9 Strategies to Attract Customers to your Restaurant

honey baby cocktail lounge located in Plymouth, MA

So you have a restaurant up and running? Congratulations! With a great atmosphere, location, food, and beverages on the menu, you’re already on your way to success. When it comes to new restaurants, people are naturally curious and will want to stop by. But the real success story is getting those people and their network to come back for years to come so that you can grow your business, menu offerings, and price accordingly. Getting that buzz going early on and maintaining that momentum is what The Scoop Brands is known for. If you are located within 30 miles of Medfield, Massachusetts, we can help you with this right away! Depending on your business needs, we can evaluate what you’re currently doing and find gaps and/or we can provide content and hands on marketing for your restaurant.

As any of us living in the modern day have realized, good marketing goes a long way. Marketing a new restaurant requires a strategic approach to attract, impress, and maintain customers.

Here are 9 strategies for attracting new customers to your restaurant:

Define your target audience: Identify the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your ideal customers. What kind of beverages are they likely to want to purchase? How can you create an atmosphere that’s unique to the area they’re living in? Can you create a social media strategy so strong that those in the immediate area and far away towns will want to visit? Understanding your audience and personalizing your approach towards these people will make your restaurant a staple in the community, and as you gain loyalty, you can expand your reach more and more.

Develop a unique brand identity: Create a compelling brand story, website, and overall visual identity that reflects the ambiance, cuisine, and values of your restaurant. Consistency in branding will make your restaurant more memorable. Plus, a lot of restaurants still don’t even have a website, which frustrates potential customers. Having a visual of food you serve, a digital menu, a brand video, location, contact info, and a site that represents who you are and the culinary experience that a visitor can anticipate goes a long way. Make sure that your website is connected with your other channels and has a blog and SEO built in to increase traffic and visibility.

Showcase your delicious food and beverages on Instagram and Facebook: A significant 90% of consumers research restaurants online before dining, with 72% specifically utilizing social media platforms for discovery and decision-making. Close ups of food, the atmosphere, and reels highlighting your delicious menu of items will attract visitors to your place of business. Once someone has visited your restaurant once, they’re significantly more likely to return and recommend you to friends and family so long as you keep their attention through social media.

Build an online presence: In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial. Optimize your website for search engines to increase visibility using SEO, short, and long-tail keywords. Create a blog for your website. Next, leverage social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to engage with potential customers. Share enticing food photos and reels, run promotions, and create loyalty programs to entice visitors to return. And most of all, keep up with your social media platforms, engage, and keep the conversation going! As social media marketing is a full time job and restaurant owners are often wearing so many hats, outsourcing these responsibilities to someone who can represent the brand accurately is often the best move.

Use online review platforms: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on platforms like Yelp, Google My Business, OpenTable, Facebook, and TripAdvisor. These reviews can significantly impact your restaurant's reputation and attract new customers. Responding to both positive and negative reviews demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.

Collaborate with local businesses: Partner with nearby businesses, such as hotels, theaters, colleges, farmers markets, book, jewelry, art, or other local shops, to cross-promote each other. Offer special discounts or joint promotions to encourage customers to visit your restaurant after visiting these establishments. Strategic partnerships go a long way as you can repost each other’s social media content and create local experiences for the community with a small network of likeminded businesses. Participating in community events, sponsoring local sports teams or charity fundraisers, and supporting local causes will create goodwill and make your restaurant known within the community.

Host special events: If it’s winter in Massachusetts then you can bet that the average American needs an extra push to get out of the house. How about making your restaurant their special place to get away? Using your restaurant to host special events like cooking classes, a paint night, a Sip & Script event, or musical performance are some creative ways to entice new business. You can promote your special events with collaborators and push this out to the community, including other businesses, colleges, and residents in your area. The Scoop Brands team has hosted numerous restaurant events, concerts, ice cream socials, mixers, and networking events, and would be happy to help you!

Implement a strong email marketing approach: Collect customer emails and send regular newsletters and promotional updates. Offer incentives like exclusive discounts, birthday freebies, or loyalty programs to encourage repeat visits and ensure that you have the right technology stack in place to keep your outreach personalized and your bounce rates low. Brands like Starbucks, Sephora, Rose & Vicki’s, Not Your Average Joes, and Cold Stone Creamery offer birthday freebies that lead to customer loyalty and satisfaction. The Scoop Brands will do a post surrounding birthday freebies and brands doing it right in 2023 in a separate blog post.

Utilize targeted advertising: Consider online advertising platforms like Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, and Google Ads, as well as food delivery apps to reach a wider audience. Target specific demographics, locations, or interests to optimize your advertising budget. On Facebook, for instance, a Juice Bar can target smoothie lovers within 10 miles who are between the ages of 20-40 and identify as female. You can get really specific about what you want through paid advertising to convert browsers into shoppers and grow your brand strategically.

So there you have it: 9 proven strategies to attract customers to your restaurant. Want to take your marketing strategy to the next level? The Scoop Brands will set your company up for marketing success in 2025 and beyond.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s make 2025 your most successful growth year to date. Get started with us today!

The Scoop Brands is the best choice for digital marketing services in Boston, Massachusetts, the best marketing company in Needham, best marketing company in Wellesley, Medfield, Natick, the South Shore, and your best local marketing company in the Greater Boston area. The Scoop Brands provides marketing to the Metrowest, the South Shore, North Shore, Boston, Cape Cod, Providence, and New England, and works with select national partners. We work best with business owners, restaurant owners, retailers, e-commerce companies, & software companies.