Restaurants guide
Restaurant Marketing in Vancouver: 12 Free Ideas That Work
Food is the hardest test in marketing: you have about a second to make someone hungry. These ideas cost nothing but time, and they work for cafés, restaurants and bars across Greater Vancouver.
Get found
1. Own your Google Business Profile
Most people decide where to eat on Google Maps. Fill in every field, keep hours exact, and add your menu link. Our step-by-step Google Maps guide walks through it.
2. Upload real photos of your best dishes
Photos sell food. Shoot your five best-sellers near a window, in daylight, from the angle that shows them best. Replace dark, old photos. Customer photos help, but your own should set the standard.
3. Put your menu on your website as text
A menu that's only a PDF or an image is hard for Google to read. A simple web page listing dishes and prices helps you show up for searches like "butter chicken Coquitlam".
Get chosen
4. Reply to every review
Thank people by name for good reviews. Answer bad ones calmly, once, and offer to fix it offline. Future customers read your replies as closely as the reviews.
5. Ask for reviews at the right moment
The best time is when a guest says they loved it. A small table card or receipt note with a QR code to your review page makes it easy. Ask everyone, not only the happy ones.
6. Post your specials on Google and Instagram
Weekly specials, new dishes and events give people a reason to come back now. Use the same photo on both.
Get remembered
7. Make short videos
Fifteen seconds of something sizzling, pouring or being plated works on Reels, TikTok and Shorts. Show the hands and the food. You don't need a big camera, just good light.
8. Tell one story
Where did the recipe come from? Who's the chef? One honest story makes you memorable in a city full of options.
9. Work with your neighbours
Partner with a nearby café, gym or shop for a shared promotion. Local businesses in the same neighbourhood share the same customers.
10. Invite local food creators
Vancouver has a busy food scene on Instagram and TikTok. Inviting a creator for a meal, with no strings and an honest review, can reach thousands of nearby people. If anything is paid or gifted, they should say so.
Keep them coming back
11. Collect emails, with permission
A simple sign-up for specials, with clear consent, gives you an audience you own, which no algorithm can take away.
12. Keep everything consistent
Same name, hours, phone and menu on Google, your website, Instagram and delivery apps. Mismatched information costs you customers who show up when you're closed.
When to get help
If you'd rather spend your time cooking, we shoot food, make reels, run Google and Meta ads, and look after your Google profile. See our food photography and content creation.