The 10 Best Tips for Marketing Your Café or Restaurant for 2026
- marketing529208
- Dec 11, 2025
- 8 min read
What We Learnt From 2025 as Specialist Restaurant Marketers
When it comes to restaurant marketing Sydney and hospitality marketing Sydney, 2025 taught us one very clear lesson: the venues that stayed visible, creative, and community-minded were the ones that continued to grow—even when the market felt unpredictable.
As the restaurant marketing specialists and hospitality marketing specialists for the last 12+ years we see the platforms changing every year and what is effective or not. The game is always changing and evolving and this comprehensive blog will give you some best practices you need if you want your restaurant or cafe to stand out in 2026!
With shifting diner trends, rising competition, and platform changes across Meta, hospitality brands that adapted early saw the biggest wins. So, as we step into 2026, this is the perfect moment to refresh your marketing plan, sharpen your brand story, and build the type of digital presence that keeps your café or restaurant top of mind for locals and visitors alike.
Below are 10 proven, practical, and future-focused restaurant marketing tips—shaped directly by what worked in 2025 and what’s already outperforming as we head into 2026.
1. Master Instagram Reels — The Most Powerful Driver of Discovery in 2026
If there’s one thing 2025 made obvious, it’s that Reels run the show. Static posts still matter for brand identity, but Reels are what actually get you discovered by new customers.
Why Reels matter for restaurant marketing Sydney:
They exploded reach for local venues at zero added cost
The algorithm heavily favours fast, fun, real-life content
Food, hospitality spaces, and “behind the scenes” clips are top-performing formats
Audiences in Sydney increasingly use Reels as a search engine to find places to eat
What to post:
Chef plating moments
Coffee pours, cocktails, sizzling grills
Staff personality moments
Venue walkthroughs
Customer reactions
Seasonal menu highlights
SKIT REELS: have proven to be a highly effective strategy for hospitality venues as part of their overall reel content. The reason they work so well is that online, venues aren’t just competing with other hospitality businesses—they’re competing with everyone on social media. SKIT REELS grab attention, making people stop scrolling out of curiosity. Once they do, they start engaging with the venue’s page, giving the business a chance to reach people who wouldn’t normally pause for a standard food post. When posting SKIT REELS, we recommend doing at least 1 or 2 per month. See an example here of a skit reel.
Pro tip for 2026:
Authenticity beats aesthetics. A Reel filmed on an iPhone with a charismatic barista will outperform a highly produced ad every time.Infact more authentic and genuine Iphone footage beats the high quality slick production in many cases on the Social platforms.
2. Invest in High-Quality Photography — Your Menu Needs to Look Scroll-Stopping
Good photography wasn’t optional in 2025 and it certainly won’t be in 2026. Your content library is the heart of your marketing, especially when customers decide in seconds whether to dine with you.
What worked best in 2025:
Natural light photography
Bright, airy, lifestyle-focused venue shots
Clear close-ups of signature dishes
Consistent editing that becomes part of your brand identity
Why it matters for hospitality marketing Sydney:
Sydney diners expect restaurants to feel fresh, modern, and visually appealing. Great photography helps you
Increase your website conversion
Improve your Google Business profile performance
Give Meta ads better click-through rates
Make your Instagram grid irresistible
2026 strategy tip:
Create a quarterly photoshoot plan, so your brand always has seasonal, on-trend content.
3. Run Offers & Promos With Intention — Not Just Discounts
In 2025, the venues that ran smart, structured promotions saw more foot traffic, stronger mid-week trade, and better customer loyalty.
Examples that consistently worked:
Lunch specials
Happy hour
LTOs (limited-time offers)
Seasonal holiday promos
Collaboration menus
Family bundles
“Locals only” deals
Why promos matter:
Promotions don’t cheapen your brand when done well—they create urgency and provide a reason to visit now, not later.
For 2026:
Build a quarterly promo calendar and pair each offer with mixed content (Reels + stills + stories + signage + newsletters + ads).
4. Harness Paid Meta Advertising — The Fastest Way to Scale Visibility
Organic reach is powerful, but Paid Meta advertising unlocks consistent growth. In 2025, restaurants that invested even modest budgets ($20–$50/day) saw dramatic improvements in:
New customer acquisition
Table bookings
Takeaway orders
Event and function enquiries
Why Paid Meta works so well for restaurants:
Sydney customers respond strongly to beautiful food content
Local radius targeting is incredibly accurate
Re-targeting warm audiences (website visitors, Instagram engagers) boosts conversions
Ad placements like Reels and Stories convert at high rates
2026 best practice
Use a mix of:
A brand awareness campaign
A traffic campaign to your booking page
A retargeting campaign featuring your best dishes
This is the most reliable marketing formula for hospitality venues right now.
5. Influence Through Influencers — But With Real Strategy Behind It
Influencer marketing in Sydney has matured. What worked in 2025 wasn’t just gifting meals—it was selecting the right creators whose audiences matched your ideal customer.
What to look for in 2026 influencers:
Local following (in your suburb or region)
Engagement rate over follower count
Their content style aligns with your brand (family-friendly, fine dining, casual eats, nightlife, etc.)
They tell a genuine story instead of posting a generic “Thanks for having me!”
Types of collaborations that worked best:
Invitation nights
Seasonal menu previews
Behind-the-scenes chef interviews
Reels showcasing “a day in the life” at your venue
Giveaways (especially effective for Sydney audiences)
2026 mindset:
Influencer marketing should complement—not replace—your existing content strategy. Treat it as amplification, not your foundation.
6. Community-Based Marketing — The Heartbeat of Hospitality marketing in Sydney
Sydney foodies and customers customers respond incredibly well to businesses that invest in their community. In 2025, brands that embedded themselves into the story of their neighbourhood built stronger loyalty and word-of-mouth.
Community marketing ideas:
Partner with local gyms, schools, or sporting clubs
Support local events (markets, fundraisers, festivals)
Host small workshops or classes
Create menu items named after local icons
Work with nearby cafés or breweries on collab items
Encourage dog owners, families, tradies or students with tailored messaging
Why it works:
You’re not just another restaurant—you're a community hub. Customers feel emotionally connected to venues that champion their suburb.
7. Use Your Newsletter Database ( EDMs) — It’s Still One of the Highest-Converting Channels
2025 proved that newsletters have made a comeback in hospitality and restaurant marketing. They are usually to a customer that has dined previously and know you.
What makes email so effective:
It reaches warm customers directly
It converts at higher rates than social media as the leads are warmer and more familiar
It allows you to promote offers without clutter or algorithm pressure
It’s perfect for bookings, functions, and upsells
What to send in 2026:
Weekly or monthly special
New menu items
Chef’s picks
Promotions or holiday packages
Function hire reminders
Exclusive VIP offers
Milestones (birthdays, anniversaries, awards)
Pro tip:
If you don’t have a database yet, start gathering emails at the counter, online checkout, WiFi sign-in, and booking platforms or POS if it collects them. Emails are gold for cafes and restaurants when you collect and use them strategically in sendouts
8. Internal Signage & Artwork — Your In-Venue Experience Matters More Than Ever
2025 showed us that the venues that “felt” curated got the most customer-generated content. Good signage, décor, and artwork drive:
Social media tagging
Better ambience
Higher perceived value
Stronger brand memory
Ideas that worked well:
Neon signage
Menu boards
Wall art installations
Seasonal or thematic styling
Photo-friendly corners
Branded table talkers
Storytelling panels (e.g., your venue’s history)
9. Know the 2026 direction for social media marketing for your restaurant or cafe:
Every touchpoint inside your café or restaurant should feel intentional and Instagrammable—even without trying too hard. Customers want experiences, not just meals.
Post Stills, Reels & Carousels Regularly — Your Consistency Builds Trust
The secret weapon of 2025? Consistency.
Restaurants that posted regularly (4–6) times per week across Reels, stills, carousels, and stories) saw compounded growth.
Why consistency matters for restaurant marketing Sydney:
Your venue always stays top of mind
The algorithm rewards active accounts
Customers trust venues that show daily activity
It creates a “living feed” feeling—people love seeing busy, vibrant venues
Carousels allow you to showcase multiple dishes, menu items, or behind-the-scenes moments in one post, keeping people engaged longer
2026 best practice:
2 Reels per week
2–4 still posts
1 carousel instead of the still post
Frequent stories to match the post number
A weekly content theme (coffee Mondays, specials Wednesdays, weekend promos)
This rhythm helps your brand feel alive, engaging, and relevant, giving your audience multiple ways to interact with your content.
INSTAGRAM STRATEGY UPDATE for Marketing for restaurants:
Instagram’s shifted the game, & follower growth just isn’t the indicator of success it once was.
The platform now feeds people the content they’ve shown interest in, not the accounts they follow, which is why you can post strong content, pull solid views, yet see little to no growth in your follower count.
Instagram has even added a private “views on page” metric for business accounts, sitting right under your bio, which shows how many people have landed on your profile in the last 30 days.
That’s the metric Instagram is telling us matters. Views signal reach, relevance & real interest, while follower numbers have quietly become an ego trap that leads businesses to chase vanity instead of strategy. The platform’s moved on from the old follow-based model, especially with the rise of Stories & the Explore page, so restaurants & cafes need to shift with it if they want to stay in front of customers.
10. Blend All Channels Into One Seamless Strategy — Not Just Random Content
Here’s what 2025 made crystal clear: restaurants that treated marketing like a system—not “posting when we remember”—saw:
Higher revenue
Better brand recognition
More repeat visits
Stronger loyalty
A 2026 multi-channel ecosystem should include:
Instagram Reels
Grid photos
Paid Meta ads
Influencer support
Email newsletters
Website updates
Google Business optimisation
In-venue signage
Regular promos
Community activations
Everything works together to build a full customer journey—from discovery, to booking, to dining, to returning. When added together and executed properly Hospitality Marketing can be really effective!
It is very time consuming and becoming even more so as the social platforms become more complex. Just putting up a few good pictures of you food on Instagram is not good enough anymore. But if followed correctly the steps above will help you elevate your restaurant, cafe or hospitality venue ahead of thos who don’t do any marketing.
Final Thoughts: 2026 Belongs to Venues That Communicate Clearly & Show Up Consistently
If you’re serious about growing your café or restaurant this year, focusing on smart, creative, community-driven marketing is your competitive advantage. Whether you’re a neighbourhood café, a busy restaurant, a bar, a dessert shop, or a premium dining venue, these ten strategies will help you cut through the noise and build a memorable brand that Sydney diners love.
In a fast-moving market, the venues that win in 2026 will be the ones who:
Use their content wisely
Stay consistent
Invest in visibility
Engage with their local audience
Tell a compelling brand story every single week
Restaurant marketing in Sydney is evolving quickly—and your brand deserves to be ahead of the curve. Good luck with 2026 and we hope that these tips help you with boosting your customers and revenues!
If you’d like help growing your restaurant or café with proven marketing strategies, get in touch with our team in Sydney here to get a free review. We’d love to help you turn hungry locals into loyal regulars.
Curious about how to enhance your social media presence?
Explore our resources, insights and case studies by clicking the button below to learn more about crafting impactful strategies for your hospitality business.
CPM has been Sydney’s leading hospitality marketing agency for the last 12 years, specialising in cafe marketing, restaurant marketing, paid ads, social media, Hospitality PR, influencer marketing, localised marketing, Facebook community marketing, Video REELS, and strategic promotions to keep cafes and restaurant businesses thriving.
Overwhelmed with all this? Then chat with us at CPM where we have been using Instagram and a suite of other digital marketing tools to build great restaurant and cafe brands across New South Wales for nearly 12 years. We are more than happy to chat to see how we can help you!
Interested to know how we can help you attract more customers?
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