Your Guide To Restaurant Advertising

Businesses used to spend millions of dollars and months developing compelling ad campaigns emblazoned with eye-catching graphics and slick photos. Today, most of us get our news from the tiny phone in our pocket, with ads flying by and popping up.

According to Toast data, 67% of restaurants pay for ads on social media. Just about everyone knows that restaurant advertising is critical to success, and food establishments have always been on the leading edge of trends. The question is: what is the best approach now? (Hint: it’s not all online.) 

In this article, you will learn the nuts and bolts of restaurant advertising. Whether you’re a mom-and-pop diner or a large chain, restaurant advertising is a unique endeavor with specific challenges. Knowing how to draw in new customers and engage with your existing base is one of the most crucial aspects of running a restaurant business. After all, you’ll need something to differentiate yourself from the 750,000 restaurants operating in the U.S. today. Effective advertising is the key to reaching your target audience and, more importantly, converting them into customers.

Define Your Target Audience

Before you can build a connection with your customers through advertising, you must define your target audience. This isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but with the right kind of research and communication strategies, you’ll be able to edge out the competition. 

Selling any product, regardless of your industry, is all about meeting needs. But this is especially true in the restaurant world, where people will move heaven and earth to satisfy a craving. What are the needs your restaurant fulfills that other restaurants in the area don’t? Doing a deep dive into the demographics of your target audience — including age, gender, location, and interests — will help you answer that question. Before you spend money on advertising, you need to analyze the preferences and habits of your customers and understand what inspires them to become repeat customers. The connection with your customer should never start or end with the point of sale. 

There are several tools at your fingertips to do this. Survey data is a popular way to define your audience. With survey sites like SurveyMonkey and Google Forms, you can pose open-ended questions to potential customers about brand awareness and positioning to glean meaningful insights. Similarly, social media analytics is the practice of gathering data to get the pulse on your brand on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and the like. There are also sites that can tell you how many people interact with your content on social media and how many sales your posts generate. 

Online Advertising

Let’s be real: most internet users are determined to block, mute, or scroll past any ad that comes their way. One thing that makes a difference, and inspires people to click, is a strong online presence. Even with a bold and unique pop-up ad, potential customers might not give your restaurant a second thought without all the elements in place. This includes an optimized website, a solid social media presence, and a smooth ordering system to ensure you make the most of your online advertising. In today’s marketplace, you need to be firing on all cylinders.

Online advertising generally falls into two categories: paid and organic. A blend of the two will give your restaurant the farthest reach. First, we’ll learn about organic advertising. There are many free, yes free, ways to boost your followers online.

• Social Media - Organic social media is any free content shared on social media, including videos, posts, blogs, stories, and more. It can be as simple as posting a weekly menu on Facebook to a behind-the-scenes video of your chef rocking a pan-flip. Approach this as your restaurant’s highlight reel, broadcasting your unique brand personality to the world. For more on engaging with customers and driving sales, check out our restaurant-focused Guide to Social Media.

• Search Engine Optimization - With so many brands vying for attention, it’s hard to get noticed. Search engine optimization (SEO) will help your restaurant’s website appear at the top of search results. Consider these sobering statistics: 27.6% of people click on the first Google result, and only 0.63% go to the second page, according to Backlinko. SEO will improve your ranking and visibility, translating to more clicks and customers. While there’s no shortage of advice on SEO best practices, an excellent place to start is our detailed Guide for Beginners, written explicitly for restaurant owners.

• Online Directories and Review Sites - Online directories and review sites help people weed through local listings and find businesses faster. Though not as fun as posting a dramatic tableside flambé on Instagram, registering in a business directory like Google My Business is a free and easy way to give your restaurant an air of authority. Think of these directories as online versions of the Yellow Pages. Sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor provide a different service, giving customers a real-world glimpse into the dining experience at your restaurant. And according to a study by Northwestern University, they profoundly impact sales. 

Paid Online Advertising

Sometimes you need to cut through the digital clutter, and that’s where paid advertising comes in. It’s a more precise way of targeting customers, optimized for reaching people who may actually visit your restaurant.

• Pay-per-click -(PPC) advertising is where a restaurant pays a publisher (like Google or social media platforms) only when someone clicks on their ad. The fee is known as cost-per-click (CPC). This method is considered very cost-effective compared to a pricey ad campaign. Since paid search ads appear at the top of the Google page (the ones marked “sponsored”), it’s often a good return on your investment. The most popular platforms include YouTube Ads, Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads, and Microsoft Ads. It’s easy to laser focus on specific markets, track the number of clicks, and scale up or pull back depending on your results.  

• Social Media Ads - No one is asking how Facebook makes money anymore. It is one of the fastest-growing online ad networks in the world, representing more than 60 percent of social media ad revenue globally. Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter are popular platforms enabling you to create targeted advertisements based on specific demographics and interests. Unlike the old print and TV advertising model, you can fine-tune your ad and your audience as you learn who interacts with it.

• Display Advertising - It’s the O.G. of digital advertising: the Banner Ad. Typically shaped as a strip and located at the top of a page, banner ads can be effective if placed on relevant sites and blogs your target audience frequents (relevant being the keyword). Display ads typically have lower click-through rates but can help create brand awareness. Banner ads now come in all shapes and sizes, including videos, pop-ups, and interactive features. 

Collaborations and Partnerships

Collaborations with local businesses, complementary brands, and influencers are a great way to extend your audience reach. 

Strategic partnerships with other relevant businesses have always been a tried-and-true method to increase awareness and capture new customers. When approaching potential partners, outline what’s in it for them. Say your restaurant specializes in smoothies and acai bowls.  Partnering with a fitness studio or gym makes sense as you likely have similar customer bases. Bakeries, bookstores, bars, and nightclubs are just a few ideas of places you can negotiate with. 

Social feeds and YouTube channels are flooded with people trying new restaurants and discussing the food. How do you rise above the fray? Influencers still hold, well, influence in the world of online marketing. Identify social media influencers in your area — people with large followings who post frequently — and strike a deal. Restaurants often offer influencers free meals in exchange for sharing their experience with their followers. This is a low-impact way to increase visibility and credibility for your restaurant. 

Traditional Advertising Methods

Nowadays, it’s easy to forget that print ads tend to be bolder, more original, and more memorable than digital ads. You can get creative with eye-catching colors, fonts, sizes, and layouts. Additionally, placing an advertisement in a local newspaper, magazine, or community newsletter provides a chance to connect with an offline audience.

• Flyers and Brochures - Having a physical flyer or brochure in your hands captures your attention immediately. There are no ad blockers or ignore buttons in the real world. The key is distributing them in high-traffic areas where your intended target audience will be, like at local businesses, community centers, and campuses. Trust us, most college students would love to hear about your spicy wing special on Thursday night. Incentives, like discounts or coupon codes, will make people look twice.

• Local Events and Sponsorships - One of the main advantages of participating in local events and sponsorships is that it inspires high trust among your target audience. Having your pizzeria's name emblazoned on the back of a Little League jersey, for instance, creates a lasting impression (the parents will see the name repeatedly at every game). Getting involved in local events signals a solid commitment to your community and is a wonderful way to build brand recognition.  

Tracking Advertising Metrics

After putting things in motion, it’s time to sit back and ride the gravy train, right? Wrong! It’s crucial to track their effectiveness to make data-driven decisions (and not rely on hunches or feelings). Here are some key metrics to be familiar with:

• Impressions: The number of times your ad was displayed

• Clicks: The number of times your ad was clicked on.

• Click-Through-Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who view a website, see your ad, and then actually click on it.

• Conversion Rate: This takes the CTR a step further. The percentage of click-throughs that lead to a sale is a valuable way to determine an ad’s success.

• Cost per Click (CPR): The average amount you pay when someone clicks on your ad. 

• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The total cost of winning a new customer through advertising. To calculate your CAC, define a period of time (month, quarter, etc.), take all marketing and sales expenses, and divide it by the number of customers.  

Navigating the world of restaurant advertising may seem daunting, but with our practical tips and tactics, you can turn all those potential customers into regulars.