What use would the great taste of your food have if people don’t know about it? You need to make your business’ presence noticed. Marketing your restaurant can be a challenging task, especially when you have a limited budget. However, with some creativity and resourcefulness, it is possible to promote your restaurant without breaking the bank.

Here are some of the ways to market your restaurant on a shoestring budget:-

1. Host events: Hosting events such as wine tastings, cooking classes, or live music nights can attract a diverse range of customers to your restaurant. Events can be promoted through social media, email newsletters, or through flyers distributed to nearby businesses. Consider partnering with local artists or musicians to create a buzz around your restaurant and build a community around your brand.
2. Email marketing: Collect email addresses and send promotional texts offering deals and discounts.
3. Offer specials: Offering specials such as happy hour deals, discounted menu items, special items on specific days, etc can help attract customers during slower times of the day or week. This can also be promoted through social media or email newsletters to your subscribers. Encourage customers to share their experience on social media using a branded hashtag to increase the reach of your promotion.
4. Leverage local influencers: What’s buzzing these days is whatever the vloggers are talking about. Collab with food vloggers to make your restaurant go viral. Reach out to local influencers in your community who have a significant following on social media. Offer them a complimentary meal in exchange for them advertising and sharing their experience on their social media platforms. This can help increase your restaurant’s visibility.
5. Partner with local businesses: Partnering with nearby businesses such as hotels or offices can help increase your restaurant’s exposure. Consider offering a discount to their employees or guests in exchange for the businesses promoting your restaurant to their network.
6. Social Media Marketing: Distributing pamphlets only to get them trampled upon is so outdated. Be active on all social media platforms and create shareable content such as appealing videos or photos of your food or restaurant. Request customers to take photos of their meals and tag your restaurant on social media for a chance to be featured on your page. This can help increase your restaurant’s online presence and fill in seats.
7. Positive reviews: In the era of internet, people prefer to go over the restaurant on the web before checking it out physically. Map your restaurant on Google and encourage existing customers to post favorable reviews on the internet which will do free marketing and lure in new ones.

In summary, sponsoring events, making online presence, offering specials, collaborating with local influencers, partnering with local businesses, and creating shareable content are all effective ways to promote your restaurant without breaking the bank, and increase your restaurant’s visibility, and build a strong community around your brand.