Restaurant Marketing That Fills Tables
This restaurant marketing case study shows how Elvira’s Café moved from word-of-mouth to waitlists by aligning mobile-first UX, local SEO, social content, Google + META ads, and email—a repeatable system any restaurant can apply to win its local market.
The Client & Goals
Elvira’s Café, a farm-to-table restaurant, needed to:
Be discoverable in local search
Streamline the mobile customer journey (menu → reserve/order)
Drive in-store traffic and repeat visits
Starting point: a clunky POS-builder site, limited SEO/content, and unstructured social efforts.
Restaurant Marketing Strategy: Our 5-Part Method
1) Mobile-First Website (launched in under 2 weeks)
We rebuilt the site to be fast, visual, and conversion-ready with:
Clear menu pages and prominent Order/Reserve CTAs
Tap-to-call, directions, hours, parking
Image-led sections that show food quality and ambiance
2) Local SEO & Content That Ranks
We fixed technical SEO, added local schema, and mapped pages to intent (e.g., “breakfast near me,” cuisine + city). We published snackable, keyword-driven content to build topical + geographic authority.
3) Social That Feels Like Community
Consistent reels, dish spotlights, behind-the-scenes, and guest stories—optimized for saves/shares—to keep the brand present where diners decide.
4) Low-Lift, High-Intent Ads (Google + META to expand reach & drive site visits)
Google Smart Campaigns to capture “hungry now” intent and push calls, directions, reservations, and orders.
META Reach & Traffic campaigns to expand social reach and bring eyes to the website: boost top reels/food shots to nearby ZIPs, link directly to Menu, Order Online, or Reservations, track with UTMs/Meta Pixel, retarget visitors, build lookalikes, and exclude recent converters for efficient spend.
Channel fit: Google converts bottom-funnel demand; META scales top/mid-funnel and nudges clicks—together they raise traffic and table turns.
5) Retention: Email That Brings Guests Back
Seasonal menus, weekly specials, and event highlights—timed to lift frequency and average ticket.
Results (Proof You Can Replicate)
Website & SEO
~100,000 visits/year since 2021 with ~10% YoY growth
30% of traffic from Google organic
>80% of visits on mobile
First-page rankings for core intent terms: “restaurants,” “restaurants near me,” “breakfast near me”
Social (Organic + Paid)
16,000+ followers across Facebook & Instagram (from near zero)
500,000 accounts reached organically
Light META spend added ~2,000 new website visits/month and 133,000 ad impressions
Paid Search
60,000 impressions and 3,000 site visits in the first 4 months of Google Smart Campaigns
+20% lift in repeat business since early 2023
Why This Restaurant Marketing System Works Anywhere
Diners decide on phones, in maps, and in feeds. This framework captures high-intent local searches, converts in seconds on mobile, scales authentic reach with social + META, and keeps guests returning via email—giving you a durable competitive edge in your geography.
What You’ll Get Working With Green Elephant
Fast foundation: mobile-first site rebuild or conversion tune-up
Rank & convert: technical SEO + content calendar (we can publish as frequently as needed)
Social that sells: reels, UGC, and promo rhythm
Smart media: Google + META tuned to local intent and dayparts
Retention loop: email (and optional SMS) to grow lifetime value
30-Day Restaurant Marketing Plan (Template)
Week 1 — Foundation
Audit site speed, mobile UX, Google Business Profile
Fix: tap-to-call, sticky CTAs, hours, parking, structured data
Week 2 — Be Discoverable
Technical SEO + local schema
Optimize Home, Menu, About, and Location pages
Publish one high-intent post (e.g., “Best Breakfast in [City]: What to Try at [Your Restaurant]”)
Week 3 — Be Chosen
Reels plan (3–4/week): hero dishes, kitchen action, staff, guest reactions
META boost to nearby ZIPs
Google Smart Campaigns for “near me,” cuisine, and branded terms
Week 4 — Keep Them Coming Back
Email template: seasonal menu + weekly specials + events
List growth prompts (site pop-ins, social CTAs, host-stand QR)
Review metrics → double down on what converts
FAQs: Restaurant Marketing
What’s the fastest way to move the needle?
Fix mobile UX and CTAs, then optimize your Google Business Profile and run a tight local SEO checklist. Pair with one or two boosted reels and a basic Smart Campaign.
How much ad budget do I need?
Start lean: small daily budgets on Google + META to learn which audiences and dayparts convert, then scale winners.
How do I measure success?
Track calls, directions, menu views, online orders, reservations, and email sign-ups. Use UTMs and the Meta Pixel for clean attribution.
Testimonial
“Green Elephant didn’t just make us look good online—they filled tables. They rebuilt our site in under two weeks, fixed our SEO, and launched smart Google + META campaigns. We now rank #1 organically for ‘restaurants near me’ in our area, average ~100,000 site visits a year (about 30% from Google), grew our social community past 16,000, and lifted repeat business by ~20%. Most importantly, foot traffic is up every week. If you want results—not buzzwords—hire them.”
— Elvira, Owner, Elvira’s Café
Ready to Fill More Tables?
Want a restaurant marketing plan tailored to your neighborhood? Book a quick discovery call—we’ll map your 30-day plan to drive traffic, orders, and repeat visits.
