You may have been able to sell tacos in your mobile cart for three decades or have completed your first year with your Tex-Mex restaurant. Well, regardless of your current situation, it’s important for you to broaden the reach of your Mexican restaurant. After all, you want more people to enjoy your culinary creation and make as much profit as possible, right?
Read on to discover the five most effective ways to promote a Mexican restaurant in 2024!
1. Learn Food Photography
If you haven’t thought about posting high-quality images of the food you make, you should start now! One study found that online content with lovely pictures received 94% more views than those without. In fact, when you consider how many restaurants are shifting to online ordering and delivery, this number becomes even more important.
Bottom line: good photos can help you sell a product. So, as a Mexican restaurant owner, one of the best things you can do is learn how to take and share great food photos. Don’t worry, you don’t need to buy a professional-grade phone camera right now. Your everyday phone should be enough for taking great pics of tacos, burritos, or anything else you sell.
What is important here is having plenty of natural light and figuring out how to creatively compose your image. You can also ask the guys in the kitchen to make the food presentation as visually appealing as possible. If you don’t think you have a steady hand, consider investing in a tripod. This will make the picture-taking process much easier.
2. Encourage User-Generated Content
It’s great that you understand the importance of great food photos and how to create them, but have you thought about leveraging the images your customers take? When people enjoy your food and service, they will begin to take photos and videos, which they will most likely share on social media. This is what we refer to as user-generated content (UGC).
The great thing about using UGC to promote your Mexican restaurant is that it is very effective at broadening your reach, just like traditional word-of-mouth marketing. As we may already know, people are more drawn to places where their peers go, so you should be grateful when people voluntarily and eagerly create content in your spot.
Leveraging UGC extends beyond simply reposting TikTok posts or Instagram stories. You should also highlight the reviews people leave on your Google My Business page and other sites.
3. Design An Appealing Menu
Your menu is your chance to make a great first impression for your Mexican restaurant. Make sure that it matches your brand identity and beautifully showcases your signature dishes. If you’re not sure how to start designing your Mexican establishment menu, you can count on sites like PosterMyWall. This is a comprehensive design app that includes a large number of restaurant social media post templates in addition to menu design, helping you with a variety of your restaurant design needs. Besides the menu templates, make sure to invest in high-quality photos as well. Capture the essence of the dishes from the steam rising from the bowl to the vibrant toppings on your delectable tacos. Just be mindful of how you present your dishes—strategically placed photos can create an irresistible visual appeal that draws customers in.
4. Introduce Happy Hour Deals
For many foodies and restaurant-goers, happy hour is an excuse to have fun for a discount. On the other hand, for culinary business owners like you, it’s an opportunity to convert off-peak hours into profitable sales. Happy hour, when executed strategically, can be an effective tool for attracting new customers.
However, a happy hour program should provide more than just a discount on food and beverages. To stand out from the crowd, your Mexican restaurant should offer a unique dining experience. For example, you could offer a $15 blind-tasting package that includes 5 mini tacos with different fillings.
5. Offer Loyalty Programs
Do restaurant loyalty programs work? Absolutely! According to one report, 42.9% of customers believe loyalty programs encourage them to return to a restaurant. And, given that it’s up to 7 times cheaper to preserve a regular client than to get a new one, having a loyalty program in place is a wise choice for your Mexican restaurant.
There are many ways to develop a successful loyalty program. One of the most practical is to offer item-based rewards, such as a “Buy 4 Burritos, Get the 5th Free” deal at your Mexican restaurant. Another excellent example is providing exclusive event access, such as an anniversary celebration, to your most loyal customers.
The Takeaway
Like any other sector, the Mexican restaurant industry can benefit from original and creative promotional strategies. Thankfully, marketing shouldn’t always be hard. From showcasing your food to developing appealing loyalty programs, the guide above has the tools and ideas you need to improve your restaurant’s businesses and delight the consumers you serve.