How To Prepare Your 2025 Restaurant Marketing Budget
In a competitive industry like food service, finding ways to stand out is crucial. Your marketing should focus on promoting your tasty food, charming service, and unique location. But without a marketing budget, those marketing dreams stale rapidly.
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insights from 58,800+ hours of food & beverage marketing experience
How much do restaurants spend on marketing?
On average, restaurants spend 3-6% of their revenue on marketing.
This page will break down restaurant marketing budgets, including how to create one that drives the most revenue. Here’s what we will cover:
- How much do restaurants spend on marketing?
- Restaurant marketing budget breakdown
- Factors that impact restaurant marketing budgets
- How to create a restaurant marketing budget
- FAQs on restaurant marketing budgets
Download Now: Restaurant Marketing Budget Planner
How much do restaurants spend on marketing?
On average, restaurants spend 3-6% of their revenue on marketing. However, newer establishments might invest more (6-10%) to see more growth upfront.
Restaurant marketing budget breakdown
The amount you pay will greatly depend on the services that you use. Here are the prices for the top digital marketing services in your industry:
|
2025 Restaurant Marketing Spend |
|
| Channel | Monthly Spend |
| Paid Advertising *Includes delivery platform ads (DoorDash), Google Ads, social ads, etc. |
$100-$10,000 |
| Search Engine Optimization and Local SEO | $2,500-$7,500 |
| Social Media *Includes social posts, influencer posts, comment and message responses, etc. |
$100-$5,000 |
| Reviews and Reputation Management *Includes platforms like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, etc. |
$5,000-$10,000 |
| Email Marketing & SMS | $50-$100 |
| Content Marketing | $5,000-$10,000 |
| Web Design and Development | $5,000-$20,000 |
Factors that impact restaurant marketing budgets
As well as the marketing channels you choose, you should consider the following challenges for your 2025 restaurant marketing budget:
- Customer behaviors: Changing customer behaviors and attitudes impact how and when you spend your marketing budget. Following food and restaurant trends to meet their preferences is also a big part of your marketing spend.
- Marketing metrics: Restaurants often struggle to measure tangible results from their marketing. Your budget should include tools to track your results and determine which channels are working best.
- High competition and saturation: The food industry is highly competitive and localized. In many cities, you’ll find multiple restaurants that offer similar experiences and food. You have to use your marketing to show customers what makes you different.
- Limited internal resources: You might not have the resources in-house to handle your marketing campaigns. You must factor in your digital marketing provider’s cost into your budget, in that case.
How to create a restaurant marketing budget
How To Create Your 2025 Restaurant Marketing Budget
- Allocate 3-6% of your total revenue for marketing
- Reserve between 5-10% of your marketing budget to invest in new marketing strategies
You know how much to spend on marketing. You know what impacts your budget. Now it’s time to start planning!
Below are four steps to show you how to plan your food and beverage budget for 2025. Follow along while we go through each one below:
- Outline your marketing plan and goals
- Examine your restaurant’s current strategy
- Decide what your business will spend in 2025
- Adjust your budget with your restaurant’s growth
1. Outline your marketing plan and goals
To start planning your food and beverage marketing budget, consider what you want to accomplish through your marketing. Setting goalposts for your marketing can help you choose — and invest in — the right strategies.
We recommend creating SMART goals — those that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely — to help you set attainable standards for your marketing budget. An example of a SMART goal for restaurants could be “We want to sell X amount of X food item in the next month.”
Answer these questions to help you figure out some possible goals:
- Which of your current marketing channels produces the highest ROI?
- What resources do you have in-house?
- How will you measure your success?
2. Examine your restaurant’s current strategy
Looking at your current marketing campaigns and their effectiveness is crucial for your budget. After all, you only want to invest in the channels that earn the most sales for your restaurant.
For example, if you know that promoting your restaurant on social media helps get people in the door, you might invest more in organic and paid social media strategies. Or, if there is a popular food blogger in your area, you might pay more to get them to post about your dishes.
Find out the channels that are working for you and note any costs associated with them.
3. Determine your available marketing spend
Based on the industry average, you should spend 3-6% of your total sales on marketing your restaurant.
However, that might look different throughout the year, or even the month. For example, if you experience more seasonal growth, you might spend more in certain months than others. Or, if you are only open for part of the week, you might be able to spend less overall to achieve the same balance.
4. Adjust your budget as necessary
Remember that your budget is not set in stone — you should regularly evaluate it to make sure you’re seeing results.
Say your restaurant has a patio that brings in more business in the warmer months. You would, in theory, invest more in marketing during peak months to help sustain basic strategies all year long. And, if you notice that your email campaigns are bringing in more customers during those months, you would optimize your budget to focus on email.
Make sure that the marketing spend you have outlined aligns with your goals and revenue throughout the year.
FAQs on restaurant marketing budgets
Want to learn more about creating a restaurant marketing budget? Check out our FAQ below!
How much should restaurants spend on marketing?
On average, restaurants should expect to spend between $51 – $10,000 per month on marketing. That number accounts for all the services you invest in, any technology, and outsourcing your provider.
What percentage of sales should a restaurant spend on marketing?
On average, restaurants should spend 3-6% of their sales on marketing. This number accounts for all sales and revenue that the restaurant earns, whether through dine-in, carry-out, or catered meals, as well as merchandise.
How much do small restaurants spend on advertising?
While the industry average for food and beverage marketing budgets is 3-6%, smaller restaurants might have a lower budget, around 2-5%. Depending on the age of your restaurant, you might spend less on marketing to prevent overspending.
Fire up your marketing ROI with help from WebFX
Running your restaurant is demanding enough, let alone finding time to plan, budget, and execute your marketing. If you want to get the most out of every dollar you invest, you need a partner in your marketing plan. That’s where we come in!
We have 38,900+ hours of experience in the entertainment and recreation industry, which makes us a partner that understands your company’s unique challenges and needs. With our digital marketing services, you can build your company’s online credibility and stand out in a competitive industry.
Contact us today to learn more about maximizing your marketing budget!
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