The good news is independent restaurant sales improved from 2023 to 2024. At least according to the 54 percent of respondents to an independent operator survey conducted by the James Beard Foundation (JBF) and consulting firm Deloitte.

The report on their findings rated 2024 independent restaurant performance as “good to excellent”. It might be a sign that independent operators are adapting to the challenges of food and labor inflation in their cost control and pricing.

However, here is the disconnect: more than 70 percent of survey respondents said they had the same or fewer customers in 2024 than in 2023. Rather than dine out frequently, such as with a weekly visit to a favorite local restaurant, diners are cutting back on how often they go out to eat. When customers do decide to dine out, many are trying different concepts rather than returning to their favorite haunts.

The Association of National Advertisers defines relationship marketing as a strategy that emphasizes customer retention, satisfaction, and lifetime customer value. Its purpose is to market to current customers versus new customer acquisition through sales and advertising. It is critical to restaurant success. You cannot build a business on one-off patrons.

Izzy Kharasch, president of Chicago-based consulting company Hospitality Works, Inc., thinks many cities have seen a shift in the local restaurant market since the pandemic. With burgeoning post-Covid restaurant competition, diners have access to new and different options. Out of curiosity, they are spending money in what Kharasch says is a “shotgun way,” sampling all the new eats and neglecting some old favorites in the process.

More diners are also choosing moderation with waning consumer sentiment. Younger guests are eschewing alcohol, and beer, booze, and wine have long been important sources of sales and profits. Others take GLP-1 weight loss medications that curb appetites and promote satiety, a feeling of fullness. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), approximately 12% of adults in the United States have taken a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication at some point. Because those diners do not feel hungry, they naturally go out to eat less often and may order smaller meals when they do.

More than 75% of the JBF/Deloitte survey respondents said they used social media marketing to drive repeat patronage. However, when a regular patron returns to your concept, you have no idea whether it was inspired by your latest post or they had planned to visit anyway – unless you ask them. Without the ability to directly attribute visits to social media, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing social posts to be more effective than they actually are.

Kharasch’s clients use social media, most frequently Facebook and Instagram. He finds clients that see the most engagement with social media posts have live music. “People comment on the bands and it sparks conversation,” he says. However, Kharasch says his clients are increasingly finding their posts are shared less widely than they were in the past. If his clients want people to see their posts, they often need to pay to boost them. “We allocated about $1,500 a month to boosting everything we’re doing, and we’ve seen results,” he says.

He believes the best approach is two-pronged. First, restaurant operators need digital marketing strategies, including social media, to remind their customer base they exist and to promote the exciting new offerings and unique experiences that relationship marketing is built upon. Second, they also need relationship marketing within the four walls to delight guests, cultivate loyalty, and encourage repeat patronage.