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Attracting More Customers to Your Restaurant - Tips and Tricks

Attracting More Customers to Your Restaurant - Tips and Tricks

Waiters serve table

So, you own a restaurant. So far you did everything by the book. You offer a good service, a variety of meals, you have regular guests, occasional “sold-out” nights… Pretty much everything is going well. But you feel like things could be better. Something is telling you that your restaurant has the potential to be one of the best and that you’re just millimeters away from finding a recipe for it…You just simply can’t figure out that final ingredient.

Well, look no further. In this text, we’ll try to point out a few useful tips that can make your business go sky high. But, before we start we would just like to point out that this is not some targeted business plan or a marketing strategy that is predominately focused on a specific type of restaurant. Absolutely not. We will focus on a few generic things you can implement in order to increase the number of potential customers. So let’s start.

1. INCREASE ONLINE PRESENCE

People doing restaurant marketing strategyWe’re assuming that you have your restaurant’s website, social media pages, etc. all set-up already. If not, we can stop right here! In today’s modern internet-oriented business environment, maintaining any sort of profitable business requires a “mandatory” online presence. What used to be, not so long ago, a matter of choice, today has become a definitive necessity!

But even if you presented your restaurant online with a fancy looking website, try not to get carried away. Just as your restaurant is cleaned and prepared for a new day and new challenges, the same goes for the website. You need to optimize your restaurant for local search otherwise your restaurant’s website will be buried in the never-ending list of competitors!

  • Optimize Your Website for Local Search with SEO
  • Offer Online Ordering
  • Increase Social Media interactions
  • Get more reviews, YELP Reviews... etc.

2. CREATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL BUSINESS

Start conversations with local businesses in your area. Many of them get catering for special lunches or meetings on a regular basis. Offer them a discount so that they order from you and make sure that you hand them your full menu in person.

This can create an ongoing revenue stream for your restaurant to increase your bottom line every month.

3. OFFER E-GIFTS

E-gift coupons aren’t just for big chain restaurants. As an independently owned restaurant, you can tap into an entirely new market with e-gifts. Offer the option to buy restaurant ‘credit’ on your website. You can offer flat amounts like €20, €50, or €100.

4. GET TO KNOW YOUR REGULARS

Sometimes, finding new customers that haven’t been to your restaurant is not what is all about. It’s much easier to make more with what you have. Getting to know your regulars on a personal level can greatly benefit your business. By getting to know them you’ll be showing them that you truly do care about them and their experience at your restaurant. Keeping a customer loyal can be much more profitable than trying to find new customers. This might even be combined with some special offers for their birthdays. People like to celebrate in big groups. You can use this to give your special thanks to your regular customer but more importantly, it will not be unnoticed by their friends!

5. SHOW SPORTING EVENTS AND PROMOTE LOCAL SPORT TEAMS

Friends watching sport together in restaurantThere are customers out there who simply won’t even consider visiting a restaurant unless it has a TV on with their favorite game playing. Use big sporting events as another event to host at your restaurant and yet another chance to burst up your revenue.

So there you are. As we mentioned above we will try to outline a few things you can implement in order to grow your business. This is definitely not a universal nor definitive list. We basically just tried to point out the fundamental steps you have to make in order to make the right choice.