The new year is about to swing by and your new year resolution urges you to get higher sales and more customers in your restaurant.
You know your food is good, your friends and family know it’s great, now you want to get more customers to enjoy them.
But you’re just not sure how to promote your food business properly to get them coming.
Traditional methods like pamphlets and flyers aren’t as effective anymore, competition for guests is becoming more fierce.
We get it, it is hard to wear multiple hats managing a restaurant in and out while cracking your head for marketing ideas.
Not to worry though, as we’re here to inspire you with a few tips that could attract new customers.
First and foremost: Your information should be easy to find on popular social media pages such as Facebook and Instagram.
These pages can allow your customers to contact you directly for enquiries and reservation, making it convenient for you to manage them!
With only a few clicks, you can also add your menu, address, price range, updated opening hours to the pages.
On popular rating pages like Tripadvisor® and Google Business, create your own page or claim your restaurant if it has not been done.
This will help ensure that all details up on these pages are up-to-date. Keep in mind that it is vital to keeping your information accurate and accessible.
Nothing will turn off customers more when they wish to reserve a table but couldn’t find any way to contact you or ending up in the middle of nowhere due to wrong address!
Your restaurant finally has its own social media page, what’s next?
Give customers reasons to follow and keep scrolling your page!
The best way to win a customer’s heart before they get to taste your delish cooking is by showing them mouth-watering, or even Instagrammable food pics!
There’s no better timing than now to start brushing up your photography skills. Encourage your team to do so if they are interested to learn.
If you have enough budget, hiring a professional photographer could do the trick too!
Keep your social media followers engaged by also sharing some behind the scenes story or inspiration behind your menu – they might turn into your loyal customers in no time.
You have some social media followers that have been following you for a while now, but they have yet to try your food. What can motivate them to finally dine with you?
A seasonal menu might be the answer. Be creative with your offerings and have a limited-time-only menu that is slightly different from your usual.
The urge to taste it before it’s gone and the fear of missing out would help get them to your doors.
Putting more thought into plating them differently can also help elevate your potential customers’ visual experience.
After all, there are not many of us who can resist food that already looks delectable before we dig in. Don’t forget to upgrade the current plating style of your existing menu too when you see fit.
This simple tweak can help win new customers when you share photos of these upgraded dishes online.
By doing so, you might even recall some previous customers who have visited you before to come back!
Another way to get your name out is by participating in local events such as sponsoring your restaurant as a community event venue, hosting cooking classes, or even collaborating with local artists or buskers to have fun, music-filled Friday nights!
Take this opportunity to expand your network and leverage each other’s customer base through social media and word of mouth.
Your business can also be seen as credible and supportive!
If you are capable of offering catering service, look for partners that will bring you a family crowd that might need your service one day; if you have curated lunch sets for affordable eats, partner up with local colleges for interesting events so students would notice you.
Be creative and strategic with who you partner with. And don’t forget to support your partners through social media too!
Promotions are a great way to get the word out about your restaurant.
Not only that they can encourage your existing customers to dine with you more, but they also motivate new customers to try out your offers as well.
Deals such as group specials, family-sized combo sets, or an extra snack or drink if they are your first-time customer would be a great start.
Referral discounts are also easy to pull off: Invite a certain amount of people and 20% off or introduce friends and family to get 25% off every meal.
Point is, the more people they refer to dine with you, the merrier!
However, do keep track of all your ongoing promotions and discounts so they don’t cut into your bottom line.
The last thing you want is for your restaurant’s traffic to become completely reliant on discounts.
Digital ads can be your good friend when you are running on a tight advertising budget.
Notice one of your posts performing better than the rest? That’s a sign that you should boost it on social media!
Through a simple setting, it can be used to geographically target customers that live around your service area. This increases the chance that they visit your restaurant just to give it a try!
Facebook Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, and Instagram Ads are great ways to bring your restaurant to the public eye.
There are also plenty of free, beginner-friendly video tutorials available online on how to do it, so don’t miss out!
What’s the new thing that people can’t live without?
Internet, WiFi, data. It’s a new necessity, and you’ll be surprised how some customers really do take that to heart when choosing a restaurant to eat at.
It’s not only a great incentive for getting customers to come into the restaurant but also to keep customers continuously staying in the restaurant to order meals and drinks.
If you are concerned about them hogging the space for prolonged hours, speak to your network service provider on how to limit surfing time, or simply set up a corner for laptop users so they don’t take up too much of the main seating area!
When all is said and done, you now know all the tips you need in order to haul your new customers into your restaurant.
Need similar tips and tricks? Pay attention to our page and this website as we bring more useful content to you!
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