Best Restaurant Marketing Campaigns for Small Spots

You have a slow Tuesday and a dining room with empty tables. You do not need twenty ideas. You need one campaign that brings back the people who already know you. The best restaurant marketing campaigns for a small spot are simple: a loyalty card, a message to regulars, and a page that tells people what to do. This post shows each one, what it needs, and how to tell if it worked.

We are a small app and web studio in San Antonio. We sell some of the tools below, so we say where they fit and where they do not.

Key takeaways

• Start with people who already eat with you. They are cheaper to reach than strangers.
• Run one campaign at a time, so you know which one worked.
• Write down the number before you start, and the number after.
• A campaign needs a place to send people. That is your website or your app.

What is the best marketing strategy for restaurants?

Bring back your regulars first. A guest who has eaten with you once knows your food. You do not have to explain it.

Pick one reason for them to return this month. A free coffee on the tenth visit is a reason. A new menu item is a reason. A Tuesday special is a reason.

Then choose one way to tell them. A card at the counter, a text to your list, or a push notification all work. Do one. Measure it. Then try the next.

What are the best restaurant marketing campaigns for a small restaurant?

Five campaigns fit a small restaurant with one location. Copy this table and cross off the ones you cannot run yet.

Campaign	What it needs	Kin feature that supports it
Loyalty card	A reward you can afford and a way to count visits	Loyalty card with stamps or points (Kin App)
Push notification to regulars	Customers who have your app, and one clear message	Notifications you send yourself (Kin App)
Order ahead	Paid orders and a kitchen that keeps up	Pickup paid in the app (Kin App Pro)
Event or tasting night	A date, a limit on seats, and a way to book	Events with tickets or booking (Kin App Pro)
A page for the campaign	Hours, menu, directions and one button	Core website, included in both app plans

You can run the first two without us. A paper punch card works. A text list works. We built our tools so you do not have to build that part yourself.

We will not list famous brand campaigns. We cannot source their results, and a small restaurant cannot copy their budgets.

For your free listing on Google, read our post on Google Business Profile examples. It is the cheapest place to start.

How do you run a loyalty campaign for a restaurant?

Set one reward and one rule. Keep the rule short enough to say in one breath.

Here is a plan you can copy:

1. Choose the reward. Pick something that costs you little, such as a free drink.
2. Choose the count. Ten stamps is a common starting point. It is your call.
3. Tell every guest at the register for two weeks.
4. Count the cards handed out each week.
5. Count the rewards claimed at the end of the month.

An app does the counting for you. Kin App includes a loyalty card with stamps or points. You can see what each Kin app plan includes before you decide.

An illustrative example

This is an illustrative example with made-up numbers. Replace each one with your own.

Assume a free coffee costs you $1.50 to make. Assume a guest earns it after ten visits. Assume the average visit brings in $6.

• Ten visits bring in 10 x $6 = $60.
• The free coffee costs you $1.50.
• So the reward gives back about 2.5 percent of what the guest spent.

In this example the reward is cheap next to the visits it asks for. Change the assumptions and the answer changes. If your reward costs $8, the math is different.

We have a demo of a coffee shop app with a loyalty card screen. It is a spec build, not a live client app, and it shows how the screen works. We have no client results to show you.

Can push notifications work as a restaurant marketing campaign?

Yes, if you send few of them and each one says something useful. "Fresh batch of cinnamon rolls at 8" is useful. "Check us out" is not.

A push notification only reaches people who have installed your app. So it suits regulars. It does not find new guests.

Kin App includes notifications you send yourself. Kin App Pro adds two promo notifications a month that we write for you. Kin App is $199 a month plus a $1,500 setup fee, with a 12 month minimum. Kin App Pro is $399 a month plus $3,500 setup, with a 12 month minimum.

A text to your own list also works, and it costs nothing extra. Start there if you do not have an app.

What should a restaurant website do for a marketing campaign?

It should show people what to do in five seconds. Every campaign needs a place to land. If a flyer says "free dessert Friday," the page behind it must say the same thing.

Google has written about this. Google said its guidance is to create helpful, reliable, people-first content, and you can read that in its guide to creating helpful content. We think that applies to a campaign page too. Put the offer, the hours, the address and one button on the page. Leave the rest off.

A Core website is $79 a month plus $149 setup. Premium is $249 a month plus $299 setup. Both are on our Core and Premium website plans page. Every Kin App plan includes a Core website.

How do you tell whether a restaurant campaign worked?

Compare one number from before to the same number after. Use the same days of the week, so Friday is not compared with Tuesday.

Use this checklist:

1. Before the campaign, write down your sales for the slow day, four weeks in a row.
2. Pick one number to watch, such as covers on Tuesday.
3. Run one campaign for four weeks.
4. Write the same number for those four weeks.
5. Note anything else that changed, such as weather, a holiday or a nearby event.

If the number rose, you may have found something. We think one month is a hint, not proof. Run it again before you spend more.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an app to run a restaurant campaign?

No. A paper card, a text list and a simple website are enough to start. An app helps once you have regulars who come back often.

Does Kin work for more than one location?

Not on Kin App or Kin App Pro. Both cover one location. A second location makes it a custom job.

Can I see an app before I pay?

Yes. We have a coffee shop demo. Payments and orders in our demos are simulated.

What should you do next?

Pick one row of the table and run it for four weeks. Write down the number before you start. If you want the loyalty card or push notifications in your own app, look at the Kin App plans for restaurants. If you want a second opinion on your plan, get in touch and we will go through it with you.