Restaurants & hospitality
MARKETING THAT RESPECTS YOUR MARGINS
Hospitality is the category where bad marketing advice does the most damage — because the margins don't survive it.
We're honest about what's worth doing, what isn't, and what you should stop paying for.
The real problem
Most Restaurant Marketing Spend Is Wasted
On a 5% net margin, a $2,000 monthly marketing spend needs to produce roughly $40,000 in additional revenue just to break even. Very little advertising clears that bar, which is why so many restaurants conclude marketing doesn't work.
What does work is unglamorous. Your Google Business Profile is seen by more prospective diners than everything else combined — photos, hours, menu links, recent reviews. Getting that right costs almost nothing and moves covers immediately.
The other lever is seasonality. Santa Barbara hospitality swings hard between tourist season and the quiet months. Spending evenly across the year means paying to reach people in July who were coming anyway, and going dark in February when you actually need them.
Then there's the third-party trap — delivery apps and booking platforms that take a cut of a customer you introduced them to. Owning direct bookings is worth more than most campaigns.
WHAT WE RUN FOR HOSPITALITY
Google Business Profile
Photos, menus, hours and reviews kept current. The highest-return work in this category by a distance.
Local & Near-Me Search
Show up for hungry people within walking distance who are deciding right now.
Review Management
Steady recent reviews and thoughtful replies — diners read the response as closely as the complaint.
Off-Season Campaigns
Budget concentrated into the quiet months when a marginal cover is actually worth buying.
Direct Booking Sites
Fast, mobile-first pages that push reservations to you instead of a platform taking a cut.
Local Meta Ads
Tight radius targeting for events, specials and slow nights — not broad brand awareness you can't afford.
How we work with hospitality
We'll Talk You Out Of Half Of It
A lot of what gets sold to restaurants — brand awareness campaigns, follower growth, influencer packages — cannot pay for itself at hospitality margins. We'll say so.
Usually the honest recommendation is a small, tightly-focused programme: fix the profile, build reviews, own direct bookings, and spend real money only in the months where it changes the outcome.
FAQs — Restaurants & Hospitality
Some of it, absolutely — local search and your Business Profile pay for themselves easily. Broad awareness advertising usually doesn't, and we'll tell you that rather than sell it.
Your Google Business Profile. Fresh photos, correct hours, a working menu link and recent reviews. It's seen more than your website and costs almost nothing to maintain.
Only with your eyes open. You're paying commission on customers who often already knew you. Building direct ordering alongside it is usually the better long-term play.
Reply promptly, calmly and specifically. Prospective diners weigh the response heavily — a gracious reply to a harsh review often reads better than no bad reviews at all.
Yes, a simple fast one. Menus, hours and a direct booking link, built for a phone. Every reservation that comes through you instead of a platform keeps its full value.
Usually the opposite of what feels natural. Peak season fills itself; the shoulder and off-season months are where advertising changes the number.
Occasionally, for a launch or a new menu. As an ongoing spend they're hard to measure and easy to overpay for. We'd want a clear reason before recommending it.
Yes — and it's often the best opportunity. Private events carry far better margins than covers, and almost nobody markets them properly.
Rave reviews