How to Draw Customers to Your Restaurant With Marketing Contests

With one in four restaurants closing their doors or changing ownership in their first year of business, engaging marketing strategies are critical. Engaging in online or on-site contests is an effective way to attract new customers and ensure repeat business from your existing customer base, as long as you do a little planning ahead of time.


Determine the customer segment you want to target with your promotions. SmartleadsUSA CEO Brad Kent says that neighborhood marketing, which focuses on customers who live within a 10-minute drive of your restaurant, is critical to your success. Even restaurants located in tourist destinations rely on locals during the off-season. Your restaurant may be made up of professionals, locals, tourists or “special occasion” diners, but it is up to you to determine which segment you should focus your efforts on.


Know what your customers are looking for, and understand what type of contest will make it worth their while to visit your restaurant. If you are looking to bring in more of the tourist trade, contests that offer discounts off of future meals may not resonate with them. Contests that target the predinner happy hour may not work well if you have a family-oriented customer base.


Brainstorm potential on-site contests. The four basic types of restaurant contests are giveaways, raffles, competitions and games. Raffles and giveaways are similar in that customers need to do something, such as spend a certain amount of money at your restaurant or attend an on-site event, in order to be eligible to win a prize. Where they differ is that a raffle situation allows the customer to have multiple entries to increase their chances of winning, such as dropping a business card into a raffle jar. Competitions can be as simple as an eating or karaoke contest, while games can include bar trivia or a bingo night.


Enter your restaurant in contests for additional exposure and credentials. Your head chef can compete in local or national cooking contests, or you can look for regional events that focus on your area of expertise. Many barbecue restaurants, for example, regularly participate in chili and barbecue competitions.


Publicize your event. Use signage in the restaurant, place ads in local publications and send an announcement to your restaurant’s customer database. Include the event information on the homepage of your website as well as your restaurant’s Facebook fan page. Include photos and a description of any past contests that you have run that are similar, or the names of previous contest winners.


Solicit impartial judges. Making sure that your judges are neutral is essential, as just one person calling foul on the contest results could result in bad press for your restaurant.


Measure the results after each and every contest. Crunching the numbers after each event will tell you what is working and what is not for both your restaurant and your customers.