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Restaurant marketing · Michigan

Restaurant Marketing That Fills Tables and Takeout Bags

More regulars, more direct orders, fuller weekends.

XPN Marketing helps restaurants, cafés and caterers across Michigan turn hungry searches into seated guests and direct orders. We combine local SEO, scroll-stopping food video and social media so your business grows on its own terms, not just the delivery apps'.

Get my free marketing auditSee our work
  • 10+ years experience
  • 2,000+ businesses helped
  • 5-star rated on Google

Prefer to talk? Call (313) 878-8855

Restaurants & Cafés

Marketing Built for Restaurants, Cafés and Caterers

Most restaurant decisions happen in under a minute, on a phone, often while someone is already in the car. They type "brunch near me", "best shawarma in Dearborn" or "open now", glance at the map, check the star rating, flick through a few food photos, and tap directions. If your listing is thin or your hours are wrong, they never see the menu you worked so hard on.

Instagram and TikTok shape the shortlist before the search even happens. A reel of a cheese pull, a sizzling grill or a latte being poured can put a café on someone's weekend plans days in advance. Then Google confirms it: reviews, menu, price range, parking, whether you take reservations or do catering.

The competition is not just the place across the street. It is every spot within a short drive that shows up in the same map pack, plus the delivery apps that sit between you and your own customers. When an app owns the relationship, you pay a commission on every order and you rarely learn who your guests are, which makes it hard to bring them back.

Strong digital visibility gives you that relationship back. A complete Google Business Profile, a fast mobile menu, a website that takes orders and catering inquiries directly, and social content people actually want to watch all work together. Each one makes the next visit more likely and cheaper to earn.

That is where XPN fits. We are a full-service agency in Dearborn with in-house filming and editing, so we can shoot your kitchen on a Tuesday afternoon and have reels, menu photos and ads ready for the weekend rush. We pair that with local SEO, website work and paid social so the attention turns into covers, pickup orders and booked catering, and we track which channels are pulling their weight.

Get my free marketing auditCall (313) 878-8855
Elegant restaurant dining room with chandeliers and tall windows overlooking a city skyline
What we do

Digital Marketing Services for Restaurants and Cafés

Ordered by what tends to move the needle for food businesses: being found on the map, being craveable on social, and making ordering easy.

SEO

Local SEO that puts you in "near me" food searches

We tune your Google Business Profile for the way diners search: accurate categories ("Lebanese restaurant", "bagel shop", "caterer"), attributes like outdoor seating, halal or vegan options, a crawlable menu, current hours and holiday hours. We add fresh photos regularly, answer common questions, and build pages for catering, private events and each location so you can compete for valuable searches beyond your own name.

Explore our local SEO services
Video Marketing

Food video that makes people hungry

Our crew films in your kitchen and dining room: plating, the grill, the pour, the crowd on a Friday night, the owner telling the story behind the recipe. We cut it into short vertical reels, story ads and a longer brand film you can use on your website. Real footage of your real food outperforms stock imagery and gives you weeks of content from one shoot.

Explore our restaurant video production
Social Media

Social media that keeps regulars coming back

We plan a calendar around what actually happens in your restaurant: new menu items, daily specials, catering trays, seasonal drinks, Ramadan iftar hours, patio openings and game-day deals. We write captions, schedule posts, reply to comments and DMs where you want help, and tag your location so every post doubles as a reminder of where to find you.

Explore our social media management for restaurants
Meta & TikTok Ads

Meta and TikTok ads aimed at your delivery radius

Paid social works best for restaurants when it is local and specific. We target people within a realistic driving or delivery distance, promote one clear offer at a time (a new item, a lunch combo, a catering package), and send clicks to your own ordering page instead of an app. Retargeting reminds people who watched your reels that they still have not tried you.

Explore our Meta and TikTok ad campaigns
Web Design

A restaurant website built for thumbs

Your site needs to answer four questions instantly on a phone: what is on the menu, are you open, where are you, and how do I order or book. We build fast pages with a real text menu (not a blurry PDF), online ordering links, a catering inquiry form, reservation buttons and click-to-call, so Google and guests can both read it easily.

Explore our restaurant website design
Google Ads

Google Ads for catering and high-intent moments

Search ads are not always the first spend for a neighborhood café, but they shine for catering, private dining, holiday orders and new openings. We build tight campaigns around terms like "office lunch catering" or "party trays near me", use location targeting around your kitchen, add call and location extensions, and measure calls and form fills so budget goes where bookings come from.

Explore our Google Ads management
Graphic Design & Branding

Menus, signage and branding that match the food

From logo refreshes to menu boards, packaging stickers, table tents and social templates, we design a look that feels like your place. Consistent branding makes your posts recognizable in a busy feed and your takeout bag memorable on someone's desk. We also design QR cards that send guests to your direct ordering page and review link.

Explore our graphic design and branding
Our track record

Over 2,000 Businesses Helped

Restaurant owners want to know we have done this before. We have, for over 10 years and for every kind of local business, from contractors, clinics and law firms to restaurants, dealerships and online stores. Here is what that looks like in numbers.

2,000+
businesses helped since we started
15
live Google Ads accounts on our results page
9,500+
tracked conversions in those accounts
738%
best return on ad spend shown there
See our case studies and results

Results come from live Google Ads accounts we manage, shown on our case studies page with client names and account IDs cropped out. The numbers are untouched.

Testimonials

Trusted by Businesses

Every review here is public on our Google Business Profile. We do not write testimonials for ourselves.

★★★★★
“They ran amazing ads for us and their videos are amazing I truly recommend them to any real estate agents looking for marketing”
Soona Abdallah · Realtor · Google review
★★★★★
“Excellent experience with the whole XPN team. They were quick to respond, easy to work with, and was always available to answer questions or provide feedback with ideas. I would recommend them to any business owner for getting real results and growing their business.”
Leila Bazzi · Business owner · Google review
★★★★★
“Their marketing is amazing. Their team is great to work with and the process was very smooth and simple”
Mike Abboud · Business owner · Google review
★★★★★
“Love the team at XPN. They helped develop and launch a new website for my business. They [took] all the guesswork out of marketing as well. I would recommend them to any business looking to start or grow.”
Aseal Chaayto · Business owner · Google review
★★★★★
“I had a great experience with XPN! The team was very professional and answered all of my questions, 10/10 would recommend for anyone that is trying to accomplish their goals!”
Noi · Client · Google review
★★★★★
“The XPN team did an exceptional job with videography and marketing for my business and were great to work with”
Mona Hojeij · Business owner · Google review

Read all our Google reviews ↗

Strategy

What Actually Brings Guests Back Through the Door

Restaurants live on thin margins and repeat visits. One great first impression is nice, but the business is built on the guest who comes back every other Friday, orders the same tray for every office birthday, and tells their family where to eat. Good marketing for food businesses is mostly about earning that second, third and tenth visit at a lower cost each time.

Own the order, not just the exposure

Delivery apps are useful for discovery, and we do not tell owners to quit them. The problem is when your own Google listing, Instagram bio and website all point people into an app you pay commission to. We help you route branded demand (people already searching your name) to your own ordering page, and keep the apps for strangers who have never heard of you.

Plan around the Michigan calendar

Food demand here moves with the seasons and the community. Patio season is short, so it needs promotion the moment the weather turns. Football Sundays, graduation party season, holiday catering and Valentine's weekend each have their own window. In Dearborn and across Metro Detroit, Ramadan changes dining hours and creates real demand for iftar and late-night suhoor menus. We build content and ad pushes ahead of these moments instead of reacting the week of.

Content that comes from your kitchen

Stock food photos are easy to spot and easy to scroll past. Guests want to see your actual portions, your staff and your space. Because XPN films and edits in-house, one well-planned shoot can produce:

  • Short vertical reels for Instagram, TikTok and Facebook
  • Clean dish photos for Google, your menu and delivery listings
  • Story ads promoting a single item or catering package
  • A longer brand story film for your website and About page

Catering is a different buyer

A diner picks a restaurant in seconds. A catering client (an office manager, a wedding planner, a family hosting a graduation) compares options, asks about tray sizes and dietary needs, and wants a fast reply. That buyer deserves its own landing page, a simple inquiry form, search ads on catering terms and someone who follows up quickly. For many restaurants, a handful of steady catering accounts smooth out slow weekdays.

Measure what you can, honestly

Not every visit can be tracked to a post. We focus on signals that matter: direction requests and calls from your Google profile, direct online orders, catering inquiries, reservation clicks and promo code redemptions. That tells you whether the reel, the ad or the review push is working, and where to put next month's budget.

Our process

How XPN Helps Your Business Grow

  1. 01

    Discovery

    Understand your business, market and goals.

  2. 02

    Audit

    Analyze your current marketing and competitors.

  3. 03

    Strategy

    Pick the opportunities worth the budget.

  4. 04

    Build

    Create campaigns, content, websites and creative.

  5. 05

    Launch

    Deploy with tracking in place from day one.

  6. 06

    Measure

    Track calls, forms and bookings, not vanity metrics.

  7. 07

    Optimize

    Improve what the data says to improve.

  8. 08

    Scale

    Put more behind what works.

FAQ

Questions Restaurant Owners Ask Us

How much does restaurant marketing cost?

It depends on what you need and how much you want to spend on ads. A single café that needs a cleaner Google profile and monthly social content is a very different scope from a multi-location grill running paid campaigns and regular video shoots. We do not use a fixed price list. We start with a free audit, then quote based on your goals and budget.

Should we stop using DoorDash or Uber Eats?

Not necessarily. Delivery apps can bring in new customers who would not have found you otherwise. The goal is balance: keep the apps for discovery, but make sure your Google listing, website and social profiles send people who already know you to your own ordering page, where you keep more of each sale and can reach those guests again.

Which social platform matters most for a restaurant?

For most restaurants, Instagram and TikTok drive discovery with short food videos, while Facebook still matters for local community groups, events and an older customer base. Google Business Profile is not social media, but its photos and posts influence decisions just as much. We usually recommend starting with one or two platforms done well rather than spreading thin.

How long does restaurant SEO take to show results?

Some fixes, like correcting hours, categories and menu links on your Google profile, can help within weeks. Building stronger map visibility and showing up for competitive searches usually takes several months of steady work on reviews, photos, content and local links. We cannot promise a specific position, and anyone who does is guessing.

Can you come film at our restaurant?

Yes. Our team films and edits in-house and works with businesses across Metro Detroit and Michigan. We plan shoots around your quieter hours so we do not get in the way of service, and we capture enough footage for reels, photos and ads to cover several weeks of content.

Do Google Ads make sense for a restaurant?

They can, especially for catering, private events, holiday orders and new openings, where people search with clear intent and a single booking is worth more. For everyday dine-in traffic, a strong Google Business Profile and social content usually do more for the money. We will tell you honestly which fits your situation.

How do you handle bad reviews?

We help you respond calmly and personally, acknowledge the issue, and invite the guest to reach out directly. We never post fake reviews or offer incentives that break Google's rules. The best long-term fix is steadily asking happy guests to share their experience, so one bad night does not define your rating.

How do we get started?

Book a free marketing audit. We review your Google listing, reviews, website, menu, social profiles and how ordering works, then show you what is helping and what is costing you guests. From there we recommend a plan that fits your restaurant, with no pressure to sign up for everything at once.

Free marketing audit

Ready to Fill More Tables?

Let's see how your restaurant shows up when hungry locals search. Our free audit looks at your listing, menu, reviews and social, and maps out where the next guests will come from.

We'll review:

  • Your Google Business Profile, photos and menu vs. nearby competitors
  • Review volume, rating and how you respond
  • Where your ordering links send people (direct or delivery apps)
  • Website speed, menu readability and catering inquiry flow on mobile
  • Instagram, TikTok and Facebook content and engagement
  • Listing consistency across Yelp, Apple Maps and directories

Then we'll show you where your biggest growth opportunities are. No charge, no obligation.

Rather talk now? Call (313) 878-8855

We reply within one business day. Your details stay with XPN. Privacy policy.

Where we work

Based in Dearborn. Working across Michigan.

Our team is based at 3200 Greenfield Rd in Dearborn, and we work with restaurants & cafés businesses in Detroit, Dearborn and the rest of Metro Detroit, out to Ann Arbor, Troy, Novi and beyond. Plenty of our clients never visit the office: strategy calls, shoots and reporting all happen wherever suits you.