How Do You Attract Guests to A Cafe or Restaurant?

Currently, the restaurant business is going through not the easiest of times: the pandemic has become a serious test for cafes and restaurants. Internet resources offering food delivery have gained the lion’s share of popularity, thereby squeezing out the traditional trips to cafes and restaurants. Indeed, it has become more convenient for customers to order something at home than to go out wearing masks and gloves. However, this is no reason to despair – competent business management will help you to keep a pool of regular guests and start working with new customers. Consider a few goal-oriented aspects to which you should pay close attention.

1. Safety of Customers and Restaurant Staff

The very thought of going to crowded places causes a certain level of anxiety, as there remains a high risk of infection, declared all over the media. The primary goal should be to create a safe environment. It should be:

• equip the cafe premises with non-contact sanitizers at the entrance, near the tables and reception;

• increase the distance between tables or put decorative screens (if the area allows);

    Provide staff with modern and presentable personal protective equipment (you can order a stylized mask with company logo): it is not worth saving on this – it is important to be disciplined about compliance with all requirements of sanitary safety;

 2. Equip the Restaurant with Air Purifiers and Disinfection System

Organized entry with QR-code is a detail, debatable though it is useful: for some visitors, it is an undoubted argument “for” visiting the restaurant, for others, it is rather repulsive as it reminds about the current situation. Some people may not even know what it is for. It is better to inform potential visitors about it in advance: for example, place an explanatory poster in a prominent place, as well as duplicate the information on the site.

3. Stylistics

People want and are eager to visit public places! Especially now, when the monotonous panorama of the home environment, relevant to remote format workers, is rather bored. They are ready to come to the restaurant with no excuse for a change of informality and new experiences.

4. Your review

To attract new visitors will help become “chips”, which is not anywhere else. Therefore, it is important to review the interior solutions of the cafe: see if they meet modern trends, whether it looks beautiful to the outside view – the gaze of the guests? Allow the restaurant to play with new colors. Innovatively bright and concise design can attract an audience just as effectively as powerful outdoor advertising.

5. New Accents

Sometimes it’s enough to add a few new accents that will give the restaurant a fresh and interesting look. It could be an old painted bicycle, a tube TV, a guitar rig, a basketball basket, or even a treadmill. The imagination is unlimited here. Do not forget about the external fragments (signage, facade, adjacent territory), which should reflect the authentic style of the institution. They, too, can attract customers who appreciate unconventional solutions, as well as those who simply walked by.

6. Maintaining A Website, Social Page of The Restaurant

In today’s world, the main resource of the 21st century – information – reigns unquestioningly. If a person can find out about your cafe or restaurant without leaving home (especially when you almost never have to leave home), it is already the first step towards visiting it. In addition, in recent years, a person in his assessment is based more and more on the “picture”, which he sees, scrolling through social networks.

7. Price Lists

Publish price lists, photos of themed events, seasonal or author’s dishes from the chef, be sure to add a tasty commentary, introduce your subscribers to the new staff. It’s good if the client himself posts directly from your cafe, exposing geolocation – the word-of-mouth chain works instantly: one action, and a huge number of subscribers know about you, whom we consider as potential visitors. A little nuance is that not everyone likes to be photographed against a table with food. You can design an original photo area of unique design for visitors, unobtrusively placing a hashtag in the foreground. Such detail will not go unnoticed and will be warmly received by most customers. There are many mechanisms to motivate the creation of posts and publication of photos; one of the most effective is the launch of a small quiz or contest with the announcement of the prize, for example, a free cup of coffee or dessert, the cost of which will not cost you much but will launch a cascade of reactions from the customers of the cafe.

8. Promotion of Restaurants

Often simply maintaining a social page is not enough: almost every establishment has them and can not guarantee success by their mere presence. Competent marketing is able to increase the interest of potential customers, increase the level of attraction of individuals.

Ask for help in the promotion to specialists who know the current state of the market and know how to optimize business ideas and are able to influence the levers to motivate new visitors. The unusual format of the institution or exclusive offers should be client-oriented and worked through in collaboration with experts.

Bottom Line

It should not be forgotten that generating a new influx of customers is not the fundamental goal of marketing strategies. One-time promotions that can bring in a certain number of people will generate the same one-time revenue as if a visitor comes only once and never comes back. Much more important is to get your customers to feel confident that they will become regulars in your establishment: stable attendance guarantees your confidence in the future. Every guest should feel important and welcome.