9 Engage with Your Regulars Tourists can be great for your restaurant, but it’s local patrons THE SCOOP who will keep you in business. While you should market to tourists, your larger focus needs to be your local customers. Engagement can be as simple as making emotional It can cost up to connections with your customers. Remember their names and, 10x as much trying if you can, their birthdays. You can also hold contests on social media. By sharing photos of their meals and using a certain to attain new hashtag, customers can be eligible for a free meal (or two!). diners vs focusing on existing ones2 26% of Americans plan to give restaurant gift cards as holiday gifts3 59% of Americans SEASON Loyal customers are worth say they’d like to - 10x as much as their first receive a restaurant THE OFF purchase over their lifetime of gift card as a doing business with you1 stocking gift3 CEEDING IN Another great way to keep your neighbors dining at your restaurant is to create a loyalty program, change menus 87% of consumers seasonally and to offer items that are dietary-restriction want loyalty AND SUC friendly. As a small business owner, it’s also important to give back to your local community. This can be done by organizing programs1 or participating in local events, providing gift certificates to local honor students or locally sourcing produce to support your local economy. YING FOR CHANGE READ 12 kabbage.com/restaurants