Restaurant Digital Marketing Agency UK
UpdatedMeMo is a restaurant digital marketing agency in London, working with restaurants, bars, hotels and food events across the UK since 2011. We run paid social on Meta and TikTok, Google Ads, SEO, AI search visibility, websites and email CRM, and we track it through to the booking. Recent results include a Surrey gastropub that sold out its opening weekend, 328 bookings for Villa Bologna in Malta, and a sold-out Saturday for Meatopia’s first Glasgow festival.
What digital marketing does a restaurant actually need?
Fewer things than most agencies will sell you, done properly:
- Paid social (Meta and TikTok). The fastest way to put a launch, a menu or a quiet Tuesday in front of people nearby. It works when the ads are built around who books, not who likes the post.
- Google Ads. Capturing people already searching: brand searches, private dining, events, groups and tickets.
- SEO and Google Business Profile. Showing up in “near me” searches and Google Maps with the right hours, menus, photos and reviews.
- AI search visibility. Making sure ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI answers have accurate information about you and credible sources to recommend you. More on our SEO and AI search page.
- Website and CRM. A site that gets people to book in as few taps as possible, and email that brings guests back.
Recent digital results
- A gastropub in Farnham. A new Surrey local opening in July. Three weeks of awareness ads built 5,000 followers, then we switched to booking ads. The opening weekend sold out, with an estimated £135,000 in revenue and a 30x return on Instagram ad spend.
- Villa Bologna, Malta. The restaurant and bar in the gardens of Hotel Villa Bologna, relaunched in 2025. Geo-targeted awareness for locals and visitors, then booking campaigns by daypart: 328 bookings and a return on ad spend 3.5 times the initial benchmark.
- Meatopia, Glasgow. The festival’s first event outside London. Glasgow-targeted Meta and Google campaigns sold 387 tickets through Google Ads alone, and the Saturday sold out.
- The Pig. Dark ads made for each of nine hotels, separate from the organic feed, now bringing in up to 18% of each hotel’s room bookings.
- Roti King. A new website for the 10th anniversary rebrand, built with design agency Temple: 16,000 visits in the first three weeks and an average session of two minutes.
How we run restaurant digital marketing
1. Fix the tracking first. A booking should be traceable to the ad, search or email that drove it. Without that, every report is a guess.
2. Warm up, then convert. New venues need an audience before they need a booking ad. Farnham ran three weeks of awareness before switching to bookings.
3. Build around the calendar. Christmas is won in September and October, January needs a reason to go out, and Monday to Wednesday always needs help.
4. Test, then scale. Small tests on audiences, creative and offers, then budget behind what works.
5. Use the rest of the marketing. Press coverage and creator content make better ads than anything written from scratch.
6. Report on bookings. Cost per booking, revenue and return on ad spend, alongside reach and clicks.
Digital on its own, or as part of an integrated team
You can hire MeMo for digital marketing alone, or alongside PR and social. More on our integrated marketing page.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a restaurant spend on digital marketing?
A common benchmark for total marketing is 3% to 6% of revenue for an established venue, and more during a launch. We would rather start with a smaller, well-tracked budget and grow it once we can show what it returns.
Does paid social actually work for restaurants?
Yes, when it is built around bookings rather than likes. Farnham’s opening weekend and Villa Bologna’s 328 bookings both came from campaigns with a clear offer, the right audience and tracking in place.
Can you sell event tickets as well as tables?
Yes. Meatopia’s Glasgow festival is a recent example, using Meta, Google Ads and email together.
Do you work with single sites or only groups?
Both. Single sites usually start with paid social, Google Business Profile and email. Groups need the same with structure across sites.
How quickly will we see results?
Paid social and Google Ads can show movement within weeks once tracking is in place. SEO and AI search visibility build over months.
If you want more bookings from your digital marketing, get in touch.