6 Restaurant Marketing Strategy Examples for Inspiration

When it comes to marketing your restaurant, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.  

Every restaurant is unique and will require a different strategy to be successful. From social media marketing to restaurant loyalty programs, many ideas can help your establishment excel.

Singapore alone had an approximate figure of 13,700 F&B services back in 2020, steeply rising every year. It means that the competition is fierce and requires you to create a robust marketing strategy to succeed. 

In this blog post, we’ve gathered six restaurant marketing strategy examples to help you find your footing. So, what are you waiting for? Get started with restaurant marketing strategies today! 

What is restaurant marketing?

Restaurant marketing is all about creating a connection with customers. 

In essence, marketing a restaurant is about showcasing its unique selling points to the general public in a manner which informs them of the aspects that differentiate them from the rest. 

It is one of the most crucial ways to create a restaurant brand and can be vital in helping you engage with your target audience. 

Whether you’re a new restaurant or an old favourite, there is a list of strategies you can use to keep customers coming back. 

Digital marketing for restaurants 

About 58.4% of the global population is now using social media sites. Therefore, one cannot ignore digital marketing and yet aim to be successful in the restaurant business. 

Some popular techniques include:

• Social media marketing
• Google My Business optimisation
• Online reviews
• Email marketing
• SMS marketing

Digital marketing strategies can help restaurants enhance brand value and create stronger customer engagement. 

For more details, read our article on “Digital marketing for restaurants.”

Popular restaurant marketing ideas and trends

Restaurant marketing can be tricky, but with creativity and inspiration, it can be a lot of fun. It is vital to keep tabs on top restaurant marketing ideas as well as consumer behaviour that are trending in 2022 and beyond.

For example, there is a significant rise in the adoption of QR codes by consumers, and a massive shift from offline to online ordering, leading to a surge in delivery apps. 

Additionally, there is a shift towards marketing automation which has completely revamped how we see and comprehend restaurant marketing. 

Marketing strategies for restaurants during the pandemic. What has worked for brands?

More than anything, COVID made restaurant businesses realise the need to integrate the digital world with their offline endeavours for maximum impact.  

So, here is what worked for restaurants in the wake of the pandemic - 

• The increased adoption of marketing automation for digital engagement (i.e. chatbots for social media messages, scheduling for social media content, automated emails and messages to customers based on certain parameters) 

• The move towards seamless and collaborative tech, between POS and other ordering platforms, loyalty and CRM marketing and social media marketing platforms. 

• Using existing free resources to the best of their potential, such as email and social media marketing.

‍Restaurant marketing strategy examples

While your strategy may vary based on several factors, we can inform you of what has worked for brands in the past to help you draw inspiration.  

You will have to determine your intentions, define your marketing goals, understand your Unique Selling Points (USPs)s, set a budget and develop user personas to ensure you have the basis for the blueprint. 

You can use the following examples as inspiration and draw a workable restaurant marketing strategy for yourself : 

1. Develop an identity for your restaurant business

In the modern world, your brand’s identity is much more than the colours it uses. 

Today, it is representative of the persona it has, the range of emotions that get unearthed when a customer hears of you, and the tone of the content you produce. 

For example, we recognise a brand such as ‘Olive Garden’ as being comfort and family-oriented, whereas a brand like ‘Cheesecake Factory’ reminds us of extravagance, luxury, and indulgence. 

Having these keywords associated with your brand can help you gain a cult following and attract more word-of-mouth business. But for this to take place, it is essential for you to understand your target audience, divide them into categories based on set criteria, and establish a brand and theme that resonates with you and them. 

2. Create a social media presence

Reviews and comments influence 9 out of 10 people on the internet. Given that we are in the digital age, it is important to focus on creating a meaningful social media presence. 

There are many brands that have managed to create a strong and loyal following on social media by having a solid presence on these sites which matches their restaurant identity. 

Some like ‘KFC’ and ‘McDonald’s’ have social media presence with millions of followers, which enables them to reach the desired audience with ease. 

Additionally, these platforms are an excellent way to continually engage with customers and address customer grievances on the go. 

With their help, brands can interact with their audience, gather feedback digitally, and perform actions that help them increase their sales. 

Momos tools offer 360-degree customer engagement by simplifying the management of reviews, feedback, messages and all other customer interaction points across all your main social media channels. 

3. Build a website 

When you have a website, it means you have a shop in every part of the world with Internet access indirectly.

With 77% of diners reporting that they visit a restaurant’s website before ordering online from them or visiting them in person, having one is a compulsion in the digital world. 

To top it up, 7 out of 10 people have been discouraged from visiting an F&B brand because they disliked their website. 

Brands like ‘Tiki Chick’ and ‘Sunday in Brooklyn’ have performed exceptionally well, and a lot of it can be attributed to their website and online presence. 

With a Momos Microsite, maintaining content is automated and this provides a mobile-friendly, dynamic experience for your customers to order from your closest location. 

4. Value loyalty

Suppose a customer is loyal to your restaurant brand. 

It saves you a good amount of money that may have been spent on advertisement and other expenses towards finding new customers and getting them to try your restaurant.

Statistics say that it is five times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. 

Various international brands, such as ‘Starbucks’, ‘TGI Fridays’, and others, have been able to retain customers because of their loyalty programs that run throughout the year. 

There are several factors that contribute to their success. 

For example, these programs are easy to be a part of, are accessible across online and offline channels, and act as an additional incentive to be associated with your brand. Loyalty programs can give you an opportunity to continually engage with your customer base via emails or text messages, and also reward them with unique and limited time offers exclusive to loyalty program members. 

Loyalty programs not only contribute to retaining existing clients but also work well in reducing your marketing and sales efforts to find and onboard new customers. 

5. Harness digital data to your advantage

When you have a significant digital presence and collect feedback online, it not only helps in improving your reach but also provides you with meaningful data to analyse and learn from. 

Restaurant chains like ‘Domino’s’ and ‘Panera Bread’ have invested in tools that help them use and analyse their digital data to boost customer experience. 

At Momos, our customer sentiment analysis tools allow restaurants to easily understand the customer experience when consuming their brand and gain insights to utilise in future marketing campaigns and brand-building activities.

6. Run social media campaigns

Using social media ads is undoubtedly one of the best marketing tools in the current times. Boosting posts and also running ads on Facebook/Instagram helps to increase your customer base and get new followers, particularly if you also leverage data being collected by your different technology providers.

For example, restaurants can use their customer database to target lookalike audiences for marketing campaigns or data to market to certain customer demographics on social media in order to maximise effectiveness and return on digital marketing efforts. 

At Momos, our Growth Marketing tools make it simple for restaurants to both create ads and track returns on marketing spend

Marketing strategies are a vital determinant of every restaurant business’ success

Restaurant marketing is an important way for restaurants to reach new customers and generate more business. 

By understanding popular marketing strategies and ideas, as well as examples of how these strategies have worked for different restaurants, you can develop a restaurant marketing plan that will work best for you. 

If you are having difficulties improving your digital presence, Momos can be an effective partner to help eliminate your bottlenecks. 

By collaborating with us, we can help you unearth aspects of your business that you were never able to otherwise. Our dedicated, easy-to-use tools are an excellent way to get started and provide the foundations for you to continually grow your business online.