7 Restaurant Promoting Methods That Accelerate Your Success

Marketing is more accessible today than it was forty years ago. Before the 21st century, options were limited. You had gold standards like word of mouth, posters, coupons, mailers, and radio promotions, but that didn’t come with the channels we have now. 

Today, you can reach new clients throughout their day via technologies like social media, referral programs, and digital ads. These methods use geo-targeting to help your ideal customer discover your restaurant (and hopefully visit with the whole family).  

Below, we’ll share how to harness restaurant promoting methods to accelerate your success by increasing brand awareness and targeting your ideal guests.

What Is Restaurant Promoting?  

Like all business owners, you want potential customers to be aware of your restaurant. That’s where restaurant promoting comes in.  

Definition and Goals 

Restaurant promoting uses marketing campaigns and strategies like special offers and advertisements to increase guest engagement, visits, and revenue. It’s a specific type of marketing that pushes your brand into as many public spaces as possible to draw awareness, encourage customers to visit, and boost repeat customers.  

Why Restaurant Promoting Is Critical for Growth 

You need an edge if you want your brand to stand out in a marketplace with close to a million restaurants. The best edge is a marketing plan that makes your brand memorable and provides repeated exposure to future customers.  

7 High-Impact Restaurant Promoting Methods That Work Now 

As you build your marketing strategy, remember to create content perfectly tailored to your audience. Otherwise, you may lose a customer before they’ve stepped into your restaurant, cafe, or bar.  

Narrow your market with restaurant promoting methods that work. Use these seven tactics to offer new clients everything they need to know about your business, from brand awareness and acquisition to retention. 

1. Loyalty Program Campaigns

Most people love a good discount. Loyalty program campaigns take advantage of this by offering their most loyal clientele special rewards, such as double points weeks, free birthday perks, or milestone offers.  

​​​How to do it: Make it easy for guests to join your loyalty program. ​​Encourage app downloads and make signups easier with in-store and online promotions. Use tools like QR codes for people to scan with their phones.  

2. Limited-Time Offers (LTOs) and Seasonal Menus

Limited-time offers (LTOs) tickle a special part of the human brain and create an urgency to spend. Seasonal menus are also relevant for this reason and can draw in new customers for new menu items throughout the year.  

​​​Consider why everyone goes crazy for pumpkin spice lattes when fall rolls around. Customers know their favorite PSL isn’t going to be there all year round and will likely visit more often during this window to get their fix. Use this sense of scarcity to your advantage by creating offers your customers can’t resist.  

How to do it: Share limited-time offers and seasonal menus with clearly stated expiration dates using email newsletters, SMS, in-store signs, and social media. For example, “Today only: BOGO offer on all dinner menu items between 4 pm and 5 pm.”

3. Social Media Giveaways and Contests

Social media marketing is often considered an optimized gateway to connect with new customers. As a marketing tool, it’s easy to drive engagement and follower growth through social media content and can be as low- or high-budget as you prefer.  

How to do it: Create social media giveaways or contest campaigns to put your business in front of new eyes. Your giveaway may ask current followers to “tag two friends for a chance to win a free dinner for two,” or a content may say “like and follow this post and tag two friends to enter our contest for one $25 gift card.” 

4. Referral Incentive Programs

Like loyalty rewards programs, referral incentives reward both the referrer and the referred. Both parties feel rewarded for spending money at your business and feel a sense of pride for sharing rewards with others.  

How to do it: Use a​​ simple referral incentive model, app-based tracking, or QR codes for simplicity. When a customer wants to share a reward, incentives may be, “share a $10 reward with a friend, and when they spend more than $30, get rewarded with a $10 credit.” For most clients, this is a win-win scenario. 

5. Local Partnerships and Community Events

Old school marketing hasn’t gone anywhere. Partnering with local businesses or community-led spaces can help get your business to the front of your community and naturally increase brand awareness.  

How to do it: Collaborate with local gyms, coffee shops, senior homes, retail stores, event venues, or art galleries. Your business can also sponsor community events, charity runs, sports teams, concerts, or farmers' markets.  

6. Digital Ads with Geotargeting

Today, restaurants can create targeted ads to reach new clients. These types of ads target a specific audience instead of wasting marketing dollars trying to appeal to everyone.  

How to do it: Design ads and use geotargeting tools on Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads to reach nearby guests. You can also test location-based promotions or time-sensitive discounts.

7. Influencer Collaborations and Press Outreach

​​​User generated content, collaborations with influencers, and local press are often a budget-friendly restaurant promoting strategy that shares your business with a wider audience. You get the best of both worlds: word-of-mouth referrals and referrals from role models within your community while saving on your marketing budget.  

How to do it: Invite local influencers for exclusive tastings, which may include your most popular dishes or highlight seasonal menu items. Then, write intriguing stories highlighting your restaurant and submit them to food blogs, local news, or lifestyle publications. Restaurant owners typically must cold pitch these stories, but use any contacts if you have them.  

Restaurant Promoting for Specific Goals 

If you already have a specific, measurable goal in mind, such as highlighting a new online ordering system, there are tactics to follow to target it.  

Driving Foot Traffic 

If driving foot traffic is your aim, opt for restaurant advertising encouraging people to show up in person. Don’t offer these promotions for online ordering.  

Restaurant promoting to increase foot traffic:  

• ​​​In-store promos with free taste testing  
• Live music during dinner  
• ​​​Weekday lunch specials  
• ​​​Geo-fenced mobile offers  
• SMS blasts with special offers 
• Host a trivia night and ​​offer drink specials  

Promoting Online Ordering or Delivery 

Encourage online ordering services ​​and delivery using discounts and promotions. What to offer for online ordering or delivery:  

• Discounts for first-time digital orders 
• Savings for new app downloads  
• Free delivery on app-based purchases 
• Promotions or loyalty rewards for repeat customers (online or off)  

To Build Brand Awareness in New Markets 

Restaurants in new markets often struggle to move the needle and draw in new customers. They may struggle with foot traffic due to competition or because people don’t realize they exist yet.  

Restaurant promoting to build brand awareness:  

• Put up billboards 
• Sign up for radio ads 
• Boost social media posts in new zip codes 
• Assemble a street team to promote the restaurant  
• Get a pop-up booth at local events 
• Offer happy hour specials  
• Use localized digital advertising methods