Do you want to attract more customers to your Restaurant to boost your business? Today, attracting new customers to a restaurant can be a struggle. Over the years, restaurant marketing has changed. Unfortunately, the strategies that worked 5 years ago rarely work anymore. Social media and new technologies have completely changed the restaurant environment. Without social media visibility, it's hard to compete with competitors. Also, some effective marketing techniques can be expensive. Here are several ideas and strategies to help you learn how to attract customers in the restaurant and increase your sales. Smiling waiter and waitress with drinks and towel

How To Attract Customers In Restaurant

1.Host Events

Hosting special events in your establishment is a great way to attract customers. It brings friends and families together and helps to create long-lasting memories. Offer live music by bringing some local talent on the weekends to entertain guests. Involve your customer; by asking them to vote for the music, they want to hear via your social media platform. If your restaurant has space, allow customers to hold special events like birthdays, and family gatherings. If you have television, host major sporting events like the World Cup. Also, consider hosting parties centered on a holiday or an event like the Super Bowl. During the New Year’s Eve, provide customers with a special menu and early reservation. You never know your restaurant may get fully booked before the day of the holiday. You can discount the prices of your drinks and appetizers during Halloween. Thus, attracting anyone who wants to rock a costume and have a good time. To ensure you pack a full-house for your event. Consider using these few advertising suggestions to spread the word.
  • Invest in a reusable banner for outside
  • Hang flyers on community bulletin boards
  • Ask your employees to share the event of their social media site
  • Post on social media
  • Give your customers a drink coupon for an upcoming event
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2. Communicate with Customers

If you want to keep customers coming back to your restaurant. Provide them with an experience they’ll enjoy and never forget. The best way to achieve this is by always taking your time talking to them. Ask about what they like and what they dislike about your restaurant. Here how you can do this:
  • Tell your staff to note of compliments and complaints made by customers and try to figure out a trend.
  • Use social media and review sites like TripAdvisor to track what people are saying about your restaurant. Identify trends within the reviews to identify your restaurant's weak and strong points.
  • Use comment books and suggestions books to collect customer’s feedback.
  • Create and post links on your social media platforms. Then encourage your customers to take the surveys. Offer incentives to those who complete them.
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3. Be Visible on Social Media

Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools for UK restaurant owners. This is the place where most customers hang out. Your restaurant needs to be the one thing that comes in the mind of your customers. Especially, when they’re thinking of where to eat. Being on social media gives you a way to engage with your customers and attract new customers. Besides you get to promote your business for free. Social media marketing needs to be part of your overall marketing strategy. READ ALSO: WHERE YOU MUST EAT IN LONDON

4. Take Impressive Photos Of Your Restaurant’s Food

With so many best restaurants in the UK to choose from. It’s hard for people to find a restaurant that will satisfy their taste buds. So if you want to take advantage of this opportunity, you need a way to capture the attention of your audience. Taking and posting good looking images of a restaurant’s food is a great way to attract customers to the restaurant. A picture is worth a thousand words, so it worth investing in a good camera. Also, you can hire a professional food photographer. Post only high-quality images to your social media pages, website, and other advertisements. As a result, you'll get people craving on the food you offer. Quality images will get shared across many channels. This means you'll attract new customers to your restaurant. Happy waitress in carrying plate with order of client while working in restaurant

5. Run Promotions

Running time-limited promotions is perhaps one of the most relevant marketing classics ever. In today’s age where immediacy is so crucial, customers feel the urge to take advantage of promotions before the end. You can create and run limited-time promotions that are distributed throughout the year. Let’s say in key months like December and January, which are important months to boost your sales. Also, you can create ongoing promotions that run throughout the entire year. Try to compliment the time-limited promotions with ongoing promotions of 20% to 40% on items like dessert and drinks. Running promotions will increase customers at a restaurant during slow times. 

6. Check-In Apps

With the rise in the popularity of check-in apps, it’s wise to leverage this opportunity to make your restaurant visible to the public. Check-in apps for restaurants like Yelp and Foursquare are one of the cheapest ways to get your business name in front of your customers. Location-based apps connect people to a nearby business and offer them a chance to interact with your restaurant.  Check-in apps help restaurants to offer customers special rewards and discounts. You can offer customers who regularly check-in a small reward or discount. This way they keep coming back.

7. Get Some Media Coverage

If you’re struggling with the question of how to get more customers for my restaurant, media coverage is your answer. Getting good media coverage is the perfect way to grab the attention of potential customers. Coverage from the press helps to put your restaurant name in front of your competitors. But there’s a catch if you want to gain media coverage you need to do something worthy of reporting.  The following things will help you gain coverage from the press:
  • Bring a celebrity to your restaurant. The celebrity turning up at your venue might be newsworthy. But you need to increase the value of their visit. For example, you can invite a famous musician to perform, or a famous chef to taste your menu.
  • Being part of community events like sponsoring a football team, or serving food at a local event can be a good way of receiving press coverage.
  • You can also hold a grand opening and invite social media influencers, media personalities, or local media outlets. This could result in the media coverage you desire.

8. Loyalty Programs

Learning how to attract people to your restaurant is easy. However, it’s expensive to attract new customers than to hang on to existing ones. It therefore crucial you reward your valued customers for supporting your business. Not only do loyalty programs boost your engagement but it keeps your customers happy. They also play an important role in driving new and repeat sales.  Here’s a list of successful loyalty marketing programs adopted by the best restaurants in the UK.
  • Customers usually love free stuff. So offer them free food, whether it’s a drink, appetizer or dessert.
  • Considering partnering with online apps to encourage your potential visitors to check out your restaurant via gamification and customer loyalty programs. These apps offer customers a free purchase or discount when they visit for a certain number of times. 
  • Create a simple incentive program. No need for a long list of rules and stipulations.
  • Capitalize on your customer’s FOMO (fear of missing out) by promoting your loyalty program and show them what they’re missing.
  • Schedule open days for your trusted customers, friends, and family members. Ask them about their views on your business. This will be helpful, especially if you’re planning to add a new item on the menu.

9. Offer Wi-Fi

Today the internet is a necessity. Restaurants can use it to promote their services online and streamline their operations. Customers can use it to socialise online and even work. Providing free Wi-Fi in a UK restaurant. Will help you capture customers who enjoy working from restaurants or coffee shops. This will give them an incentive to come in. Furthermore, customers tend to spend a considerable amount of time at restaurants with free Wi-Fi. These customers end up spending more money in your establishment than they would have at a restaurant without Free-Wi-Fi. Usually, people who enjoy using free network access in restaurants, often visit in the middle of the day. This is the time of the day when most restaurants are silent or not busy. During this period, it’s beneficial to keep customers in their seats for a while.

Conclusion

When it comes to looking for ways on how to attract more customers to your restaurant, the list is endless. But, with hundreds of restaurants entering the market each month. The competition has never been trickier. So it’s important to focus on marketing that allows you to work smarter, not harder. Working smart means you’ll ensure more cash in your registry. By using marketing strategies that attract more customers and keeping the existing ones. Don’t stretch yourself thin worrying about increasing sales. Find a place in your marketing technique that needs more effort and focus on it. Use online and offline marketing methods to increase your presence in the market.