7 Brilliant Ideas for Restaurant Grand Opening Marketing

Written by Justine Nightingale
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 08:00am CDT

Your ambitious goal of opening your own restaurant is about to come to fruition. Your menu, staff, and restaurant are ready. There’s just one last thing to do to celebrate your hard work and many hours working to launch your dream. That’s to plan and schedule your grand opening.

This article takes a look at seven brilliant ideas for restaurant grand opening marketing. You want to stand out in a crowded hospitality market and showcase your restaurant with these creative ideas.

#1: Invite Influencers

In today’s digital world, you want to take advantage of local social media influencers and food bloggers with large audiences. (tweet this) Also, consider local media as well, as they often have large followings. This is a great way to showcase your grand opening to a larger audience.

While you may have to pay these influencers or at least compensate them with free meals, you’ll find it’s well worth it to have them advocating for your restaurant.

Look for food bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, and other local personalities. Do take into consideration the theme and ambiance of your restaurant. For example, if you are a sports-themed restaurant serving burgers and pizza, look for sports influencers as well.

Work with the influencers and make a plan for the number of posts they’ll do. Arrange for them to have a sneak peek of your restaurant and your food so they can talk with authority to their audience. You can ask them to be on hand for the grand opening as well. This may get their fans out in larger numbers.

#2: Make It a Charity Event, Too

Another grand opening marketing idea is to make it a charity fundraiser for a local charity people really care about.

Not only does this show you care about the community, but it also gets others involved and encourages them to attend your event. It also cements your reputation in town as a restaurant that cares about more than just making money.

If you go this route, you might think about a silent auction where people can bid on items where the proceeds all go to the charity. Some ideas include offering a Valentine’s romantic meal for two, a holiday dinner for six, a free meal every week for a year, and more.

Do this all tastefully, and this may increase your event attendance and bring your new restaurant in front of more customers.

#3: Leak a Secret Menu

Build anticipation for your grand opening by releasing just a few items on your menu. Make it seem like it’s a secret.

People love being “in the know,” and they love having something that they think no one else does.

Include beautiful imagery and creative descriptions. Leave them wanting more by only releasing portions of your menu and encourage them to come to your grand opening to find out more.

#4: Give Something Away

Just like leaking your secret menu, giving something away is sure to get people into your restaurant for your grand opening.

This doesn’t even have to be anything about your food and drink. It can be something completely different, like a television.  

Or you can give away free food to your restaurant. You can also have several giveaways that you do every hour or twice an hour. They can be similar to the silent auction items we mentioned.  

You could also give prices to the first 100 customers to arrive at opening night. Or consider giving everyone a comeback coupon. 

Another idea is to partner with a local business and have them donate an item to your giveaway. Sell this by saying you’ll add them to all your grand opening event advertising. 

#5: Have Live Entertainment

Take the fun to another level with live entertainment. Choose a DJ, musician, or band that will be a draw for people. Live music makes your event livelier and more exciting. 

During your grand opening, you want to go above and beyond.  

You can also choose a theme for your grand opening night and have your music headliner go along with the theme. For example, if you are an upscale Italian restaurant, consider having a small or medium sized jazz group. 

#6: Have Your Grand Opening on a Holiday

People get out more during the holiday season, and it’s a great way to plan a large party and draw larger crowds.  

You can plan your grand opening party theme around the holiday. For example, you can make your party romantic for Valentine’s Day and serve a special meal and love-themed dessert.  

For Halloween you could even have a costume party, while at Christmas you can bring in lighted trees and have Santa attend. 

#7: Advertise on Social Media

Hopefully by now you have a website and several social media accounts. If not, it’s important you have both well before your grand opening.  

Once you have your plans, you can start advertising on your social media pages. Consider linking back to your website and asking people for RSVPs.  

You can also send people to your website and social accounts so they can check out your “secret” menu and find out about your big reveal.

Final Thoughts on Your Restaurant Grand Opening Marketing

Ready to make a splash? 

Go all in with your grand opening marketing. Not only do you want to advertise on your website and social media accounts, but you want to put up a banner or a sign in front of your restaurant to draw in the crowds. r

Consider advertising on billboards, radio, and television. Take out paid ads on social media and Google. Send out invitations to local movers and shakers, and other influencers and food bloggers.  

Finally, have a trial run of your food preparation before the party so everything moves smoothly during your grand opening event. 

Is your website ready to help you succeed with your grand opening? At Restaurant Engine, we can create a website for you that has the right keywords to land you at the top of search engine results pages and bring guests to your grand opening. Your website is the centerpiece of your online marketing, and it needs to look and perform well. You can count on us to create an amazing website that presents a unified brand for your restaurant and works across all digital platforms. Let us help you make the perfect site that draws customers in, improves customer engagement and your conversion rate, and enables you to grow your new business after the grand opening!  

Are you ready to take your restaurant to the next level with a new website?

Get your free website consultation today!

Images: Luca Bravo and Jay Wennington on Unsplash

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