A restaurant marketing agency is a company that specializes in marketing activities that are relevant for restaurants and similar businesses. Generally, businesses will outsource many of their marketing responsibilities to these agencies to reduce their own workload and benefit from specialist knowledge. In this article, you will learn about what these agencies are, how they work, the types of marketing they use, and the benefits these agencies provide.

Table of Contents:

How Is the Restaurant Industry Defined?

Before exploring what a restaurant marketing agency does and explaining the benefits of using one, it is sensible to define what the restaurant industry itself is. By most definitions, a business can be considered part of the restaurant industry if it provides food services and offers ‘dine-in’ experiences for customers.

This is also the main way the restaurant industry is distinguished from the food service industry, as the food industry does not have this exact requirement for allowing customers to dine in. In addition to the most conventional restaurant meaning or definition, the industry also includes cafés, pop-up restaurants, bars, and more. It’s a continuously growing industry. According to the State of Restaurant Industry by the National Restaurant Association, the US foodservice industry is forecast to reach $1 trillion in sales in 2024.

In the article “Restaurant Industry: Overview, Types, Examples and More”, you can access a more comprehensive definition of the restaurant industry and explore the main types of businesses contained within it.

What Does Restaurant Marketing Entail?

It is also worth some time to explain what restaurant marketing is, as this is at the heart of all restaurant marketing agency activity. A simple way to view restaurant marketing is to promote restaurant products and services and create value, intending to encourage customers to pay for goods and services.

Restaurant marketing will involve advertising and other marketing strategies to build brand awareness and highlight the positive aspects of products, services, or the business. Furthermore, a significant focus will usually be placed on establishing a reputation and a brand identity with which customers can connect emotionally.

Another component that helps define restaurant marketing is creating or defining a unique selling proposition (USP), which helps a business stand out from rivals. Restaurant marketing will usually involve utilizing a variety of marketing channels, including display advertising, radio and television advertising, and online marketing.

Video: Most Important Element of Marketing a Restaurant

What Is a Restaurant Marketing Agency?

A restaurant marketing agency is a name given to a company that offers expert help related to the design, creation, and execution of marketing campaigns for restaurants and similar businesses. Essentially, a restaurant outsources many of the key activities related to marketing to benefit from the agency’s expertise and labor.

Activities carried out by restaurant marketing agencies may include market research, devising strategies, and putting marketing campaigns into action. These agencies will work with their clients to identify specific aims, understand the target audience, and pinpoint target areas, such as social media, search marketing, or offline marketing.

The Main Marketing Types Offered By a Restaurant Marketing Agency

In the sections below, you will learn more about the most significant types of marketing utilized by a typical restaurant marketing agency to understand what constitutes a healthy marketing mix.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is an increasingly important focus area for those involved in restaurant management and restaurant marketing. A good restaurant marketing agency will utilize the most relevant social media channels for the business they are working with to reach their target audience and drive interest in the restaurant.

Modern social media marketing involves more than positing photographs of pleasant-looking dishes or showcasing the restaurant itself. Through social media marketing efforts, useful insights can be shared; the restaurant can interact directly with customers, and social media content can be used to highlight brand values. On top of this, social media advertising can target specific types of users, and traffic can be directed towards the restaurant’s website.

Restaurant Marketing Agency - Social Media Marketing

Branding

A significant part of the work of a typical restaurant marketing agency involves branding the restaurant. Simply put, branding creates a positive image of the business using design elements, slogans, logos, and brand messages. The resulting brand identity allows customers to understand what your business stands for.

Restaurant marketing agencies use a range of techniques for branding. This could include adding slogans and logos to marketing materials, changing the restaurant’s appearance, using consistent color schemes, naming items on the menu in a thematically consistent way, and ensuring customer communications are consistent in tone.

Web Design

Effective web design is vital throughout the hospitality industry, as it is one of the main ways customers will form an opinion about a business before visiting or purchasing goods. With restaurants, web design takes on added importance because customers need to be able to find precisely what they are looking for quickly.

A good restaurant marketing agency will use web design elements to appeal to customers, enhance branding, and highlight a restaurant’s best qualities. This could include using images and video marketing content, tailoring written content to the target audience, and ensuring the restaurant menu is accessible and can be viewed on all devices.

Online Advertising

According to the Dining Trends Report by TouchBistro, almost 85% of diners look at the restaurant menu online before visiting the restaurant. Online advertising is a more conventional form of online marketing, based on the display of advertisements, which users can see, gain information from, and click on. This can still take many forms, however. For instance, search engine advertising involves paying for advertisements displayed on search engine results pages. By contrast, some pay-per-click advertisements function as more traditional display advertisements on other websites.

Restaurant marketing agencies will work with restaurants and similar businesses to decide the best approach to online advertising. This will involve pinpointing the target audience and using the most likely channels to reach that audience. It will also mean using the best return on investment methods.

Local SEO

Search engine optimization is optimizing a website and online content to maximize visibility on search engines like Google. This can include creating content that utilizes certain keywords and optimizing web page layouts to capitalize on how search engine algorithms work.

However, for restaurants, visibility is most critical within the local area. A good restaurant marketing agency will prioritize SEO techniques that boost visibility with local searches. This can mean ensuring your website and social media channels include your address, opening hours, phone number, and menu so that users in the nearby area can perform quick searches on their mobile phones or computers and see the most relevant information.

Restaurant Marketing Agency - Local SEO

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Restaurant Marketing Agency?

Aside from understanding what a restaurant marketing agency does, those involved in restaurant management and marketing should also understand the benefits of outsourcing work to agencies of this kind.

Get a New Perspective

One of the biggest plus points of working with a restaurant marketing agency is gaining new perspectives from people outside your business. Looking at challenges with fresh eyes and without the biases that come from working with an organization can be beneficial.

Restaurant marketing agencies can also offer fresh ideas in terms of approach. For example, they may have ideas about how the data collected from restaurant POS systems can be used to inform marketing efforts, or they may be able to implement new strategies for social media marketing to appeal to a specific demographic.

Relieve Pressure on Your Team

The other big argument favoring outsourcing work to a restaurant marketing agency is the ability to reduce pressure on your team. Marketing efforts can be challenging for small teams within a restaurant, and existing staff may struggle to keep pace with the latest trends, restaurant management systems, and more.

By outsourcing much of this work, you can free up your staff to focus on other issues or take more time with their responsibilities. This can ultimately result in a higher standard of work. Reducing pressure and stress may also have knock-on effects, like improving morale and reducing the number of staff absences that occur.

What to Consider When Selecting a Restaurant Marketing Agency

Deciding to work with a restaurant marketing agency is one thing, but how do you know which agency to work with? One of the most important considerations will be the cost of services, as you need to know that the agency can complete the work required without exceeding your agreed marketing budget.

Focusing on agencies that have previously worked with similar businesses and produced positive results can be a good idea. You should avoid unspecific agencies in terms of their areas of expertise. It is also a good idea to speak to the agency about the marketing channels and techniques they tend to focus on.

Ultimately, any restaurant marketing agencies worth working with will have a track record to point to and will be happy to share case studies or similar content so that you can better understand their previous work.

Table: Criteria & Questions to Ask When Selecting a Restaurant Marketing Agency

Criteria for Selection Questions to Ask Red Flags to Avoid
Experience in the Restaurant Industry “Can you share examples of successful campaigns for other restaurants?” Lack of specific experience or success stories within the restaurant sector.
Portfolio Quality “Do you have a portfolio of your work we can review?” A portfolio that lacks diversity or does not align with your restaurant’s brand and vision.
Specialization Areas “What are your agency’s areas of specialization?” Agencies that claim to excel in all areas without clear evidence of expertise.
Client Testimonials and References “Can you provide references from past clients?” Unwillingness to provide references or negative feedback from previous clients.
Communication and Reporting “How will you communicate progress and results with us?” Vague or infrequent communication plans; no clear reporting structure.
Understanding of Your Brand “How would you approach marketing for our specific brand and audience?” A generic approach that doesn’t consider the unique aspects of your restaurant’s brand.
Cost and Contract Terms “What are your pricing structures and contract terms?” High upfront costs without clear breakdowns or long-term contracts with no early exit options.
Strategy and Innovation “How do you stay ahead of marketing trends and apply them to your strategies?” A lack of forward-thinking strategies or reliance on outdated marketing tactics.

Restaurant Marketing Agency: Restaurant Marketing Trends to Focus On

Being aware of current and emerging restaurant marketing trends is crucial when working with a restaurant marketing agency. This will help you capitalize on trends like social media marketing, QR codes, video marketing, customer loyalty programs, and online ordering options.

In the article “Important Restaurant Marketing Trends to Follow”, you can explore these and others like them, learning what each trend entails and why it is important for restaurant marketing success.

All You Should Know About Restaurant Management

The decision to work with a restaurant marketing agency is an important component of restaurant management, but it is one of many other responsibilities. Good restaurant managers contribute to the customer experience, define roles, set expectations, manage daily operations, and serve as the glue that keeps different departments together.

In the article “Restaurant Management: Everything You Need to Know”, you can find out what management means and why it is important while also exploring the qualities required to succeed in the role.

Restaurant Marketing Agency FAQs

A restaurant marketer is a marketing professional specializing in promoting restaurants and similar businesses. Restaurant marketers aim to build brand awareness, boost sales and establish a positive reputation for the restaurant. They may use digital marketing, offline marketing and various PR strategies.

The best approach to restaurant marketing is to develop a varied strategy, where you establish an online presence, use social media effectively and engage with customers directly. Both online and offline marketing should be tailored to the restaurant’s target audience. Quality food and excellent customer service are also essential.

Restaurant marketing agencies typically offer services like search engine optimization, social media management, and reputation management. They may create and publish marketing content, plan events, and respond to reviews.

Yes, some restaurant marketing agencies offer design services, which may cover web design and physical menu design. These agencies will typically use tried-and-tested design approaches to create a visually appealing menu. Some can even work with restaurants to make adjustments to the dishes on offer.

The costs associated with working with a restaurant marketing agency vary significantly, depending on the extent of services needed, the agency’s reputation, and the amount of work required to achieve marketing goals. Many agencies charge a monthly retainer fee, but some charge a single project fee instead.

A restaurant marketing agency will work with restaurants to optimize their marketing strategy and improve their brand image. Outsourcing can help restaurants to reduce workloads on their own staff while also benefiting from the expertise of the agency and the fresh perspective on offer to them.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.