The grim statistics on restaurant failure aren’t a secret. In the first year, 60% fail. By year five, 80% are gone. That leaves you with one all-important question: How can you thrive among the 20% of winners?
The sear on your steak might be excellent, but that won’t mean anything if no one knows about your restaurant. At the end of the day, the success of your business is measured by the number of tables you can fill on a dull Tuesday night. And with an effective restaurant marketing agency in your corner, you’ll be turning people away at the door because the place is already packed.
The age of passing out cheap flyers, on the street corner is gone. You need a restaurant digital marketing agency that specializes in growing your small business into a cornerstone of the community. At Slam Media Lab (Slam), we know how to grow your restaurant’s brand, because we also started in the humble kitchen of a small restaurant. We're an award-winning marketing & web design agency based in San Francisco, and are constantly supporting restaurants across the United States.
To partner with the right marketing agency for your restaurant, contact us today or explore our web design & local SEO packages.
Silvia Li Sam, founder and CEO of Slam Lab Media, spent her teenage years working around her parent’s Chinese-Peruvian restaurant. If she wasn’t cleaning tables, she was running deliveries or working the register. She knows—as well as anyone—how much goes into building and running a successful restaurant. She also knows how challenging it is to spread the news, even when the food is incredible!
When COVID-19 shut everything down, the restaurant took a huge hit to sales. Silvia wanted her parents’ business to thrive, so she rebuilt the restaurant’s online presence by designing a website and optimizing it for local SEO.
It didn’t take long for the boost in online traffic to translate into a huge uptick in sales, beating pre-pandemic numbers. Now, the restaurant is doing better than ever.
Plenty of restaurant digital marketing agencies know how to support a small business, but few are prepared to tackle the complex challenges of the restaurant industry. We are prepared, because that’s where all of this began for us. We know that when it comes to digital marketing for restaurants, we need to provide affordable services that translate into increased revenue.
Time is money, and we want to save you both. Our services make everything about your online presence more streamlined for the customer. We simplify orders and make you money by allowing customers to place orders directly on your site. We also maximize the impact of your online presence by building your website for maximum reach and visibility.
Ready to partner with us? Check out our small business website design & SEO packages.
Why You Need a Marketing Agency for Your Restaurant
The restaurant industry is brutally competitive—but you already knew that. In any given town, hundreds of establishments compete for the attention of the community. They offer special deals and pass out promotions wherever they can. Like you, they want to attract more customers to their tables, but unlike you, they don’t know that there’s a better way to succeed.
A marketing agency that specializes in restaurants will increase your brand awareness, attract new customers, and increase revenue. That is Slam’s guarantee.
We strive to be a game changer in the restaurant industry by building you an online presence and using it to convert sales. Building a website is only half of the equation. However, building a website that attracts customers to your business is the real key.
When we work with small restaurants, we focus on three key outcomes:
- Increasing brand awareness—The first step to success is presence. You could train under the most impressive chefs of Paris, but it won’t make a difference if no one knows about you. By building and promoting your business online, you will become present in the minds of your target market.
- Attracting new customers—You probably have a group of regular customers that love your food. They come for special occasions or weekly outings. They remind you of why you love what you do, which is why you want more of them. SEO is the #1 channel to attract new traffic. We’ve helped dozens of small business grow through SEO.
- Boosting revenue and profits—Need more orders? Building a restaurant website that shows customers how amazing your food is and how easy it is to order can lead to more money quickly. There is huge untapped potential for your business if you choose to invest in your online presence. Once you see the orders start to flood in, you’ll see just how powerful an effective website (optimized for local SEO) can be.
If you need some quick help, we’ve put together a bunch of SEO and website guides for free. You get to learn our processes and tools through these:
- New to SEO? Read our SEO terms guide.
- Want to know how to compete with the big guys? Learn about small business SEO tools.
- Not sure where to start? Begin with small business SEO tips.
- Want to know what the results look like? Learn how we measure SEO.
How Our Marketing Agency Grows Your Restaurant’s Impact
At Slam Media Lab, we stay up to date with the latest trends in the restaurant industry to make sure your brand rises to the top of the pack. We do this by following a careful digital marketing strategy:
- Building and designing a website for your restaurant
- Boosting your local SEO
- Using copy that converts
- Building a lasting brand
Building and Designing a Restaurant Website
Restaurant website design is all about capturing attention, giving the customer a great user experience, and having your customers order or contact you quickly. We’ve partnered with dozens of restaurants to design websites that have a displayed menu, a reservation system, and a way to order directly, while also integrating with their preferred POS.
For one of our recent clients, Sprig & Sprout, we integrated their preferred POS (Toast) to direct customers to order directly from them, versus relying on third parties, Uber Eats and DoorDash, earning more per order.
All of our websites are optimized for SEO, built to load fast, and designed to be easily editable, so you can take control of your website from day one without having to hire a designer or a dev to make changes.
Case Study: Matteo, an Italian Restaurant in Salt Lake City
Matteo, in their aim to pay homage to their roots while giving visitors and diners an up-to-date and easily navigable UX, sought a website design that encapsulated their entire aesthetic. Our approach? Clean, bold colors, a responsive site experience, clear-cut layout, and images that reflect their physical location—inviting, indulgent, and rustic with a modern flair.
Our implementation of OpenTable and Toast, paired with prominent navigation to each, streamlines online ordering and reservations, making authentic Italian dining a couple clicks away.
You can read more about Matteo in our case studies!
Boosting Local SEO
A website isn’t worth much if no one ever visits it. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the golden ticket to online success for small businesses. Our local SEO service helps your brand show up when people in your area use Google to find somewhere to eat.
We use best SEO practices to ensure that you are presented as one of the top restaurant options in the area. We have helped dozens of small businesses grow their reach through local SEO, and we can do the same for you. With the right local SEO practices in place, your brand will place front and center in customer search results.
Using Copy That Converts
Writing engaging content is a great way for people to learn more about you and your restaurant. A well-written bit of copy further develops your SEO and drives your website to the top of search results.
When we write copy, we incorporate keywords into the writing to elevate your position in search results and entice people to learn about your brand. As part of our services, we provide writing and coaching that will help you understand the best ways to leverage copy for conversion. Words have power, after all, so why not use that power to grow your business?
Building a Lasting Brand
A great restaurant lingers in the minds of customers, reminding them of how much they enjoyed their experience. Over time, the power of your brand will draw customers back to your restaurant. As your customer base grows, your brand will establish a unique personality in the market.
We will help tailor that image to reflect everything you love about your business and its place in the community. We do this by taking the best parts of your brand and integrating them into the character of your website. By reinforcing your brand’s identity, we develop a solid image of your brand (and its value) in the minds of your customers.
Reach out today to get started on your digital marketing plan with Slam. When you partner with us, you’re getting a strategy that will bring your brand to the top of the market, establish a memorable and effective brand, and make it easier for customers to order through your website.
Ready to SLAM your next web build? Download our restaurant website template today!
Restaurant Marketing Case Study
We know how to market for restaurants, but you don’t need to take our word for it. We helped Sprig & Sprout, a Vietnamese restaurant in the Washington D.C. area, grow into a staple of its community. Based on the client’s request, we revamped their website to make it more clean and polished. We then optimized the website for reach, use, and visibility. By increasing the website’s performance, we were able to help Sprig & Sprout showcase their beautiful menu to a wider audience. We focused on delivering exactly what their business needed at a high level of quality. Within no time, they were seeing our hard work pay off in their sales.
“I really loved working with this team! They delivered amazing copy and design. Plus they’re organized, professional, and accommodating to our busy schedule as small business/ restaurant owners.”
Our clients have been satisfied over and over again by the growth we've been able to provide them. Anyone can ramble about marketing strategy, but few marketing agencies for restaurants have strong results to prove their theories.
Over the years, we’ve helped restaurants and similar small businesses go from relatively obscure to widely known and loved in their communities.
Every restaurant has unique challenges and needs. We understand that better than most, which is why we tailor our approach to fit the goals and expectations of each of our clients. Get in touch with us today to help your business reach its goals. Just like with Sprig & Sprout, we are ready to listen to your needs and execute an effective strategy.
We know that results matter, and that’s why results are the focus of all we do.
Why Slam Media Lab is Your Next Restaurant Marketing Agency
Reaching your customer base isn’t easy. Hundreds of other restaurants are competing for every meal, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a path to building a successful business. Digital marketing is one of the best ways a modern restaurant can increase brand awareness, attract new customers, and increase revenue.
We care about small businesses, which is why we love to provide resources and insights about this ever-changing industry. Instead of feeling like you are always playing marketing catch-up, we can help you be at the front of digital marketing trends. We do this by transforming your website into a tool that builds your brand for you. Before long, your restaurant will have a line around the block on its least busy night. Your biggest problem will be deciding where to open up your next location.
With your passion and our digital marketing expertise, your restaurant will grow to meet its potential. Your new online presence will resonate with your target market, growing your customer base and raising your bottom line. Our services are tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities of the restaurant industry, and we are excited to use those services to help you reach your business goals.
Reach out today and we will happily discuss the ins and outs of taking your brand to the next level.
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