According to research from Cornell University, financial stress is one of the primary reasons why restaurants fail, which means that increasing sales is critical to running a successful restaurant. However, generating revenue is more challenging than ever for the foodservice industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to increase sales at your restaurant: 1) reach new customers, 2) influence existing customers to buy more frequently and 3) get customers to spend more. We’re sharing 20 of the best techniques for driving restaurant sales, organized into those three primary categories.

How to increase restaurant sales by reaching new customers

Here are several ideas to increase restaurant sales that involve spreading the word about your business to new customers.

1. Host a grand opening event to increase sales

If you’re opening a new restaurant, you need to let people know about it with a bang. Host a grand opening event in which you serve highlights from your menu.

Promote your grand opening on social media to reach potential guests, and invite the press and influencers to create buzz before, during and after the event. 

In exchange for free entry, ask attendees to register for the event online. This way you’ll have their contact details in your customer relationship management (CRM) software and can send them targeted marketing messages to get them to come back.

2. Establish and optimize a social media presence

It’s just as important to connect with guests online as it is to connect with them in person. Create social media accounts for your restaurant on the most relevant social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you’re feeling creative, you can even experiment with TikTok. 

Optimize your presence by linking to your direct reservations and online ordering landing pages in the bio or about section of your profiles. Post consistently, with high-quality photos, to keep your restaurant top of mind. 

3. Focus on SEO to increase restaurant sales

Search engine optimization (SEO) can help your restaurant’s website appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) for its name and related keywords. 

Ranking for unbranded keywords is just as important as ranking for your restaurant’s name. If, for example, you run an organic wine bar in New York City, and its website appears at the top of the SERP when someone searches “organic wine bars NYC,” that’s exposing your business to new guests.

While paying for Google Ads is one way to see your restaurant at the top of the SERP, this strategy can be expensive and stops working when you stop paying for the ads. Instead, focus on organic and local SEO, which involves creating content on your website that uses the keywords you want to rank for in a useful way and optimizing your Google My Business Listing. 

4. Optimize your Google My Business Listing

SevenRooms’ research shows that 33% of diners discover and book restaurants through Google. By making the most of your restaurant’s Google My Business listing, you can drive guests who are searching for restaurants like yours to make a reservation, join your waitlist, or place an online order.

Google automatically adds third-party delivery and reservation platform links to your restaurant’s listing. After claiming your listing, you can add links to your direct ordering and reservations platforms, and designate your preferred links, which will help you save on third-party fees. 

Add photos, menu links, and tags to your listing to make it easy for guests to discover and choose your restaurant over others.

5. Meet guests where they are

Using delivery and reservation marketplaces that your potential customers are already using can help expose your restaurant to new clientele. Just be aware that many third-party platforms charge fees, advertise your restaurant alongside the competition, and don’t let you access your customers’ data.

To mitigate these issues, convert third-party guests into direct customers. Create inserts for delivery orders that have coupon codes for customers’ first orders through your direct delivery and pickup platform. For third-party dine-in guests, create a check presenter insert that offers diners a discount on their next meal if they sign up for your newsletter. Then, send guests emails that explain the benefits of making direct reservations going forward.

6. Run digital ads to increase profits

Use social media ads and Google Ads to reach new customers online. Through ads on Facebook and Instagram, target people who live and work near your restaurant and whose demographics match your existing customers’.

Use Google Ads to reach potential customers who are searching for keywords related to your restaurant. For example, if you run a pizza restaurant in New York City, you could buy ads for the keywords “best pizza New York,” “NYC pizza” or “pizza restaurant New York City.”

7. Run traditional ads

You can also create and run traditional advertisements like TV commercials, radio commercials and magazine and newspaper ads. Traditional advertising tends to be more expensive than digital advertising, but can help you reach a wide audience.

How to increase restaurant sales by attracting repeat business

Follow these tips to learn how to boost restaurant sales by influencing existing customers to frequent your restaurant.

8. Send guests targeted offers

Marketing to existing customers is a piece of cake with marketing automation software. Software like SevenRooms can send targeted offers – like a “we miss you” message inviting guests to make a reservation – via email or SMS to customers who have already dined with you. 

9. Cross-promote internally to increase sales

Drive repeat business by cross-selling delivery to your dine-in guests and booking a table to your delivery diners. 

Encourage guests who always dine at your restaurant to order online by offering them a promo code for their first order. Set up an automated email campaign to take care of this for you.

Motivate pickup and delivery customers to make reservations by offering them upgrades via email, like a free champagne toast upon arrival, when they join you in-person.

10. Introduce online ordering

If you haven’t done so already, add an online ordering revenue stream to your business. However, don’t rely only on third-party delivery platforms, as they take steep commissions and don’t let you access your customer data.

With commission-free, direct online ordering, you can circumvent per-order fees, avoid missing phone orders and generate revenue from customers even when they don’t feel like dining in.

11. Implement a loyalty program to increase revenue

Implement a loyalty program that lets customers accumulate points for on-site and online orders and redeem points for free food, exclusive experiences and more.

How to boost restaurant sales by influencing customers to spend more

Follow these creative ideas to increase restaurant sales that involve convincing diners to spend more during each visit and order. 

12. Sell reservation upgrades

Let guests pre-purchase birthday cakes, champagne toasts served upon arrival, flowers on the table and more through prepaid reservation upgrades. With SevenRooms, you can collect payment up front and secure extra revenue, and build these upgrades seamlessly into the booking experience so guests won’t even feel like you’re upselling them.