Restaurant marketing ideas

12 restaurant marketing ideas that increase sales

For independent and family-owned restaurants. No big budget needed: most of these use what you already have, your food, your regulars and your Google listing.

Run the free check · Call (515) 493-0243

The ideas

  1. Fix your Google listing first. Most new guests find you on Google Maps. Correct hours, real food photos and one Order button that goes to your own page.
  2. Know where you rank. Search the way guests do (“pho near me”, “tacos [your town]”) and see who shows up first. The free check does eight searches for you.
  3. Take orders on your own page. Every order through a delivery app costs 15% to 30%. Pickup orders on your own page keep the full menu price.
  4. Save every guest. An order on your own page gives you the guest’s name and number. That list is your most valuable marketing tool.
  5. Text on slow afternoons. Look at your quiet hours and send one small offer right before them. Staff and the stove are paid either way.
  6. Remember birthdays. A small gift on a guest’s birthday is remembered longer than any ad.
  7. Invite back who has been away. A “your usual?” text after 30 days brings back regulars who simply forgot.
  8. Reward regulars. Points toward a free appetizer give guests a reason to choose you again instead of trying somewhere new.
  9. Let regulars bring friends. A gift a guest can send to a friend turns happy guests into new ones.
  10. Ask happy guests for reviews. A thank-you text after the order, with a link to review you on Google. Reply to every review.
  11. Post real food, often. Phone photos of real plates work. A few posts a week keeps you in the feed and on Google.
  12. Give every dish its own page. A page for each dish with your town in the title is one more way to be found when someone searches for that dish.

Where to start this week

Start with ideas 1 to 3: your Google listing, where you rank, and where your Order button goes. They cost nothing and they decide whether new guests find you at all. Then build your guest list (idea 4), because every idea after that works through it.

Ideas for every season

Lunar New Year, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, graduation season, back to school, the State Fair, Thanksgiving and holiday party orders. Plan one offer for each a month ahead, and send it to your own guests first.

Free marketing ideas for restaurants

Update the photos on your Google listing. Reply to every review. Ask happy guests for a review. Put an ordering QR code at the counter and on take-out bags. Post one real food photo a day. Team up with a business next door for lunch orders.

EatFuti is in Des Moines, Iowa, and works with independent restaurants across the United States, most of all in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and Texas.

How it works with EatFuti

  1. Run the free check. Three minutes, no sign-up. See your Google page, where your Order button goes and how your site does on a phone.
  2. Say yes. Send your photos and menu, or we take the menu from your POS or online. Online ordering is live 48 to 72 hours after signup.
  3. Your website goes up. Built for you from your photos, menu and reviews, right after ordering is live. You approve it before it goes up.

Questions owners ask

How can I increase my restaurant sales fast?

Start with the order button: make sure Google sends guests to your own page, not a delivery app. Then text your own guests right before your slow hours.

What is the cheapest way to market a restaurant?

Your own customer list. Texts to guests who already ordered cost little and bring people who already like your food.

Do I need to be on social media?

It helps, but your Google listing matters more for new guests. Fix that first, then post real food a few times a week.

Can EatFuti do this for me?

Yes. The Start plan is $99 a month and includes your website, online ordering with no commission, your customer list, texts and emails to that list, and your listings on Google, Apple Maps and Yelp. Setup is a one-time $249. Card processing on online orders is 2.9% + 30¢ per order through Stripe. The Grow plan is $399 a month, everything in one price: all of Start plus Social Media Studio, Loyalty and Referral, Marketing CRM and your own Brand App. Bought one by one that is $525 a month. Pay for the year and get 2 months free.

What is the best marketing for a small restaurant?

Marketing that reaches people who already like you: your own guest list, texts at the right time and rewards. Then a complete Google listing for new guests nearby.