How to Promote a Restaurant
Identify your target demographic., Create a website., List the restaurant on online local listings., Market directly to nearby businesses., Make the news., Participate in local festivals.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Identify your target demographic.
Before you can promote your restaurant effectively, you'll have to define who your ideal customers are.
Identify who your restaurant is best designed to serve.
Are you a family establishment or more of an intimate, date restaurant? Are you seeking to attract urbanites or rural customers? Deciding who to focus on will inform your advertising strategies and content., Many customers will visit your website before visiting your restaurant, so make sure your website is a reflection your restaurant's level of quality and professionalism.
A good website will allow you to inform, communicate with, and draw in customers.
A great website will do those things and also be easy to use and well-designed.
For this reason, if you can afford it, you should hire a professional website designer to create your website.
You should regularly update your website with specials, menu changes, and events.
Posting content regularly will also cause your website to appear higher in search results.
You can also add the ability to receive online orders or accept online reservations through your website.If you don't want to pay a website designer, or can't afford one yet, there are plenty of resources online that can provide you with easy-to-use website templates.
Be sure to post both your hours and your full menu on your website., Online local listings websites, such as Google Places, Bing Places for Business, and Yelp direct local web users who search for your food type or restaurants near them to your restaurant's profile or website.
They also provide spaces for you to post restaurant information, pictures, and updates.
Customers can post pictures and reviews of your restaurant as well.
Start by claiming or creating a profile for your restaurant on one of these websites, then move to the others.
Make sure your restaurant's information, like its name and address, are consistent and correct across these platforms., One way to get your name out there, especially when you've just opened, is to visit businesses within walking distance or within a short drive from your restaurant.
On a slower business day, like Monday or Tuesday, have a team of your employees or friends visit these businesses to promote your restaurant by handing out business cards, flyers, or special discount cards.
Make sure that they reach workers who would consider visiting your restaurant for lunch or for an after work happy hour., If you want to reach more customers quickly, take advantage of the media.
Try sending out a press release or contacting local news agencies if your restaurant does or is involved in something newsworthy.
Newsworthy events might include a unique and exciting new menu item, a celebrity eating in your restaurant, attending a food festivals, an award you won, or some charitable event put on by your restaurant.
If your event if exciting enough, you might get local or regional news coverage that can draw in customers from all over.Be sure to share links to any news coverage you receive on social media so that more people will see it and possibly share it with their friends., Make a point of searching for local food or music festivals regularly.
Whether they are charitable or for-profit festivals, anywhere you can get your food into potential customers' mouths is a good place for you to earn future business.
Provide snack-sized versions of your popular dishes or specially-made cocktails to festival-goers to give them a taste of what your restaurant can offer.
Just be sure to also have promotional materials (business cards, flyers, etc.) handy so that they remember the restaurant's name.
This is also a good opportunity for you, as the business owner, to interact with customers directly. -
Step 2: Create a website.
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Step 3: List the restaurant on online local listings.
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Step 4: Market directly to nearby businesses.
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Step 5: Make the news.
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Step 6: Participate in local festivals.
Detailed Guide
Before you can promote your restaurant effectively, you'll have to define who your ideal customers are.
Identify who your restaurant is best designed to serve.
Are you a family establishment or more of an intimate, date restaurant? Are you seeking to attract urbanites or rural customers? Deciding who to focus on will inform your advertising strategies and content., Many customers will visit your website before visiting your restaurant, so make sure your website is a reflection your restaurant's level of quality and professionalism.
A good website will allow you to inform, communicate with, and draw in customers.
A great website will do those things and also be easy to use and well-designed.
For this reason, if you can afford it, you should hire a professional website designer to create your website.
You should regularly update your website with specials, menu changes, and events.
Posting content regularly will also cause your website to appear higher in search results.
You can also add the ability to receive online orders or accept online reservations through your website.If you don't want to pay a website designer, or can't afford one yet, there are plenty of resources online that can provide you with easy-to-use website templates.
Be sure to post both your hours and your full menu on your website., Online local listings websites, such as Google Places, Bing Places for Business, and Yelp direct local web users who search for your food type or restaurants near them to your restaurant's profile or website.
They also provide spaces for you to post restaurant information, pictures, and updates.
Customers can post pictures and reviews of your restaurant as well.
Start by claiming or creating a profile for your restaurant on one of these websites, then move to the others.
Make sure your restaurant's information, like its name and address, are consistent and correct across these platforms., One way to get your name out there, especially when you've just opened, is to visit businesses within walking distance or within a short drive from your restaurant.
On a slower business day, like Monday or Tuesday, have a team of your employees or friends visit these businesses to promote your restaurant by handing out business cards, flyers, or special discount cards.
Make sure that they reach workers who would consider visiting your restaurant for lunch or for an after work happy hour., If you want to reach more customers quickly, take advantage of the media.
Try sending out a press release or contacting local news agencies if your restaurant does or is involved in something newsworthy.
Newsworthy events might include a unique and exciting new menu item, a celebrity eating in your restaurant, attending a food festivals, an award you won, or some charitable event put on by your restaurant.
If your event if exciting enough, you might get local or regional news coverage that can draw in customers from all over.Be sure to share links to any news coverage you receive on social media so that more people will see it and possibly share it with their friends., Make a point of searching for local food or music festivals regularly.
Whether they are charitable or for-profit festivals, anywhere you can get your food into potential customers' mouths is a good place for you to earn future business.
Provide snack-sized versions of your popular dishes or specially-made cocktails to festival-goers to give them a taste of what your restaurant can offer.
Just be sure to also have promotional materials (business cards, flyers, etc.) handy so that they remember the restaurant's name.
This is also a good opportunity for you, as the business owner, to interact with customers directly.
About the Author
William Coleman
Specializes in breaking down complex cooking topics into simple steps.
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