Most restaurants aren't short of followers. They're short of tables on a Tuesday, and they're paying a delivery app a fee on orders from regulars who'd happily order direct. That's the gap a digital marketing agency for restaurants should close, and how we approach it: Google search and Maps, reviews, Facebook and Instagram ads for offers and events, and direct ordering you can track, judged on covers and orders rather than likes.
- For independent restaurants, cafes, bars, takeout spots and small groups, in the US and UK.
- Google first: a Business Profile with your menu, booking and ordering links, and reviews you answer.
- Facebook and Instagram ads for the nights you need to fill: events, set menus, occasions and launches.
- Direct ordering and reservations you can track, so you know which ads put people in seats.
- Monthly services run $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month. Website builds run $1,200-$15,000.
Why restaurant marketing stalls
- Busy weekends, empty midweek. One campaign for the whole week, when the problem is three nights.
- Plenty of likes, the same faces. Posts judged on reach, with no date, no offer and no reason to book.
- App orders growing, margin shrinking. Regulars ordering through a delivery app because it's easier than your own site.
- No idea if the ads brought anyone in. Nothing connects the ad to a booking, an order or a visit.
Google is your shop window
For a restaurant, the Business Profile in Search and Maps often does the website's job: hours, menu, photos, reviews, and buttons to book or order. Google lets a restaurant manage its menu, bookings and waitlists, accept orders, and post offers and events on the profile itself. If you take orders through more than one service, you can mark one ordering option as preferred, so the button sends people where you want them.
- No incentives on Google. Google's content policy bans offering payment, discounts or free food for reviews, and bans asking only your happy customers.
- US. The FTC's reviews rule bans fake reviews and incentives tied to a positive or negative review.
- UK. Fake reviews are banned outright, and a business that publishes reviews must take appropriate steps to make sure they're genuine.
- What works. Ask every guest, and reply to every review, good and bad. This summary isn't legal advice.
Delivery apps vs direct ordering
Delivery apps find customers you wouldn't reach on your own. They also charge for the ones you would. Uber Eats' US pricing page lists marketplace fees of 20% to 30% of each delivery order, depending on the plan, against a 2.5% processing fee plus $0.29 per order through Webshop, its commission-free ordering site that you control. Other apps and UK contracts differ, so check yours.
The job isn't to quit the apps. It's to move your regulars to direct ordering: your own link set as preferred on Google, an order button on every page of your site, and a reason in the bag to order direct next time. Then advertise direct ordering to people who've already ordered, not just to strangers.
Footfall vs online orders: what you can measure
Online orders and reservations can be tracked like any sale, with a value, so Meta and Google learn from them. Walk-ins can't, not reliably. Google can report store visits, but only when the ads get enough clicks and the business enough foot traffic to pass its privacy thresholds, so many single-site restaurants never see them.
- Orders and reservations. Tracked as conversions with a value, through the ordering or reservation system. How to track bookings covers the routes.
- Calls. Counted from Google ads and your Business Profile, for guests who'd rather book by phone.
- Walk-ins. An offer that only appears in the ad, redeemed at the table and counted by staff.
- The till. Covers and revenue on the nights you advertised, against the same nights before.
What our agency does for restaurants
- Local SEO. You aren't in the map pack when people nearby search for your kind of food.
- Facebook ads for local businesses. You need to fill quiet nights, sell an event or launch a menu.
- Google Ads for local businesses. People search for your cuisine, private dining or catering, and find someone else.
- Website design. Your menu is a PDF, and ordering takes too many taps on a phone.
- Social media marketing. You want posts and short video that give people a reason to book, not just a busy feed.
- AI search visibility. People ask ChatGPT where to eat nearby, and you aren't named.
Running the restaurant inside a hotel? Marketing for hotels covers direct room bookings alongside it.
How a restaurant's marketing fits together
A Business Profile that answers everything
Hours, menu as text, recent photos, and working links to book and order.
Reviews, every day
Asked for at the table or after a booking, and answered.
A website that's a menu and two buttons
Fast on a phone, with Book and Order on every screen.
Ads for the nights you need
Facebook and Instagram ads for events, set menus and quiet nights, within a short drive, with the budget on the days that need it.
Orders and bookings, tracked
Recorded with a value, so the ads learn who actually comes in.
Bring them back
An email list built from bookings and direct orders, with permission, for new menus and events.
One weekly number
Covers and online revenue from ads, against what the ads cost.
Proof: a two-site local account
We haven't published restaurant client work. The closest published account is a two-site climbing gym in the English Midlands: a local leisure business that sells sessions online and ran an introductory offer, much as a small restaurant group might run a weeknight offer.
- Under its previous agency, the sales campaign returned £0.82 for every pound spent. Eight months after we took it on, it returns £2.99, on a third less budget.
- Cost per booking fell from £38.78 to £9.44.
- The two sites stopped sharing one campaign, and each got its own budget and creative shot at that venue.
- A half price first session offer was tested against creative with no offer, rather than assumed to work.
A gym isn't a restaurant: order values, visit frequency and margins differ, and these figures aren't a forecast for yours. What carries over is the discipline: split by location, test an offer against no offer, and judge it on total revenue. Read the full case study.
What it costs
| Service | Price | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Ads management (Google, Facebook or Instagram) | $500-$2,000 a month | Month-to-month, no setup fee, ad spend paid straight to the platform |
| SEO and AI search visibility | $500-$2,000 a month | Month-to-month, no long-term contract |
| Website, landing page or store build | $1,200-$15,000, fixed price | Agreed in writing; 50% to begin, balance on delivery |
Entry plans start at $500 a month. Full details are on our pricing page.
Who we're not for
- Restaurants that want more followers rather than more covers.
- Anyone who wants reviews bought, written or filtered. We won't.
- Budgets that can't cover real ad spend alongside a management fee.
Guides for restaurant owners
- Facebook ads for small business: the 2026 guide: setup, objectives, targeting and budget, in order
- Boosted post vs Ads Manager: why boosts bring likes, and when to move on
- Facebook ads health check for local businesses: seven checks in 20 minutes a week
- How to track bookings from Facebook ads: when another system takes the booking or order
- Are Facebook ads worth it for small business?: a two-minute test with your own numbers
Questions restaurant owners ask a marketing agency
What does a digital marketing agency for restaurants do?
It fills tables and grows direct orders: a Google Business Profile that answers every question, reviews asked for and answered, Facebook and Instagram ads for quiet nights and events, and ordering you can track. It should report covers and orders, not likes.
How can a restaurant get more Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every guest, not only the happy ones: on the receipt, a card on the table or an email after a booking. Don't offer a discount or a free dish in return; Google doesn't allow it, and the FTC bans incentives tied to a positive review.
Are delivery apps worth it for restaurants?
For reaching new customers, often yes, but every order pays a fee: Uber Eats lists US marketplace fees of 20% to 30% per delivery order, by plan. Keep the apps for reach and move regulars to your own ordering.
Do Facebook ads work for restaurants?
They work best with a reason to come on a particular night: an event, a set menu, an occasion or a launch, shown to people within a short drive. Ads that only say you exist rarely fill a Tuesday.
How do you track whether ads bring people in?
Online orders and reservations are tracked like any sale, through the ordering or reservation system. Calls are counted. Walk-ins need an offer that only appears in the ad, counted at the table.
Should our menu be a PDF?
Better not. A menu written as text on your site loads fast on a phone and is easy to update, link to and quote. A PDF has to be downloaded and zoomed. Keep it for printing.
How much does restaurant marketing cost?
With us, ads or SEO management runs $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month, with ad spend paid straight to Google or Meta. Website builds are fixed-price and run $1,200-$15,000.
Want to know which of last month's covers and orders your marketing actually brought in? Book a strategy call and we'll trace it with you.