4 Free Ways To Increase Customers In Your Restaurant

These 4 easy steps will help to increase footfall and brand awareness for your restaurant. Even better - they shouldn’t cost you a penny!

Every business wants to grow, thrive and make a name for themselves in the big wide world, but when there’s such overwhelming competition in the food and drink industry, just how can you do this without forking out a fortune? We’ve compiled a list of 4 simple ways to help promote your restaurant, increase your customers, and more importantly, keep them coming back! Did we mention you also won’t need your wallet?

Keep Your Website Simple

It’s easy to get carried away with a website, but it’s important to go back to basics and make your customer journey simple. First and foremost - what do your customers want from your site? Answer: menus, table booking options and contact details. These are the 3 most searched for elements by customers when visiting a restaurant’s website - so make sure yours are easy to find! Stats show that 74% of people are likely to switch brands if they find the purchasing process too difficult. Quick tip - check that your images are the correct size too. If file sizes are too large they can slow down your site, and who’s willing to sit and watch this guy for 5 minutes? (Not your customers that’s for sure!)

Listen To Your Customers

We’re sure you’ve already created a loyal customer base, especially if you’re a local restaurant, so use this to your advantage! Listening to your guests is one of the best ways to improve your customer care and will help to keep your fans returning. You can do this by asking guests to fill out a short survey after their meal - this will highlight where you can improve, and what your customers love (so you can promote that more). If you’re launching a new menu, or thinking about making changes in any area of your restaurant, create engaging content on your social channels like polls or Q&A’s to generate customer feedback. Tip - make sure you keep on top of your reviews too, especially the not so great ones! After one negative experience, 51% of customers will never do business with that company again. We all have a hiccup once in a while and it’s important to acknowledge negative feedback to turn those frowns upside down. Apologise if a mistake was made and reassure them you’ve taken their feedback onboard - this could encourage them to give you another chance! 

Get Creative

Standing out from competitors is one of the biggest ways to increase customers. Think to yourself: why would someone choose my restaurant over the other 10 in the high street? You need to give them a reason! Offers, returning customer discounts and refer a friend schemes are all great in their own way, and we would definitely recommend utlilising at least one of these to increase footfall. But getting creative doesn’t stop there, why not have a more hands on approach when it comes to advertising and put a funny board outside your door? You’ll definitely be remembered if nothing else!

Networking 

This is one of the most important factors to consider when attempting to improve or expand your business. While relying on your current network is great, expanding your network can come with so many benefits. Advise, ideas, business relationships, we couldn’t possibly list them all! So, how do you go about growing your network? Attend a networking event of course! Bursting with thousands of businesses and brands within the same industry, it’s a fantastic opportunity to discover innovative technologies and approaches to situations that the food and drink industry faces. 

If you’re keen to expand your network and improve your restaurant, then come along to the Restaurant & Takeaway Innovation Expo in November! It provides a brilliant networking opportunity, packed out with professionals to engage with and learn from. Grab your FREE tickets today!

 

Next Read: Want to Reduce Customer Complaints?