We may have seen trends come and go in the restaurant industry, but there are some things that don’t change, including these proven methods to increase restaurant revenue. If you’re looking for expansion (and who isn’t!?!), give these tips a go one at a time and track the results, so you know which ones are working for you.

  1. Direct mail might sound old fashioned but it’s proven to work. You could either choose to run your mail from a list of residents and/or businesses in your area, or you could do a flyer drop through letter boxes. Tell them about your place and include an introductory discount coupon to bring with them.

  2. The millennial generation spend the most in restaurants and it’s predicted that a third of them are on photographic image based social media sites such as Snapchat and Instagram. For Snapchat it’s possible to use a geofilter that will add a branded filter onto any #foodie or selfie photos shared from within your premises.

  3. A delivery service can broaden your horizons. You just have to be able to make enough to cover the 10-15% deliver fee and still make a profit. You may even be able to pay one of your staff to do the food drop-off.

  4. Every big city has top food bloggers that influence via social media and email. Reach out to them and let them know that you’d love to feature on their blog. Invite them along and if they like what you do, you could. As long as the chef delivers on the night, you could be showcased to thousands of new customers.

  5. Develop a winning social media strategy. Run a #SelfieSunday contest where people post their selfies, tag your restaurant’s Facebook page and then are entered to win a discounted meal.

  6. Email marketing is still a very powerful way to communicate. Develop a strategy where you are consistently contacting customers with updates, special and keep them coming to your restaurant.

  7. Special events don’t need to be run according to the traditional calendar, ie. Christmas, Valentine’s etc. You can also put in other events such as “Daddy / Daughter Nights” or “Mother / Son Nights” where the staff dress up as a Disney character and you lay on a special menu. There might also be ‘Wine Down Wednesday’ with special prices on wine and other events. If well financially structured, these can all bring in extra revenue.

  8. Charity nights. Call in the media to gain exposure and coverage for special charity events when you give 10% of the profit to local schools and good causes.

That’s a lot of different approaches to take to increase restaurant revenue.

To get started, pick out two or three that you feel will have the best potential with your market base and try them one at a time. Document the system you used and the results gained. If you do this right, then you could even end up with a handbook that you can refer to again and again to increase restaurant revenue.