"What marketing techniques have been successful for your bar or restaurant?"
Amy Houston, Vice President of Marketing & Communications for Morrissey Hospitality, St. Paul, Minn.
As more diners use AI to discover restaurants, we’ve focused on strengthening our owned channels to ensure our brands show up in those search results. That includes keyword-rich review responses, regularly updating our Google Business Profiles with events and promotions, and expanding FAQs across our websites.
Beyond search, we’re investing in first-party data, specifically growing our email databases, so we can build direct relationships with our guests. We recently experimented with a guest survey to find out what events and activations our guests would like to see, and we were pleasantly surprised with the participation, data collected, and ideas generated.
Betty Kaufman, Strategy Director at The Culinary Edge, San Francisco
Some of the most effective marketing comes from creating true “new news” on the menu through attention-grabbing, Instagram worthy, destination driven promotions. LTOs are especially powerful when they tap into cultural moments, emerging flavors, or unexpected mashups that feel unique to a single concept. Rather than incremental core menu innovation, LTOs give brands a clear reason to show up in the conversation.
As consumers become more risk averse with away-from-home spend, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, brands can tap into their desire for novelty, discovery, and cultural relevance. When paired with strong storytelling and a clear point of view, impactful LTOs become more than just products, they act as marketing vehicles that drive buzz, trial, and repeat engagement..