Marketing
for restaurants

Marketing for restaurants starts on the phone screen

Most restaurant decisions take less than a minute. Someone opens Maps, sees three or four places nearby, checks photos, hours and a menu, and goes. Marketing for restaurants is mostly about winning that minute: a complete Google Business Profile, a menu that reads well on a phone, and a clear button to call, book or order.

The second piece is ownership. If every order comes through a delivery app, you do not know who your regulars are and you pay a commission on each meal. A simple ordering system on your own site changes that. The pizzeria Da Diego in Poland now takes over PLN 15,000 a month (about C$5,500) in delivery orders through its own site, and each of those customers is on its own list.

What people in Canada search before they eat out

Restaurant searches mix cuisine, place and moment: "sushi downtown Calgary", "brunch Halifax", "pizza delivery open late", "patio near me". Your site and listing should answer each of those with plain words. List your cuisine, neighbourhood, dietary options like vegan, halal or gluten-free if you offer them, and whether you take reservations. Clear hours on statutory holidays save a lot of disappointed guests.

Seasonality: patios, holidays and January

Canadian restaurants live by the weather. Patio season brings walk-ins without much effort. Late fall and the holidays bring office parties and group bookings. January and February can be painfully slow outside tourist areas. I plan campaigns around that:

• Spring: patio opening, new menu, Mother's Day bookings.
• Summer: tourists and locals searching on the go; Maps and short ads.
• Fall: group and holiday party bookings, with a dedicated page and form.
• Winter: delivery, comfort menus, local events, messages to regulars.

Special occasions deserve their own page too. Birthday dinners, private rooms, catering for offices and holiday party menus are searched separately and often booked weeks ahead. A short page with capacity, sample menus and a request form turns those searches into group bookings worth far more than a single table.

Messages to regulars and CASL

An email or text to people who already love your food is often the cheapest marketing a restaurant can run. In Canada, email and SMS marketing falls under CASL: you need consent, you must identify yourself and every message needs a working unsubscribe. A checkbox at online checkout and a sign-up at the table, worded clearly, cover the consent part.

Mistakes that cost covers

One more: running ads with photos that do not match what arrives at the table. It brings people once. Real photos of real plates bring them back.

If you run a hotel restaurant or a venue, see marketing for event and wedding venues. For the ad side in more detail, read about local Facebook ads, or check website pricing for the build.