With the world becoming even more digital, the competitive landscape of online marketing has only increased in recent times. When researching the possibilities of promoting your restaurant online - you might as many others have a hard time getting an overview of where and how to start taking advantage of the many online marketing platforms out there.

However, we have gathered a few tips to make the hassle a little more worth your while:

1. Use visual platforms

Food is inherently visual, and platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer you the opportunity to showcase your restaurant's dishes in their full glory. High-quality, enticing images or videos of your food can capture the attention of potential customers and make them more likely to visit your restaurant.

2. Time of day

People often make decisions about where to eat in advance, especially for special occasions or weekend outings. Scheduling your paid ads about your restaurant's offerings a few hours before common meal times (e.g., lunch or dinner) can influence their decision-making process and prompt them to choose your restaurant. This also works as a great way to get the most out of your allocated budget.

3. Fully functioning website

In this modern day and age, it is utmost important to have a fully functioning website that you can redirect traffic to from your ads as well as drive organic traffic to 24/7. Your website should ideally serve as the final touchpoint of the customer journey - both providing information to the customer and helping manage table reservations and online orders. Your website also opens for new adverting platforms such as Google Ads, in which you can bid for your ads to show when potential customers type in certain keywords on Google, such as “Restaurants in Copenhagen” and so on. If you don’t have a lot of time to put into creating visual content, Google Search Ads is highly recommended to achieve your business goals.  

4. Target the right audience

When setting up ads on social media, make sure your audience isn’t too broad. Most platforms usually show an indicator of how many people are within your chosen audience. Make sure to always limit your campaign’s radius geographically to just a few kilometers around your restaurant. To attract the right people, you can always add further targeting options to your campaign. Say you’re an Italian restaurant, you might want to only target people with a defined interest in Italian cuisine to achieve a higher conversion rate.

5. Utilize special offers & peer approval

Creating a sense of urgency can be a powerful motivator for potential customers. Promoting limited-time offers, such as seasonal dishes, happy hour specials, or holiday-themed menus, encourages people to act quickly. Phrases like "limited time only," "exclusive offer," or "act now" convey that the opportunity is fleeting, driving customers to make reservations or visit your restaurant sooner rather than later. People are also often influenced by the experiences and opinions of others. Sharing positive reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content from satisfied customers can build credibility and trust. Highlighting awards or any recognition your restaurant has received further validates your quality. Phrases like "loved by locals," "customer favorites," or "highly rated" emphasize that others have enjoyed their dining experiences at your establishment.