In this guide, we’ll share actionable restaurant marketing tips to help your business thrive in 2025. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are powerful tools for attracting new customers, building loyalty, and showcasing your unique dining experience. But with so many strategies out there, how can restaurant owners cut through the noise and find what truly works?

We’ve gathered some of the best restaurant marketing tips straight from real restaurant owners who have successfully navigated the world of social media. And pssst, at the bottom of this post, you can download a free guide with 5 restaurant content ideas. Let’s dive in! 🚀

📊 1. Track Metrics That Matter

Understanding your social media metrics is the first step to success. But over-analyzing them? That’s a one-way ticket to content paralysis.

When it comes to social media, a lot of it is just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. You can reduce the waste (and the mess!) by keeping an eye on what others are doing—more on that in #4.

Don’t overthink it. Look at your engagement, take your metrics seriously, but let them guide you on what to do more of and what to do less of—not what to completely skip.

Oh, and here’s something to keep in mind: In recent years, views, shares, and saves (bookmarks) have become way more important than likes, comments, or even followers. Why? Because they indicate real interest and long-term value. Reach is another big one. If your video content is reaching more non-followers than followers, that’s a fantastic sign—it means your content is breaking out of your bubble and resonating with new audiences. Keep an eye on these numbers; they’ll tell you a lot.

Take Action: Regularly review your analytics to identify posts with the highest shares. For example, a post featuring a limited-time promotion or a heartwarming customer story might have gained significant traction—use these insights to replicate success.

🎉 2. Promotions and Events Drive Engagement

Big moments—whether it’s a community event, a themed night, or a limited-time deal—are absolute goldmines for social media engagement. These aren’t just posts; they’re stories waiting to be shared, tagged, and talked about. Make them easy to share, sprinkle in a little FOMO (fear of missing out), and you’ll have your audience doing the marketing for you.

• Community Events: Posts about local celebrations and collaborations gain traction, but you can take this even further by hosting your own events. Why?
  • If you create a collaborative post on Instagram with a local partner, you can tap into both your audience and theirs. You might also know a local page that shares events, deals, or new spots in town—make sure they repost your content for even more reach.
  • A great example would be hosting a recurring community event, like “Every first Monday of the month, we host a knitting evening. Participation costs $10, and half of the money goes to a local charity.” This kind of initiative builds community and creates content that people love to share.
• Special Deals: Promotions like discounts or limited-time offers are great, but you can make them even more shareable with something like “Bring your best friend and get 20% off!” Why?
  • Because people love sharing things that make them look good—like an insider who knows a great deal. Plus, tagging their bestie or forwarding the post feels like they’re doing something thoughtful and fun. Win-win!
• Hiring and New Openings: These posts often perform well organically because people are likely to share them with potential candidates they know. Sharing an open position can make someone feel helpful, kind, or even like an insider with valuable information. People naturally want to share things that make them look good or connected, and job opportunities often fit that mold perfectly.

If a specific promotion or event gains traction, analyze why and refine it as part of your restaurant marketing strategy.

😂 3. Humor is a Powerful Tool

Humor is one of the most shareable types of content on social media. So if we’re talking restaurant marketing tips, I can’t skip this.

• Funny reviews or playful staff interactions can go viral.
• Light-hearted, authentic content resonates with audiences.
• Don’t take yourself too seriously—lean into humor when appropriate.

Example: Taco Bell nailed this with a Thanksgiving-themed Instagram post featuring sauce packets arranged like turkey feathers and the caption: ‘The real reason you ask for extra sauce packets.’ The humorous imagery and relatable caption resonated with their audience, driving engagement and playful comments. You can achieve similar results by pairing clever visuals with witty captions.

🎥 4. Video Content is King

• Short Videos (30–60 seconds): Highlight special menu items or chef spotlights—an essential aspect of implementing creative restaurant marketing tips on social media. 
• Reels and Stories: Provide a casual yet engaging glimpse into your restaurant.

For both, I have one main tip: grab the viewer’s attention EARLY! How? By showing something unusual. By saying something strange. By mentioning something that makes one keep watching. Some examples:

• “If we say your best friend’s name in this video, they owe you dinner!”
• “Can you guess the menu item?” –showing just the ingredients, laying them on the table one after another. Don’t say anything else! Just put the title on the video as an overlay and that’s it. People will comment.
• “QUIZ TIME! Which menu item that starts with a [letter] is our chef’s favorite?”

Oh, and… Please remember, you can repurpose video content across different platforms using restaurant social media templates to save time and maintain consistency. As a restaurant owner or marketer, you may very well not have the bandwidth to go out and create something new for every platform. If that sounds like you, I recommend you to just focus on one platform and potentially post the same video on others as well. You can easily do this with a scheduling tool like Buffer or Hootsuite.

You don’t have to be a pro to get started. Tools like CapCut are great free options for video editing, and Canva simplifies graphic design with ready-to-use templates.

🎁 5. Incentivize Engagement

Incentives are among the most effective restaurant marketing tips I can give to boost engagement—but there’s a smarter way to use them:

• Reshare Visitor Content (But Think Bigger): When guests post about your restaurant, don’t just reshare and move on. Save those posts for later and think ahead. Imagine a “[Your Restaurant Name] Wrapped” video compilation at the end of the year—a highlight reel of your guests’ best moments. It’s fun, nostalgic, and super shareable.
• Make People Want to Share: Ask yourself, when do I share content? Usually, it’s because it makes you look good, it’s funny, relatable, or just downright impressive. Aim for those moments. Picture this: an old granny sipping a beer, cheese dripping from her pizza slice, and the caption: “A slice a day keeps the doctor away.” That’s the kind of content people can’t wait to share.
• Get Strategic with Giveaways: Giveaways are great, but they’re even better when they’re built for maximum reach. Focus on shares first, comments second. Sharing gets your content seen by more people, while comments help you track entries and engage directly with participants (and whoever they’ve tagged).

🌐 6. Don’t Rely Solely on Social Media

While social media is powerful, it shouldn’t be your only digital marketing strategy.

• Google Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews.
• SEO-Optimized Website: Ensure your website is discoverable.
• Email and SMS Marketing: Build direct connections with your audience.
• Online Ordering: Offer easy online ordering options directly through your website.

Final Note: Diversify your restaurant marketing strategies for long-term growth. For example, pairing Instagram campaigns with email-exclusive discounts can drive repeat visits.

✅ Three Things You Can Do Right Now:

1. Analyze your top-performing posts so far and identify patterns. Do you have zero posts yet that have been “top-performing”? Then go to some of your competitors (they may be different cuisines) and analyze theirs. You can do this by checking, for example, the view count on their Instagram Reels.* Why* do you think those videos did well? Watch, take notes, and learn.
2. Create a humorous or lighthearted post with a strong CTA (call to action) to test engagement. You can download 5 ideas at the bottom of this post.
3. Launch a simple giveaway contest on Instagram, with the requirement to participate being to share a post and** tag a friend**. A simple example: “Share this post to your Instagram Story, tag your favorite foodie friend, and you might just win a free pizza to share! 🍕✨”

💭 Final Thoughts

I hope you like these restaurant marketing tips, and that they show you that social media doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Track only the most meaningful metrics, experiment, don’t overthink and… have fun with your brand voice.

🎨 Steal Like An Artist!

Instead of reinventing the wheel, it’s often better to steal like an artist—follow brands from all sorts of industries, see what formats and styles catch your eye, and adapt them to fit your restaurant’s unique vibe.

Be careful with “big brands”, sometimes they’re already so locked into their own “brand style guide” that they are afraid to experiment. That’s not what you want. Look for brands that are young enough to not be stuck to their brand colors, fonts, and so forth (those brands are not going to give you the right inspiration!).

By implementing these restaurant marketing tips, you’ll attract new customers and build lasting relationships 🚀🍽️

💡 Want to take your marketing to the next level? Check out our blog on Building an Effective Hospitality Marketing Strategy for Your Business in 2025 for expert tips on crafting a winning strategy!

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