The restaurant is a passion-driven business. There are many challenges to running a restaurant. The main challenge is not enough restaurant foot traffic. Getting new customers and retaining the old customers requires clever marketing. One has to focus on excellent service to the customers.
Here are 13 tips to help you bring in more customers to your restaurant:
#1. Offer Some Good Deals During the Week
People are busy during the weekdays as they are doing their jobs. They don’t think about going out for lunch to save money. As the majority of people like to save on weekdays to spend it on the weekend. To tackle this, you can offer special deals. For example, ‘Two-for-Tuesday’ in which your customers can get one meal free with another on Tuesdays. Such deals or offers can increase foot traffic in restaurants on busy weekdays.
#2. Keep the Menu Fresh with Seasonal Dishes
You can offer seasonal menus for your restaurant. This means providing your customers’ dishes with fresh ingredients, such as fresh summer tomatoes or sweet winter squash. This makes the dishes tastier and drives more customers to your restaurant. Additionally, seasonal food is cheaper to get as it is widely available.
You can also use local ingredients sourced from nearby farms. This shows that your restaurant supports the community. Ultimately, the changing menu allows customers to talk about your restaurant’s different dishes.
#3. Throw Some Special Events
You can attract more customers to your restaurant by hosting special events. The event can include live music, trivia games, or poetry. Such events will make your restaurant a fun place.
You can use social media to tell people about any upcoming event. Eventually, your restaurant’s foot traffic will increase by a good margin. It will also bring happiness and good memories to customers’ lives so that they will come again.
#4. Make Birthdays and Anniversaries Extra Special
On special occasions, like birthdays or anniversaries of customers, you can offer complimentary gifts. This can be a free dessert, a small gift, or even a discount on their meal.
You can promote such offers on social media to increase restaurants’ foot traffic. Customers will book their table in advance to avail of the offer. Such restaurant marketing strategies will make your customers valued, and they will likely come again.
#5. Use Social Media to Build Trust
Social media is the easiest way to connect with people and promote your business. You can show your services by posting photos and videos on platforms like Instagram or Facebook. You can post videos like how they cook or even share happy customers’ pictures of your restaurant.
It’s important to reply to people’s comments and messages. This helps to build trust and make people want to try your restaurant.
#6. Get Found on Google
Most of the time, whenever people are looking to try new food, they use Google search. You have to make sure that your restaurant shows up in the searches. To do that you need to set up a Google Business Profile. For that, you have to add your address, phone number, and business hours. You can also add a link to your restaurant’s official website.
It’s very important for your restaurant to have good reviews on Google. These reviews will eventually boost your restaurant’s ranking on Google searches and attract more customers.
#7. Ask for Reviews from Happy Customers
Positive reviews will automatically come in recommendations for restaurants. This will help your restaurant’s foot traffic to increase!
You can train your restaurant staff to ask customers for feedback on websites like Google and TripAdvisor. They can just say, “Did you enjoy your meal? We’d love it if you please leave a review online!”. This can make a big difference! You can show off the best reviews on your website and social media. This will build trust and show people that others are enjoying our food.
#8. Use Management Software
Suppose a seamless dining process from reservation to payment! That’s where restaurant management software helps. It’s like having super-smart tools that help the restaurant run smoothly and easily.
- Through POS systems, businesses can handle orders and payment transactions efficiently.
- Through the inventory management feature, restaurants can easily track their food stock and notify you to restock.
- The staff scheduling feature will help your managers assign staff according to the restaurant’s needs.
When everything runs smoothly, customers have a better experience. This leads to happy customers, and they revisit you again and also recommend you to others about your restaurant.
#9. Offer Multiple Payment Methods
People love things that are easy and convenient. When it comes to paying for their food, you should offer lots of different options. For example, credit cards, e-wallets, or by using a phone.
The convenient payment method makes the customers happy! This helps in increasing restaurant foot traffic, which leads to more revenue.
#10. Make It Easy to Book a Table and Pre-Order Food
Offer your customer an online booking and pre-ordering facility to improve their experience. There are many software programs to help restaurants’ do this! This makes it super comfortable for customers to reserve a table and preorder their favorite meal. Resulting in less waiting period and a smooth dining experience.
This will significantly increase your restaurant’s foot traffic and reduce order errors. Plus, when things are easy for customers, they’re more likely to choose that restaurant, especially when it’s busy or there’s a special event.
#11. Work with Social Media Influencers
You want more people to know about your restaurant. One way to do this is to work with influencers. These are people who are popular online and have lots of followers who trust their opinions.
You can invite these influencers to try your food for free. So they can share their experience with their followers on social media. This helps to promote your restaurant to a wider group of people who might not have heard of it before.
#12. Send Out Emails To Keep in People’s Mind
Email marketing is like sending out cool newsletters to your friends about your restaurant. You can tell them about new dishes, upcoming events like live music or game nights, and special deals. Make the emails look awesome with pictures of the food and use buttons that say things like “Book Now” or “Try Our Specials.” This helps you stay connected with your customers and makes them want to come back for more.
#13. Reward Loyalty with Awesome Deals
Loyalty programs are like a gift to your favorite customers. When your regular customers visit often, they will earn loyalty points! Those points can be later redeemed to avail discounts or free meals! You can also offer pre-booking services for such customers at special events at your restaurant. This will make your customers visit often and help the restaurant build strong relationships and community.
Conclusion
Increasing your restaurant foot traffic takes a mix of creativity and hard work. You have to be consistent and use smart marketing ideas. From the above 13 tips, you get more customers and make their dining experience better than ever.
From using software to make things easy to social media promotion, these strategies will grow your business further.
The most important thing is to make your restaurant a better dining place. People would love to come to your restaurant for a quick bite, a special occasion, or just like your dishes.
