Running a restaurant is no mean feat, but it’s also one of the most rewarding career paths. Whether you are an award-winning chef, or just starting out, attracting customers to your restaurant can be hit and miss. As different food trends come and go, it’s important to do as much as you can to market to new customers while maintaining those loyal patrons who come week after week. Follow these tips to attract more customers.
Run promotions
There are different ways that you can run promotions to attract customers to your restaurant. You can have special promotions to celebrate the addition of new items to your menu, promotions to those who bring new customers to try your food, loyalty cards to frequent customers (don’t forget to make the reward at the end appealing!) and special menus for special days (Valentines Day can be a real money-maker). Whatever you choose, promotions are great ways to attract new customers who may have needed that extra little ‘push’ to book a table.
Social media
While word of mouth is a great way to get customers through the door, having a successful social media platform can be a much quicker way to make your restaurant popular. It’s a great way to get publicity, and perhaps more importantly for you, it’s free. Make sure to set yourself up and to post beautiful photographs that will encourage potential customers to step through the door. Social media is also an excellent way for you to communicate with customers and publicize any promotions or events you may have going on. Remember: you eat with your eyes, so keep those photographs as beautiful as you can, even if they’re just photographs taken on your phone!
Marketing
To get customers to book up your restaurants, you’ve got to make sure you’re marketing correctly. This can be in the form of online marketing, flyering, emails. There is a whole world of marketing out there, that can be tricky for some (especially if you’re better at making a béarnaise than you are at search engine optimization). Hiring a marketing agency can help you attract customers that you never dreamed of reaching. So, sometimes it’s best to leave these things to the professionals.
Events
People respond brilliantly to an event invitation – it makes them feel as if there’s an experience they might miss out on if they don’t go. Laying on events at your restaurant – from live music to quizzes – can attract customers that may never have heard of your restaurant in the first place. Make sure to pick an event that reflects the brand or personality of your restaurant – if it’s an elegant French restaurant, then pub quiz-style events won’t be quite right, but a classic band or a wine tasting might be perfect.
Hopefully, with so many restaurants to choose from these days, these tips will help fill up your restaurant any day of the week. Good luck!
