Today there are tons of different promotional tools that restaurants can use to increase their business. It can be difficult however to tell which ones are best for them. There are a few key tools that can be especially useful for promotions and spreading the word about their restaurants.

Foursquare
This is a tool that allows customers to check in to locations and share what they are doing there. Customers will also be able to see who is around their current location. Businesses have special promotions that require customers to check in with Foursquare. For example, if a customer checks in with Foursquare 10 times then they get a free drink. Another example would be if they check in and then post about what they just ate they could get a certain percentage off their meal. It is similar to a rewards card which tracks how many times people visit, but it has the added benefit of free advertising for a restaurant.

Pintrest
People love seeing and taking pictures of everything they do including eating. Restaurants have a wonderful opportunity to show their customers how appetizing their dishes look through Pintrest. Pintrest is based solely on pictures. People pin pictures of things they like to boards and can share them with all of their friends. Restaurants can pin pictures of their dishes, but also expand into other things that they may like or value. Boards for the chefs of the restaurant, their care for the environment, or even good recipe ideas are all perfect options for a restaurants Pintrest site. It shows customers the side of the business that they don’t get to see when they visit and gets them engaged with the restaurant.

Yelp
Yelp is a place where anyone can review anything. Here customers have the ability to rate and discuss different places and services they have tried. It is important for restaurants to see this because both good and bad reviews can be posted on this site. By keeping an eye on reviews, they can fix bad reviews before they get out of control and also receive valuable feedback from their customers. It is also great word of mouth online which is the best form of advertising that a business can get.

Foodspotting
Similar to Pintrest this app runs mostly on pictures. However it also gives the location at which the picture was taken. People take a picture of the food they are eating and then when they post it they can put the restaurant where they ate it. People can then “spot” when they see the same food. This is customers who are posting so it makes it more convincing for other customers. People also have the ability to comment on the pictures and review how they felt about dish. Foodspotting lets customers promote their favorite restaurants and doesn’t cost restaurants a thing.

OpenTable
Restaurants hate when they have empty seats. This app lets restaurants post online what empty tables they have and then customers can see what is available. Customers can also reserve their spots ahead of time and they earn points which they can use at any of the restaurants on OpenTable for discounts. This app can be set up so that a restaurant keeps all its reservations on it and can help keep everything on track.

Restaurants have a wide array of options which they can use to promote themselves to the public. Promotional tools allow them to have their customers spread the word about how wonderful their restaurant is to all their friends. Customers love telling everyone about their favorite things and with these tools, they can do it quicker and to more people which will help build the brand of a restaurant and eventually drive in more customers.