Everybody knows that more customers = more revenue for your restaurant. But bringing in customers is tougher than it looks, and requires a lot of careful planning and smart business moves. Here’s 7 ways to bring in more customers to your restaurant.
#1: Offer Free WiFi
Offering free WiFi is a brilliant way to attract new customers to your restaurant. Many cafes have already embraced this approach wholeheartedly to create a friendly space that will encourage people who want a place to sit down and work away on their laptops or phones to stop by. These cafes operate under the assumption that customers will end up ordering food or coffee from them as they are working, which can be a great way to boost revenue. In a similar way, restaurants can benefit from this method too. And luckily for restaurant owners, setting up a dedicated wifi connection won’t break the bank either. The resulting boost in sales from those looking for a good atmosphere they can use to work should be more than enough to cover your monthly internet bill .
#2: Use Social Media Influencers
Another smart way to attract new customers to your restaurant is to hire a social media influencer. You should consider doing some research into various social media food reviewers in your area on Instagram and Facebook and asking them to review your restaurant in exchange for maybe a special deal or discount. This approach encourages their follower base to also visit your restaurant and try it out for themselves.
#3: Introduce Email Marketing
Email marketing can prove to be a great way to attract customers to your restaurant despite needing some effort to get the ball rolling. To begin you’re going to need a comprehensive email list of past customers or new customers you wish to target. This is where having a POS system to collect customer data becomes ever so important. Once this list has been set up you can send these targeted customers exclusive promotions such as discounts or restaurant updates to their email.
#4: Take Amazing Photos
It’s pretty common knowledge that your restaurant’s food is what brings customer to your restaurant right? After all, why else are they there other than to eat? With that logic in play, it only makes sense to have really, really good looking photos of your restaurant’s food. Consider investing in a decent camera and start honing your photography skills. Or, if your budget allows it, hire a professional food photographer to take the photos for you. Use these images all over your website, social media and in as many other advertisements as you can to get people craving what you offer. Photos are shared around most often online and will attract new customers to your restaurant.
#5: Be Active On Social Media
In today’s day and age social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools for restaurant owners as it’s where your customers are primarily hanging out. And even if they aren’t, there’s a high chance that they’ll receive shared social media posts from their peers. Your restaurant needs to be on your customers’ mind as often as possible when they are thinking about where to eat. With social media, it allows you to engage with your customers constantly to keep you on their minds and bring them into your restaurant.
#6: Offer Packages to Local Businesses
Local businesses are an amazing way to advertise and bring in new customers. As they often hold events in need of catering, your restaurant has the opportunity to dazzle them with your restaurant expertise and make yourself a front-runned in their eyes the next time their employees are looking for someplace to eat. It may be a whole different ballgame compared to the usual restaurant diner crowd you’re used to serving, but a welcome challenge at that. Do note that you may have to tweak your menu slightly to fit in with the corporate crowd or to appeal to their events.
#7: Give your customers a reason to eat out
Events can be a great way for your restaurant to bring in new customers as they add an extra special element to just “eating out”. They give people a reason to swing by your restaurant on typically quieter days and help drive excitement to get people interested in stopping by since there’s a special event being held. And you don’t even need to go out of your way to plan these events. Simple things like having a live cooking demo by some of your chefs is enough to get people interested in coming to your restaurant, especially if there’s the promise of delicious food afterwards.
Ultimately, while bringing in new customers seems like a tough feat, with a few smart business decisions you’ll be able to attract the right crowd in droves to stop by your restaurant and have a meal. And hey, that way everyone wins!
Keen on taking the first step towards digitization for your restaurant? EasyEat is here to help! Get in touch with us by clicking here to book your FREE demo! We look forward to hearing from you!
