Effective Offline Restaurant Marketing Strategies that Attract More Customers

Marketing your business is a crucial step in getting your message across to your target audience. It’s one of the most important steps for getting your business on its feet and generating revenue. While there are several online marketing strategies that you can employ, it’s a smart idea to have offline strategies as well.

Online strategies place a limit on who has access to information about your restaurant. Not everyone who could potentially be interested in your business will see your online marketing. But having effective offline restaurant marketing strategies will ensure that you overcome that obstacle and appeal to a wider range of customers.

Here are some restaurant marketing strategies to attract more customers. 

Have a Food Stall Set Up in the Area 

It may be difficult to find an event to have a food stall given the current pandemic, but you can always improvise. If you set up a small food stall or set up a cart in a moderately busy area, you’re likely to get some attention.

Be sure to check with the laws regarding opening a stall and talk to a restaurant consultant who can guide you through the technicalities.

A food stall gives people a sneak peak into the kind of cuisine your restaurant has. If people enjoy the food you’re selling, be sure to mention that they can have access to all that and more at your restaurant. Distribute pamphlets to those who express interest and offer them a discount.

Let your new customers know that your restaurant is located nearby if they’d like to pay a visit.
If you do find an event to set up a booth—this is a great opportunity to meet new customers and advertise your business. Bring out your best customer service skills and create new deals for the event.

5 Restaurant Marketing Tips That Work

Make Sure Your Waiters Know How to Upsell

Upselling is one of the most effective ways of marketing on the spot. Make sure your waiters are skilled at upselling new dishes, have detailed insight on everything on the menu, and can answer a variety of questions that customers are bound to ask.

This way, you’ll be impressing current customers and encouraging them to talk to others about your services and food. It’s also an excellent way of introducing new cuisine ideas and deals to first-time visitors.

Retaining customers and ensuring that they’re satisfied with your service, food, and ambiance is an excellent way for word-of-mouth marketing.

How to Give Customers That Unique Restaurant Experience

Use Newspapers and Print Media

One way of attracting a whole new group of customers is by using a different medium to promote your business. Newspapers are still popular among older citizens—and if you have a catchy ad that’s clear, to the point, and states your restaurant’s specialties—it can be a dependable marketing method.

Pamphlets, especially if you hand them out to the right people, are still widely used forms of advertising. While pamphlets won’t work if they end up in the wrong hands, you can prevent this. Make sure you’re distributing them in places where your target audience is likely to be, such as at a food festival.
Another form of print advertising is a magazine ad. The advantage of using magazines for your advertising is that you can decide which local magazines are most read by the audience you want to target. This ensures a higher chance of acquiring new customers. 

Posters and Billboards

While this may seem old school, there’s actually a huge advantage of using these techniques now. Most restaurants rely only on online marketing, which has created a saturated space where it is harder to be noticed. Billboards and posters therefore increase your chances of being seen—and if they’re placed in areas close to your location, there are more possibilities that people will head over to pay you a visit.

You have to be careful about where you place these posters, as some locations do not get enough traffic and visibility. You also want to make sure that you don’t overdo the posters so as to annoy people or turn them away from your business rather than intrigue them. Use catchy images, enticing texts, and opportunities to try out new deals to draw customers in. 

Have an Event

One sure-fire way of advertising your restaurant is to hold an event. Whether you invite a small band, a comedian, or hold a conference for important current issues—it’s up to you. However, there’s one thing that is for sure: people are going to be dining at your restaurant and will need motivators that will make them want to come back for a visit.

As long as you have your best dishes, friendly waiters and customer service, as well as appropriate ambiance, you’re guaranteed to turn a number of your guests into frequent visitors. You can also hold a charity event and donate part of your profits back to the community. This is a great way to attract new customers while also supporting your community.

Use Word of Mouth

It’s essential that you put time and effort into this strategy. Word-of-mouth is how you form connections with potential customers without ever meeting them—through the reviews and comments that they hear about from their friends and family.

Most people want to gauge the quality of a restaurant based on popular reviews before they decide to visit. If you encourage your friends, family, colleagues, and current customers to talk about their experience and your excellent cuisine, it leaves a lasting impression and attracts many curious customers.