If You’re a Restaurant Owner, This One’s for You
Running a restaurant isn’t for the faint of heart. Long hours, tight margins, unpredictable foot traffic, and a never-ending list of operational issues. When you finally make time to think about marketing, chances are you’re overwhelmed, tired, and unsure what even works anymore. You might feel burned — by agencies, ad campaigns, or content that looked great but did nothing.
You’re not alone.
That’s exactly why I sat down at Honey Cafe & Store, with Susan Rapaglia, owner of Coast Creative to have a raw, no-BS conversation about what it actually takes to market a restaurant. Not the polished version — the truth.
This interview is part of the Inside Lead Wolf series, where we speak directly with business owners, operators, and brand builders about what works, what doesn’t, and what they wish someone had told them sooner.
One Size Does Not Fit All — and It’s Not Instant
Susan opened the conversation with a truth most restaurant owners don’t hear until it’s too late:
“Every restaurant owner would probably be happier with their marketing… if they knew one size does not fit all. And it’s not instant.”
Let that sink in.
There is no off-the-shelf formula. No plug-and-play trick. No one-size-fits-all template. Yet so many agencies — and let’s be honest, freelancers, influencers, and even vendors — push restaurant owners into generic solutions that aren’t grounded in their specific business reality.
When marketing doesn’t work, it’s not always because the ad was bad. It’s often because the strategy was never specific. The persona wasn’t clear. The content didn’t align with who you’re actually trying to reach.
And perhaps most importantly: owners expect results too fast. The industry primes them to think that if a campaign is “good,” it should drive instant traffic.
But good strategy — the kind that builds brand equity, customer trust, and sustainable traction — takes time.
The Difference Between Marketing That Moves You and Marketing That Moves Others
This is something Susan and I dove into deeply. We’ve both seen it happen:
A business owner falls in love with a piece of content. A photo, a video, a campaign. Their friends love it. Their spouse reposts it. They feel like it represents their brand perfectly.
But when they run it — nothing happens.
The phone doesn’t ring. The foot traffic doesn’t increase. There’s no lift in reservations, orders, or loyalty.
And it hurts. Because they felt like it was right.
What went wrong?
In most cases, the content was made to reflect the owner’s preferences — not the audience’s reality. It was built from the inside out. And without strategy, that can be a very expensive way to get no results.
Susan didn’t shy away from that fact. She acknowledged how tempting it is to lead with your own vision — but how important it is to first understand who you’re speaking to, and how they make decisions.
The Hard Truth, and the Better Way
Most restaurant owners think marketing is something you outsource, automate, or offload. But in reality, the best marketing comes when it’s collaborative. When it reflects not just your vision, but your customer’s world.
Susan reminded us what it looks like to embrace that. To be open. To learn. To trust a process that doesn’t promise magic — but delivers momentum.
If you’re a restaurant owner, ask yourself:
- Am I creating content for me — or for my customer?
- Am I hoping for a hit — or building a system?
- Do I have clarity — or just activity?
If you’re ready to stop wasting time and start building something that works, you know where to find us.
— Oz