What's the marketing plan that grows an independent UK restaurant in 2027? Five channels, each with its job and its first action: local and AI search, your own website for bookings and orders, loyalty, consented email, and reviews. Then the dated 2027 calendar, and the rule changes that put careless marketing at risk: higher PECR fines, the fake-review ban, and the CMA's rule on showing the full price.
What the film covers
- Growth is harder to buy in 2027
- The 2027 plan at a glance
- Local search, and the AI answers built on it
- Your own website: where demand converts
- Loyalty: give guests a reason to return
- Email and automated journeys
- Reviews, within the 2025 rules
- The 2027 restaurant marketing calendar
Questions the film answers
- How do I get more customers to my restaurant?
Be found, convert on your own site, and give people a reason to return. Local search gets you found, your own site takes the booking or order, loyalty gives a reason to come back, and consented email brings guests back at no fee per message. Build them so the guest records belong to your restaurant, not to a platform.
- What are the best restaurant marketing ideas for 2027?
Start with a complete Google Business Profile, a site that Google can read, one costed loyalty scheme, a consent tick box at booking and an after-visit email. Then plan three campaigns around dated moments, such as Valentine's Day on 14 February and Mothering Sunday on 7 March, and send the same honest review request to every guest.
- How much should a restaurant spend on marketing?
There is no verified UK benchmark for restaurant marketing spend in this research, so any percentage you see quoted is unsourced here. Work from your own margins: decide what a repeat guest is worth to you, cost each reward, set a budget for each campaign, and read the result in your own records after thirteen weeks.
- Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
The conservative answer is no. The CMA's guide for businesses says not to offer inducements to write positive reviews, and its longer guidance says an incentivised review must be disclosed and still reflect a genuine experience. Ask every guest the same way, never tie a reward to a good score, and do not remove genuine bad reviews.
- Can I email customers who ordered through Uber Eats?
Not from the order data. Uber's merchant terms limit personal data to fulfilling the order, forbid copying, storing or retaining it, and rule out merging it for targeted marketing. They contain no provision giving you the customer's email address for your own marketing. Invite them to your own site and ask for consent there.
- What is the soft opt-in?
It is the PECR exception that lets you send marketing email to someone without separate consent, if all five conditions hold. You collected their details directly, in the course of a sale or negotiations for one, you market your own similar services, you offered a free opt-out when collecting, and you offer it in every message. Otherwise ask for specific consent.