editorial Team

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Run your business Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) Marketing Full Service Restaurants (FSR)

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How do you attract more customers to your restaurant? By building a restaurant marketing plan; optimizing your website, social media, and online ordering & delivery; and cultivating repeat customers. This guide can help show you how to do restaurant marketing right.

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