10 Creative Restaurant Advertisement Ideas for a Profit Boost

Are you stuck trying to come up with ways to promote your restaurant? Have you given advertisements a chance yet? With ads, you can cover a variety of platforms that can bring in new business and boost customer loyalty. Let’s delve into ten restaurant advertisement ideas you can try.

10 Restaurant Advertisement Ideas for All Mediums

Restaurant advertisement in newspaper

Kicking things off with old-school restaurant marketing, newspaper ads can still be effective. That is especially true in small communities where people rely on print media to read about new restaurant openings or exciting events happening in town.

You can use a creative restaurant advertisement script to tell people about something that sets you apart from other local restaurants. Maybe you’re an entirely farm-to-table restaurant cooking traditional Sicilian food.

Or you can use the restaurant ad to promote an upcoming event at your restaurant, such as a themed evening or a fundraiser. An ad in a local newspaper won’t cost much, but it can work wonders for your community outreach.

Restaurant radio commercials

Radio can also be an excellent means of restaurant promotion. Imagine how many people listen to local radio stations on their commute to and from work. These people can hear your ad and be convinced to visit your restaurant.

A radio ad should be short and snappy to capture people’s attention. Ideally, use an attention-grabbing element such as your signature dish or a huge limited-time discount they shouldn’t miss.

Mention your restaurant name and address and include a memorable slogan if you can.

The music in the background of the ad can also contribute to the ad’s success. A catchy melody can get stuck in people’s heads. As a result, they will associate the song with your restaurant.

Food advertisements on TV

One of the most obvious restaurant advertisement ideas is a TV ad. This medium has the advantage of being extremely visual so you can showcase your restaurant’s mouth-watering dishes and attract new customers.

If you’re wondering how to make a restaurant advertisement for TV, know that casting is everything. You can use your restaurant staff (if they are willing), but make sure the actors embody your restaurant’s personality.

As for location, always go for a backdrop that showcases your restaurant atmosphere, and use music that evokes the emotion you’re trying to stir in people. Bonus points if you can hire local musicians to create an original song for the ad.

Once you have the casting, location, and music under control, think of creative ways to showcase your dishes. It is, after all, a restaurant food advertisement, so the food should be the star.

From showing a chef put the finishing touches on a plate of steaming pasta or pouring sauce over a steak to showcasing a variety of customers enjoying the dishes while they’re having a good time.

Restaurant video ads

Restaurant video ads don’t just live on TV. You can create a video ad and upload it to platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or even Facebook.

If you can’t afford to shoot a professional video ad for TV, you can simply take out your smartphone and film behind-the-scenes shots at your restaurant, edit them together, add royalty-free music, and some text on top, and upload it to social media.

These types of budget-friendly ads can help you attract new and returning customers to your restaurant without having to hire an external team.

Read more: Video Marketing for Restaurants: How to Stand out with Unique Video Content

Restaurants ads on Facebook

Continuing the list of budget-friendly advertisement ideas for restaurants, Facebook is a platform where you can post ads without spending a fortune.

Especially if you don’t have a large marketing budget, you can use Facebook ads to get a feel of what your audience wants and how you can create content that will appeal to them.

If you’re new to Facebook ads, check out our guide to Facebook ad targeting for restaurants.

If you can’t afford Facebook ads just yet, take your first steps to promoting your restaurant on Facebook by adding your online ordering menu to their “Start Order” button using our smart link. Here’s how.

Advertisement for restaurant opening

When planning your restaurant opening, it’s vital you come up with a detailed plan on how you’re going to market your new restaurant. One of your strategies should involve advertising.

Whether that is on social media, TV, radio, or in the local newspaper, the more people know that you’re open, the more successful your first couple of days and weeks will be.

When creating a new restaurant advertisement, focus on the novelty of it. Why should people come to your restaurant? What sets you apart? What surprises have you prepared for the grand opening? Answer all these questions to create a catchy advertisement, like this:

Restaurant Pronto is ready to open! Join us on Saturday, May 3rd, starting at 1 PM to enjoy our town’s first farm-to-table restaurant featuring authentic Sicilian dishes. See you at 123 Slough Avenue with exclusive opening-day discounts and live entertainment!

Restaurant advertisement posters

Advertisement posters are a cheap and easy way to promote your restaurant around town. Display them at your front entrance, on public bulletin boards, at community centers, and at other businesses that allow it.

To increase the impact these posters will have on your restaurant sales, include a coupon code that customers can use for a discount at checkout.

Flyers are also an excellent way to promote your delivery system. Tell people where they can order from your restaurant and why they should do it ASAP to enjoy a first-order discount.

The free online ordering system from GloriaFood comes with a built-in flyer generator that you can use to advertise your online business offline.

Restaurant promotional emails

Not all restaurant promotional materials are created to attract new customers. Some are designed to re-engage existing clients and persuade them to become regulars. Are you out of restaurant advertisement ideas that will help you increase loyalty? Try email marketing.

Sending regular emails featuring irresistible discounts to existing customers when they’re drifting away can persuade them to come back. But how are you going to know who is about to drift away? We’ve got you.

Our Autopilot email marketing module automatically segments customers who’ve only ordered once, who haven’t ordered in a while, or who’ve abandoned their cart. Then, based on the offer you create, the module sends them offers to persuade them to place another order.

Here’s how you can use Autopilot to keep customers engaged and increase sales:

Advertising on your restaurant website

Sometimes, the simplest restaurant advertisement ideas are also some of the most effective ones. Case in point: your restaurant website. Why spend money on third-party platforms when you can promote your restaurant directly on your website?

To increase your website’s visibility online and the chances of relevant customers finding it, you need to optimize it for search engines. For example, add keywords that contain your cuisine and location to respond to searches such as “Sicilian restaurant in Scranton, Pennsylvania.”

Once users get to your restaurant website, you need to convince them to stay enough to convert. That means a simple, clutter-free design that focuses on the most relevant information the users may look for: the menu, address, opening hours, contact information, Order button, and Table Reservation button.

Now, what if we told you that you can get your own restaurant website that’s already optimized for search engines and designed to sell in just a few minutes? Just use our intuitive restaurant website builder:

Advertising in the local community

Another affordable way to advertise your restaurant locally is to get in touch with other businesses or important local figures that have sway in the community.

You can propose mutually beneficial collaborations such as cross-promotion with a local hotel or a winery that is looking to sell its wines in restaurants.

These types of collaborations are win-win and don’t involve a lot of effort on your part. Plus, customers like to see local businesses working together and supporting the community, so consider partnering up for charity events and fundraisers too.

That’s a Wrap

Restaurant advertisements may sound complicated at first glance, but thanks to the prevalence of new technology and tools, it’s easier than ever to promote your restaurant online and offline.

Integrate the restaurant advertisement ideas above into your marketing strategy to attract a wide range of hungry customers.