Restaurant marketing: 20 ideas for more guests

The most profitable marketing for a restaurant is usually getting the guests you already have to come back: the lunch guest who comes one more time a week and the couple who choose you again on an ordinary Tuesday. New guests then find you through Google, your neighbours and the regulars who talk about you.

Here are 20 ideas in four groups: lunch guests, quiet days and events, local partnerships, and your Google profile and menu. At the end there is a short reminder about the rules on alcohol.

Lunch guests

1. Be quick and predictable

Lunch guests are often in a hurry. If they know the food will arrive quickly and taste the same as last week, they come back. Time how long it takes from order to plate on a normal day, and see where things get stuck. You can often win minutes with simple things: payment when the guest orders, cutlery and water that guests help themselves to, and one dish that can be plated straight away for those in the biggest rush.

2. Post the week's menu on Monday morning

Many people decide where to eat during the morning. Publish the week's lunch menu in the same places and at the same time every week: on your website, on your Google profile and on social media. Then you become the obvious choice when colleagues ask where to go.

3. Reward the guests who come often

A loyalty card with, say, every tenth lunch free gives regulars a concrete reason to choose you. What many people call a stamp card or punch card, we call a loyalty card. Work out what the reward costs you before you launch, and make sure stamping cards does not slow down the queue.

4. Visit the workplaces nearby

Take the weekly menu round the offices, shops and health centres within walking distance. Offer to take group bookings or deliver to meetings. A workplace that starts eating with you once a week can become one of your biggest regulars.

5. Make takeaway easy

Some lunch guests want to eat at their desk. A clear collection point, ordering ahead by phone and packaging that keeps food warm help you reach people who would not otherwise come in at all.

Quiet days and events

6. Give your quietest evening a theme

Pasta Tuesday, soup Thursday or a dish that is only served one evening a week. When it comes back every week it becomes a habit, and guests know why they should come on that particular day. Put the theme in the window and in the weekly menu, so it is visible all week and not just on the evening itself.

7. Start something that comes back

A quiz once a month, live music on Sundays or a cookery class for regulars. A recurring event gives guests something to put in the diary and gives you something to talk about on social media.

8. Use the seasons and holidays

People plan Easter lunches, Mother's Day, Christmas parties and graduation dinners well in advance. Take advance bookings early and tell your regulars first, so they feel they get something before everyone else.

9. Send a reminder on a quiet day

If your regulars have a digital loyalty card, you can send a push notification to cardholders in the morning on a quiet day, for example about today's special. The notification shows on the lock screen and, unlike a text message, costs nothing per recipient. In Stampioo, push campaigns are included in Pro, up to ten a month.

10. Offer an early dinner

Families with children and retired people like to eat early. A simple early menu between five and six fills tables that would otherwise be empty, without you having to lower prices later in the evening.

Local partnerships

11. Partner with the theatre, cinema or stadium

People heading to a show or a match want to eat nearby and be there on time. Offer a quick pre-show menu and ask the organiser to mention you to their audience.

12. Give the hotel reception something to recommend

Hotel guests often ask reception where to eat. Leave some menus, treat the staff to a dinner so they know what they are recommending, and make sure they can phone and book a table for their guests.

13. Highlight your local suppliers

Put the name of the farm, brewery or bakery on your menu and tag them on social media. They are happy to share, and you reach their customers. It also gives the menu a story that guests remember.

14. Become the meeting place for local clubs

Sports clubs, book groups and business networks need places for meetings, end-of-season dinners and parties. Offer a simple group package on a quiet evening, and they will fill the room when you need it most.

15. Take part in local events

Food markets, town festivals and school events bring lots of people together at once. A small stall or a tasting with a card about your restaurant gives new guests a reason to come in on an ordinary day.

Your Google profile and menu

16. Keep your Google profile up to date

The right opening hours, especially around bank holidays, recent photos of the food and a link to the menu. It is often the first thing a new guest sees, and wrong opening hours can lose you a guest for good. Add the week's lunch menu as a post on your profile, and answer the questions guests ask there. Check your profile every time you change something in the business, not just once a year.

17. Ask for reviews with a QR code

Put a QR code for your Google reviews on the table or bring it with the bill. Ask every guest, not just the ones you think are happy, and never offer anything in return. Otherwise you break Google's rules.

18. Reply to reviews

Say thank you for praise and reply calmly and factually to criticism. Anyone thinking of booking a table reads your reply as closely as the review.

19. Make a menu people can read

A shorter menu with clear headings and prices makes it easier to choose and easier for the kitchen. Mark vegetarian dishes and common allergens clearly. With our restaurant menu maker you get a print-ready A4 sheet for the tables and the entrance.

20. The same menu everywhere

The menu in the window, on your website, on your Google profile and on the table should all match. A guest who comes for a dish that is no longer on the menu is disappointed before they have even sat down.

Alcohol has its own rules

Alcohol marketing is tightly regulated in most countries, and the rules differ from place to place. As a rule of thumb, keep it moderate, do not encourage people to drink more and never aim it at young people. Some countries also restrict giving away alcohol to promote other products, so a dessert or a coffee makes a safer reward or introductory offer than a glass of wine. As an example of how strict it can be, Sweden, where Stampioo is based, sets out its rules in chapter 7 of the Swedish Alcohol Act. Check your own country's rules, and ask your licensing authority if you are unsure about a post or a campaign.

Where should you start?

If you only have time for three things: post the weekly menu at the same time every week, put up a review code and give lunch guests a reward for coming often. Find suggestions among our reward ideas for restaurants and choose one that is easy to explain at the till.

Write down a few figures before you start, so after a month you can see what has made a difference:

• The number of lunches sold per weekday, especially on the quietest day.
• How many guests have joined the loyalty programme and how many have come back.
• The number of new reviews and what guests mention in them.
• The number of bookings from partnerships, such as the hotel or the club.

Keep what works and replace the rest. A few ideas done every week achieve more than twenty done once.

To read how a digital loyalty programme works for lunch and dinner, from the QR code by the till to push notifications on a quiet day, see our page for restaurants.