Have you opened a restaurant with utmost devotion but are repeatedly failing the task of increasing customers? Or you have been functioning for quite a time, but even after the perfect quality, you do not have quantity?
You don’t need to be worried because attracting more restaurant customers is more effortless than it may sound. All you need to do is devise different yet effective strategies. Try thinking outside the box, and sway away from the crowd to choose your own path, i.e. unique marketing strategies to increase customers.
If you are overwhelmed by this all, take a deep breath as you have been ‘served.’ Below are some of the proven and practical strategies that are sure to bring in more customers. Let’s take a look at the menu, shall we?
1. Be a Social Butterfly
Living in the modern era requires thinking modernly. You need to keep up with the new trends to make people believe that you belong. Instead of going to the restaurant, we look at their social profiles. Why? It is because the social exposure of the restaurant tells us its quality and authenticity.
Build an Instagram account and share your food. The more the pictures are looking mouth-watering, the more are the chances of people wanting to try them. Showcase your food and represent food as a proper ‘foodie.’ Moreover, try using hashtags to help people find your profile.
2. Give Exciting Deals
What do people love? Food. What do people love more than food? Affordable and budget-friendly food.
Let’s admit that we get attracted to the food more than usual when it is on discount. And even though we had no intention of buying it before, we end up buying it because of the amazingly unavoidable deal.
What you need to do is to give out discounts and deals on your food. Several items on discount will be a center of attention for the customers, and they are most likely to buy from you. You will see an increase in customers in no time.
3. Presentation Is Mandatory
When buying a birthday cake for our toddler, we choose the most colorful and vibrant looking one. In the same way, when we buy food, we choose the one that looks most appealing to the eye.
Scientifically speaking, when we look at something delicious, our mouth waters before even eating it. Which makes us crave the thing more. That is why you need to focus on your presentation. Present your food, creatively, and artistically. It will enhance the overall experience undoubtedly.
4. Showcase Your Remarkable Team
People need to know who you are and what you do. Represent your chefs and your staff. If people know that you have some of the best chefs in the area, they will be eager to try your food to taste the things cooked by them.
Your team is your backbone, and you need to keep your backbone strong.
5. Treat Your Best Customers
Value your customers more than ever. They are the reason for your success. If a person comes to your restaurant more often, they deserve a treat. They frequently visit your restaurant and make people wonder why he comes. To feed their curiosity, they come too.
Have a loyalty program for regular customers. Give them amazing deals, or you could provide them with loyalty program cards. It will make your regular customers permanent ones.
6. Make Birthdays Really, “Happy”
Everybody loves celebrating birthdays. It is a day of joy and excitement. But it is also a day of eating cake and dining out with your friends.
Planning birthday events with proper decoration and exciting offers is an innovative idea. People will want to celebrate their birthdays at your restaurant as it will be an all-in-one deal for them. It will cut them some slack, and you can get some more dollars. Clever, isn’t it?
7. Take Help From “Yelp”
Surfing the internet, you might have come across a website named “Yelp.” It reviews your restaurant. Not that people will leave a review for your restaurant even if you are not on the internet. The wise step would be to get yourself featured.
It will give you positive exposure and unique recognition. You can turn the mob in your favor and benefit from this.
8. Authenticity
In the world of fake people, fake personalities, fake accounts, and fake promises, a human being craves credibility and authenticity. Get yourself registered on Google and verify your information. Be active on Facebook and build your brand identity. Once your restaurant’s name is plastered all over the internet, people will have no choice but to visit you. Sneaky yet effective.
9. Run Geo-targeted Ads
Running ads might be the most common thing you hear. Running ads is a good idea, but this also needs your attention. Instead of targeting age groups, try targeting a specific location. If the people around you get to know you, the odds are in your favor.
Geo-targeted ads will only choose your nearby users to show your ad as nearby people will have no difficulty approaching you.
10. Host Creative Contests Among Customers
We, humans, live for the thrill. We are a sucker for entertainment. We love the feeling of adrenaline in our veins. And how can you trigger the thrill in people? It is through contests.
Host creative contests. Bring people together and give them various challenges. There are many challenges you can opt from. Challenges like “Finish the grand burger in 2 minutes” or “The spice challenge” will attract youth more. They will bring their friends to do that challenge, and you will have more restaurant customers.
On the other hand, you can also conduct contests and competitions like picture contests in which you reward the people with the best pictures of your food.
11. Collaborate With Bloggers
Blogging is getting immensely popular nowadays, with more and more people joining this field every day. Bloggers can help new businesses increase their sales and get recognition by reviewing and sponsoring their food.
Try sending “product review” packages to bloggers with high followers. They will give you positive feedback and post your review. The people seeing their blogs will be enthralled and would love to try the thing too. This can be an effective mode of advertisement, and you’ll be shocked by the results.
12. Team Up With Delivery Services
Delivery services sponsor different restaurants, and both of the sides benefit from each other. You can team up with a famous delivery service in your area and can share the revenue.
People who do not want to go out to eat often opt for delivery services to find out available restaurants. If your name pops on the screen, they will be curious to try your food. You can send that food in creative packaging, and an additional perk is that the customers leave a review for what they buy.
The more positive reviews, the more your restaurant achieves.
13. Run A Website
People will tend to choose the easier way rather than the hard way out. The majority of them will look you up before visiting you. They will wonder about your menu, and it helps them decide whether to pay a visit or not.
What would be the innovative step in this regard?
Publish your menu online! Having a website will help you more than you think. You can update everything about your restaurant on your website, and the website will give you more recognition. Start a blog—post new things. Keep your customers updated. A routinely updated website can help you in a million ways.
From food deliveries to reservations, your website will act as a friend in bringing in new customers.
14. Giveaways!
Who isn’t captivated by free things? When is the last time you refused something which was provided free of cost?
We take anything if it is given to us free of cost. That is where giveaways will help you attract more restaurant customers. When they hear about the giveaway, they will explore your page and follow you in the hope of winning that giveaway. This will increase your demand in the market, and you’ll see your restaurant in a better place.
15. Ambiance Is Everything
Suppose the food is great; the service is impressive; the presentation is beyond expectations, but the ambiance doesn’t match the mood. It ruins everything. Decorate your restaurant in a way that people feel near to home, comfortable, and mind-boggling entertainment.
You can set up a TV screen, have live music, or karaoke. It will give the customers something to look forward to. They will spend more time in your restaurant, and if they like it, they will also recommend their friends.
Bringing in more restaurant customers is easy once you get the hang of it. Remember that everything takes time, and you need to continue with utmost devotion. If you follow these creative yet effective strategies, it is nearly impossible that you don’t achieve your goal.
Want to get more customers and orders?
Restogy is an online ordering system that works for your restaurant. Whether you want a digital menu or improve your website google search, we can help.
The best part?
Getting customers through Facebook and Instagram is now much easier with our Marketing tools and social media conversation tactics.
What are you waiting for?
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