Traditional promotions like discounts and happy hours are effective, but to keep your restaurant customers coming back, you need to think outside the box. Get creative. Try new restaurant marketing ideas.

“When we need that little bump in business, creative marketing strategies always deliver!” – Linda Ringler, Owner, Chase Creek Smokehouse.

Creative restaurant marketing comes in all shapes and sizes, from community building activities and food specials to events and limited time offers.

The benefits can be huge. New customers. More frequent visits from existing customers. Word of mouth that excites your community and expands your reach. And most important, increased revenue.

So where do you start? How about right here? We’ve put together a list of unique and fun restaurant marketing ideas you can try right now. We’ve even designed graphic templates so you can start promoting your events and specials right away. 

Community building

1. A ‘snap and scribble’ wall

A wall of content created by your customers serves as social proof for your restaurant. It also reminds customers of the fun they’ve had at your restaurant. 

Keep a Polaroid camera handy to snap memorable photos of customers. Ask them to write a few words about their experience at your restaurant on a sticky note. Then display the photos and sticky notes together on a dedicated wall. 

2. Food rescue night: Pay-it-forward 

Introduce a ” Pay-It-Forward ” program to encourage customers to support your restaurant’s efforts to give back to those in need. Guests contribute by purchasing an extra meal, which you’ll prepare and deliver to a local food bank, shelter, or community organization. 

A “Pay-It-Forward” board can be displayed in the restaurant to keep track of donations. Customers enjoy seeing the collective impact of their generosity. 

Food specials

Themed weekly specials 

Make your menu more exciting with rotating specials.

3. Wing It Wednesday

Feature a variety of wing flavors each Wednesday, such as mango habanero, honey-glazed, garlic parmesan, or Korean BBQ.

4. Friday Pie Day 

Celebrate all things pie. Start with savory pies like Shepherd’s pie and Spanakopita. Finish the meal off with dessert pies like salted caramel apple and Mississippi Mud Pie.

Themed food celebrations/festivals

Host food-centered festivals or celebrations at your restaurant. Center your events around a specific ingredient or dish. Then get creative with menu items, special promotions, and interactive experiences.

5. Pickle Party 

Celebrate all things pickled with a ‘Pickle Party’ at your restaurant. Feature items like pickle-brined fried chicken, deep-fried pickles, and pickled carrot salads. Don’t forget the pickle-flavored cocktails! 

6. Nutella-palooza

Dedicate a day or weekend to everyone’s favorite hazelnut spread. Serve Nutella-based desserts like Nutella cheesecake, Nutella-stuffed crepes, Nutella brownies, and specialty Nutella frappes. 

7. Flame Fest

Create a heat-packed menu featuring spicy wings, ghost pepper burgers, fiery ramen bowls, and chili-infused desserts. Customers can challenge themselves with different spice levels and win prizes for completing a “spicy challenge.”

8. Pumpkin Patch Party (Fall Special)

Offer a fall-themed menu featuring everything pumpkin! We’re talking pumpkin-spiced lattes, pumpkin-flavored pancakes, roasted pumpkin soup, and seasonal cocktails like spiked pumpkin cider.

Events and activities

9. ‘Decode and Devour’: A secret password-protected menu

Believe it or not, curiosity is a great way to attract diners to your restaurant.

Design an exclusive menu that can only be accessed by customers who solve a puzzle or riddle. Promote this on social media as an in-restaurant only special. If people want in on the secret, they’ll have to come in and dine with you! 

Fill the menu with new dishes that your chef or cook has been working on. Or super-sized combos of old favorites. Change the secret password weekly to keep customers engaged.

10. DIY plating challenge: ‘Plate it like a Pro’

Serve a deconstructed version of a dish such as tacos or nachos. Then let guests put their own spins on it. 

Encourage customers to photograph and share their creations on Instagram with a dedicated hashtag. Reward the best presentation with a free dessert or discount on a future order.  If your chef approves, you can plate the dish that same way for a limited time. 

11. Jazz & Wine Wednesdays

Pair smooth jazz with curated wine selections to warm things up on slow Wednesday nights. Pair the wines with artisanal cheeses and indulgent desserts; a charcuterie board spread would go perfectly with the mood and ambience of the night.

12. Throwback Thursdays

Take customers on a nostalgic journey with live music of the decades from the ‘50s to early 2000s.

• Encourage customers to dress for the decade being celebrated..
• Feature dishes inspired by past decades, like classic milkshakes, diner-style burgers, and coke floats for the 50s. 
• For added fun, host trivia focused on pop culture, movies, and music from the chosen decades, offering small discounts or free desserts to winners. 

13. Open mic night

Host an open mic night on special days, like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day, when people would like to dedicate songs to their loved ones. 

You should also host this once a month on weekends to create a fun atmosphere at your restaurant, so friends and families can come to have good food and celebrate their bond.

14. Stand-up comedy night

Invite local stand up comedians to showcase their talents, giving them a platform while attracting an audience that enjoys light-hearted entertainment.

15. ‘Sip, Sip Crochet’ craft night

Bring out the creative side of your customers by hosting a crochet night. Collaborate with a local artisan to lead a workshop where customers can bring their unfinished crochet projects or participate in guided activities. 

Offer fan favourite drinks like hot cocoa, herbal teas, or mulled wine to enhance the cozy vibe. Create a social media hashtag where attendees can showcase their creations, and reward the best projects with small prizes like a free dessert or discount on their next visit. 

16. ‘Tuesday Two’s Day’ date night 

Why wait for Valentine’s Day to make couples feel special? Celebrate love all year round by arranging a couples night every week. 

Create a cozy, dimly lit setting with fairy lights, candles on each table, and romantic tunes playing in the background. The evening should start with a curated menu designed specifically for two, featuring shareable appetizers, indulgent entrées, and decadent desserts meant to be enjoyed together. Special touches like heart-shaped pizzas or pies can add a unique, romantic charm to the experience. Guests can also opt for wine or cocktail pairings tailored to each course, making the night even more special.

Promotions: discounts, deals, and LTOs

Limited-time offers (LTOs) remain as important as ever for attracting and delighting guests. According to studies, restaurant owners have seen revenue and traffic surge by up to 25% during months featuring successful LTOs.

17. ‘Fam Jam’ discounts

Encourage families to dine together by offering special,‘ Fam Jam’ discounts on meals tailored for families. These deals could include family-style platters, kids-eat-free promotions, or bundled meal pricing that makes dining out more affordable. 

Enhance the experience by adding kid-friendly activities such as coloring sheets, board games, or a small play area. 

18. Gamified QR code promotions

Place QR codes on tables, menus, or receipts and ask customers to scan them using their smartphones to access mini-games they can play to win exciting deals and discounts. You can integrate themed games that align with their brand. For example, a sushi restaurant could offer a “Catch the Fish” game where customers tap floating fish on their screen to reveal their reward, while a pizzeria might use a “Spin the Pizza” challenge.

You can choose from a variety of rewards, such as percentage discounts, free appetizers, exclusive menu items, or even a grand prize like a free meal. The unpredictability of the prizes adds an element of surprise and fun, encouraging repeat orders as customers try their luck again.

19. Night owl hour

While traditional happy hours cater to early evening crowds, a night owl hour flips the script, offering irresistible discounted items and combo deals during late-night or off-peak hours. 

Designed for night owls like night shift workers and students seeking late-night, budget-friendly food options, this unique promotion will have your restaurant buzzing even after typical peak hours. You’ll be able to build a loyal late-night crowd eager to return for more.

20. ‘Spin and win’ discounts

Nothing excites customers quite like the chance to win a surprise reward. Get them excited to dine at your restaurant with limited-time ‘spin and win’ discounts.

Place a large, colorful spinning wheel near the entrance or a digital version accessible through a QR code. Each section of the wheel should offer different discounts. These could be a 10% off, BOGOF, and ‘two eat for the price of one’ deal or a mystery prize. 

21. ‘Foodie worldwide’ food passport

Encourage customers to savour a variety of delicious global cuisines and flavors offered by your restaurant while earning rewards with a dining ‘passport’. 

Upon their first visit, diners receive a food passport: a stylish, stampable booklet that tracks their culinary journey. Each time they try a different cuisine, category, or special dish from the restaurant’s rotating themes, they get a unique stamp in their passport.  Customers who collect a certain number of stamps can unlock exclusive rewards, such as discounts, coupons, a free appetizer or dessert. 

22. Meme-worthy promotions

Nothing grabs attention like a funny, clever, and relatable meme. Here are some meme ideas you can try:

• Design social media content around the experience of dining out or dining with loved ones. 
• Adopt any trending meme formats (if you’ve observed that your target audience interacts with it). 
• Encourage customers to create and share memes, such as “How it started vs. How it’s going” featuring an untouched burger next to an empty plate with crumbs on it. 
• Create funny challenges like “Spiciest Wing Face-Off”, where customers post their reactions to extra-hot wings.
• Highlight exciting promotions and LTOs.

Here’s how Buffalo Wild Wings announced their BOGOF burger deal with a meme:

Promoting your restaurant with PosterMyWall

Behind every successful restaurant are impactful restaurant marketing strategies, and PosterMyWall gives you all the tools you need to implement them. With our all-in-one marketing platform, you can:

• Create digital and printed menus for your restaurant by customizing the menu and digital signage templates.
• Design eye-catching visuals: Customize restaurant flyer and social media templates to design stunning marketing material in minutes.
• Publish across multiple social platforms: Share your designs directly to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more- all from PosterMyWall.
• Create email campaigns: Send targeted email campaigns highlighting menu additions, discounts, and events to boost attendance. 
• Schedule in advance: Plan your social media content and email campaigns in advance with PosterMyWall’s Content Planner to ensure your messaging reaches the right people at the right time.

Make your restaurant an unforgettable destination

If you want to succeed in the restaurant industry, you need to keep evolving your food and the customer experience. Creative restaurant marketing ideas like the ones discussed are the key to standing out from others serving a similar menu. 

From themed live music nights to reverse happy hours, the opportunities are endless. By implementing these unique marketing ideas, your restaurant can create lasting connections with customers and ensure that every guest leaves with a story worth sharing. 

Want to learn more about elevating your restaurant marketing? Check out these helpful guides:

• Key restaurant marketing event ideas to attract customers.
• Your recipe to effective restaurant video marketing (+ examples).
• 8 simple secrets of effective restaurant emails.

FAQs

How do I create reels for my restaurant’s Instagram on PosterMyWall?

Ans. You can create reels on PosterMyWall by either uploading an existing video and editing it, or customizing restaurant Instagram reel templates in the PosterMyWall designer editor by adding your logo, product images, and contact details.

How do I track the performance of my social media content?

Ans. Navigate to the ‘Social Media Posts’ section of your PosterMyWall account to view all published social media content. Click on the bar graph icon next to the post you want to review. This will display a detailed overview of your post’s performance, including metrics such as likes, comments, reach, impressions, shares, and saves.

Can I repurpose a social media design to create a poster or flyer?

Ans. Yes, you can repurpose your social media graphics to create print material like flyers or posters, as well as digital display, ad graphics and more. Open your design in the editor, click on the ‘Resize’ button and create the marketing material of your choice by clicking ‘copy and resize’.