Hospitality digital marketing
Hospitality digital marketing that brings guests back
Search, social, email and your website working as one guest loop, so you win the first visit, take bookings direct and fill quiet nights from your own list.
- Covers and repeat visits measured
- Direct bookings over commission
- Planned around your calendar
Quick answer
ProntX is a hospitality digital marketing agency for UK restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and small groups. We join search, social media, email and SMS and your booking journey into one plan that wins new diners, shifts orders away from commission and brings regulars back. Plans start from £595 a month on rolling contracts.
Hospitality digital marketing has a simple test: did more people eat, drink or order with you, and did more of them come back? ProntX plans digital marketing for restaurants, pubs, cafés, bars and small hospitality groups around covers, direct orders and repeat visits, using search, social, email and your website as one system rather than four separate bills. The aim is a business that fills its quiet nights from its own guest list instead of paying commission for every order.
The margin problem
Restaurants run on thin margins, and much of the marketing spend in the sector leaks to intermediaries. Delivery apps take a substantial commission on every order. Some booking platforms charge per cover. Discount sites fill tables with diners who never return. None of these is wrong on its own, but if most of your customers arrive through someone else’s app, you do not own the relationship and cannot bring those guests back cheaply.
The fix: own the guest
Every booking, order and Wi-Fi login is a chance to build your own list, with consent. A good restaurant digital marketing strategy uses paid and organic channels to win the first visit, then email, SMS and social to win the second, third and tenth. Repeat guests cost far less to bring back than new ones cost to find, and they are the people who leave reviews and bring friends.
The guest loop
What does a digital marketing strategy for restaurants include?
Four connected parts: get found, get chosen, get the booking direct, then get the guest back. Each part has a channel that does the heavy lifting.
Found
Search and Maps
Google Business Profile, cuisine and occasion pages, and restaurant SEO so new diners discover you when they search nearby.
Chosen
Social and reviews
Food and atmosphere content on Instagram and TikTok, plus well-managed reviews that convince people deciding between you and the place next door.
Direct
Website and booking
A fast site with a text menu, a booking widget that works, and a direct ordering option that costs you less than the apps.
Back again
Email and SMS
Birthday offers, new menu launches, event nights and quiet-night prompts sent to guests who have opted in, segmented by how recently they visited.
Paid search and paid social sit on top when you need volume quickly: a launch, a new site opening or a slow month to fill. We use them in short, targeted bursts tied to a clear offer or event rather than as an always-on cost.
Measurement holds the loop together. We tag links in every campaign, read booking source fields in your reservation system, use a unique code for offers sent to the list, and ask front-of-house to log “how did you hear about us” for walk-ins during campaign weeks. It is not perfect attribution, and hospitality never will be, but after a quarter you can see which channels fill tables and which mainly generate likes. That is enough to move budget with confidence.
The hospitality calendar
When should restaurants and pubs spend on marketing?
Ahead of the moments guests plan for, and during the gaps that always come after them. The calendar is predictable, so the marketing should be planned months in advance.
| Period | What guests are doing | Typical activity |
|---|---|---|
| Late summer to autumn | Organisers start comparing Christmas party venues | Party menu pages, early-booking emails, LinkedIn and Meta ads to local offices |
| January and February | Spending drops after Christmas; Valentine’s Day plans | Midweek offers to your list, Valentine’s set menus, new-year menu launches |
| Spring | Mother’s Day, Easter, first terrace days | Occasion pages updated early, garden and terrace content, family menus |
| Summer | Outdoor dining, sport on screens, tourists | Event nights, live sport listings, visitor-friendly content |
| Every week | Monday to Wednesday is quiet for many venues | Quiet-night campaigns to regulars, set lunch and early-bird promotion |
Each venue’s pattern is different. A city-centre lunch spot lives on office trade, a village pub on weekends and walkers, a cocktail bar on Thursday to Saturday. We look at your booking data first, then plan campaigns where the empty tables actually are.
Direct vs third party
Should restaurants move away from delivery apps and booking platforms?
Not entirely. Apps bring reach you cannot easily replace. The goal is to shift repeat customers onto direct channels so you pay commission once, not forever.
What we put in place
- Direct ordering or booking on your website, promoted on menus, packaging and receipts
- A reason to order direct: a small perk, a loyalty reward or a menu item only available direct
- Consent capture at booking and checkout, with clear opt-in wording
- Welcome emails for new subscribers and win-back emails for lapsed guests
- Tracking of booking and order source so you can see the direct share grow
The rules that apply
Marketing emails and texts to individual guests generally need consent, though the soft opt-in can cover existing customers who were given a clear chance to opt out. Prices shown in ads and on your site should include unavoidable charges, which matters for service charges and booking fees. Reviews must be genuine, with no hidden incentives. Alcohol promotions follow the CAP Code, so nobody shown drinking may be or seem under 25. We draft with these rules in mind, and the owner or operations lead signs off offers and claims.
Who we work with
Which hospitality businesses does ProntX work with?
Independent restaurants, pubs and bars, cafés and bakeries, and small groups with two to fifteen sites. The plan changes with the business model.
Independents
One venue, owner-led
Usually a focused plan: local search, a monthly email, social content help and one or two seasonal campaigns a year.
Pubs and bars
Events and regulars
Quiz nights, live sport, music and food offers promoted to a local list, with Maps visibility for “pub with food” searches.
Small groups
Several sites, one brand
Venue-level profiles and pages, a shared guest database segmented by site, and campaigns to fill specific locations on specific nights.
ProntX has built for brands across food, retail and services, and we treat each hospitality client as a business with its own numbers, not a template. If a hotel or holiday business is closer to what you run, our travel team covers that separately.
Pricing
How much does hospitality digital marketing cost?
ProntX digital marketing for restaurants and pubs starts from £595 a month on a rolling contract. Any ad budget is paid separately and directly to the platforms.
| Plan | Typical scope | Monthly fee |
|---|---|---|
| Focused | Local search plus a monthly email or SMS campaign for one venue | From £595 |
| Full guest loop | Search, social, email and seasonal paid campaigns with booking-source reporting | Typically £1,200 to £2,000 |
| Groups | Several venues, shared guest data, site-level campaigns | Scoped on request |
Final pricing depends on the number of venues and channels. Prefer to start with one channel? Email marketing to your existing guests is often the cheapest win, and restaurant social media can be added once content is flowing. Compare everything on our pricing page.
SEO and AI search
from £595/month
Local and small business SEO, GEO and AEO included
What is includedFree audit
Where are your empty tables coming from?
We review your profile, website, social, email and booking journey, then send a personal video with the three changes we would make first, within two working days.
ProntX has worked with more than 200 clients over six years, on rolling contracts with published prices. You own every account and every guest record. Request your free audit or call 020 3048 4022.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
- 01Free audit
We review your site, search visibility, ads and competitors, then send a short video walkthrough with the quickest wins.
Request audit - 02Plan and price
A one-page plan with goals, channels, timeline and a fixed monthly price. No surprises later.
See prices - 03Launch in weeks
Tracking first, then quick wins, then the bigger builds. You see progress in the first month.
See our work - 04Report and grow
Monthly report in plain English: leads, sales, cost per result and what we do next.
Talk to us
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FAQ
Hospitality digital marketing questions, answered
Still unsure? Ask us anything. We reply within one working day.
What is hospitality digital marketing?
It is the online marketing that brings guests to restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and other hospitality businesses: search and Maps visibility, social media, email and SMS, paid ads and the website and booking journey. Good hospitality marketing is judged on covers, direct orders and repeat visits rather than likes or clicks, and it plans around the seasonal calendar.
What is the best digital marketing strategy for a restaurant?
For most restaurants: get the Google Business Profile and menu right, make booking or ordering direct easy, collect guest emails with consent, and use social media to show food and atmosphere. Then use email and SMS to fill quiet nights and bring regulars back. Paid ads work best in short bursts around launches and key dates.
How can restaurants get more direct orders instead of using delivery apps?
Offer direct ordering on your website, promote it on packaging, receipts and menus, and give customers a reason to switch, such as a loyalty reward or a direct-only dish. Keep the apps for reach, but build an email or SMS list from every direct order so repeat customers come to you without commission.
Is a restaurant digital marketing agency worth the cost?
It depends on how many covers or orders the work adds and what they are worth. A focused plan covering local search and a monthly guest email often pays back through a few extra bookings a week. If you are fully booked already, spend less. We start with an audit so you can see the likely gains before committing.
How do pubs use digital marketing?
Pubs do well promoting events and regular nights such as quizzes, live music and sport, alongside food offers, to a local email or SMS list and on social media. Google Maps visibility for 'pub with food', 'dog friendly pub' and 'pub with garden' brings new visitors, especially walkers and weekend trade.
Can we email guests who booked through our booking system?
Often, but it depends on how consent was collected. Marketing emails to individuals generally need consent, with a soft opt-in for existing customers who were offered a clear opt-out at the time. Some booking platforms control the data themselves. We review what you hold, fix the opt-in wording and build your list properly from now on.
When should a restaurant start Christmas marketing?
Earlier than most do. Office party organisers often start comparing venues in late summer and early autumn. Publish or update your Christmas party page by then, email past party bookers in September, and run targeted ads to local businesses in October. By December you should be filling the last gaps rather than starting from zero.
How much does digital marketing for restaurants cost?
ProntX plans start from £595 a month for a focused plan for one venue, on a rolling contract. A full plan across search, social, email and seasonal paid campaigns typically costs £1,200 to £2,000 a month, plus any ad spend paid directly to Google or Meta. Groups are scoped individually.
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