Lead magnet ideas for restaurants
A restaurant’s best lead magnet gives regulars something of the place to take home: a booklet of house recipes, a guide to booking a private party, a kids’ activity pack for the table. It gets a guest’s email without another discount. Here are ten for independent restaurants, each a brief that opens in Chapbook as a starting point for your own kitchen.
A brief to start from
A booklet of six house recipes from a neighborhood Italian restaurant, each scaled for a home kitchen, with a short story about where the dish came from and what the kitchen does differently. Use only the recipes and stories I upload, invent none, and list the common allergens in each dish from my notes. Reader: a regular who keeps asking how we make the ragu. Voice: warm first person from the chef, plain home-cook instructions.
Start from this brief10 ideas, each a brief to start from
-
The house recipes people keep asking for
Every restaurant has a dish guests ask about. Giving away the recipe doesn’t cost you the booking, because they still come for the night out, and they now have your name in their kitchen.
Collection Start from this brief: The house recipes people keep asking for
-
The private dining and events guide
Whoever organizes the office party needs answers fast: how many fit, what it costs, how to order. A guide they can forward to a boss gets you into the running before they call anywhere else.
Brochure Start from this brief: The private dining and events guide
-
A kids’ activity pack for the table
Parents remember the place that kept their children happy until the food came. Printed for the table and offered online to parents, it brings families back before the next outing.
Activity pack Start from this brief: A kids’ activity pack for the table
-
Wine or beer made simple, by your staff
Many guests feel unsure ordering from a drinks list. A short guide from the people who chose the list makes them more comfortable at your table, and shows you know what you’re pouring.
Lead magnet Start from this brief: Wine or beer made simple, by your staff
-
A guide to your cuisine for first-timers
Someone who has never eaten Ethiopian or Sichuan food may not walk in because they don’t know what to order. A friendly guide to the menu removes that worry before they’ve even booked.
Illustrated guide Start from this brief: A guide to your cuisine for first-timers
-
The holiday menu and how to pre-order
Holiday meals are planned weeks ahead by someone who is short on time. A simple brochure on what to order and how to reheat it makes that decision easy and gives you a list for next year.
Brochure Start from this brief: The holiday menu and how to pre-order
-
A cooking-at-home workbook from your chef
Guests who cook like knowing how a kitchen thinks. A short workbook of techniques from your chef gives them skills, and gives a cooking class something to sell alongside.
Workbook Start from this brief: A cooking-at-home workbook from your chef
-
A seasonal note from the kitchen
A short note on what’s coming in from which farm gives regulars a reason to look forward to your emails and to book for a dish before it disappears from the menu.
Newsletter Start from this brief: A seasonal note from the kitchen
-
The guide for regulars
A loyalty program is one option, but so is a short booklet of what regulars know: when it’s quiet, what’s off-menu and how to book the good table. It rewards people without a discount.
-
The story of the place
A family restaurant’s story is one a chain can’t tell. Written as a real book, it’s something to sell by the register, give to press and hand to the kid who started washing dishes here.
Nonfiction book Start from this brief: The story of the place
How to choose one
Start from what guests already ask your staff. If they ask how a dish is made, make the recipe booklet. If they ask about parties, write the events guide. If families are a good part of your trade, make the activity pack and keep a stack by the host stand.
Every number, allergen and date in these needs to come from you. Add your menu and recipes as sources, tell Chapbook to invent nothing, and check allergens and food safety notes yourself before you print or publish. Recipes in particular should be cooked from the book by someone in your kitchen first.
If you’re thinking about the story of the place, Slow Money shows what a longer book like that can look like: it’s a sample we made about a fictional family bakery, not a customer’s book. For events, World Book Day is a sample brochure for a fictional bookshop’s day of readings.
Every brief here opens in Chapbook
Each idea comes with the paragraph Chapbook needs to start: the topic, the reader and the voice. The brief at the top of this page is a starting point, not a book we have already made from it: open it, put in your own kitchen, dishes and guests, and upload your recipes. Chapbook then proposes titles and an outline for you to approve before anything is drafted.
Questions people ask
What is a good lead magnet for a restaurant?
Something of the place to take home: house recipes, a private dining guide or a kids’ activity pack. It gives guests a reason to share an email address that doesn’t depend on a discount.
Will giving away a recipe hurt a restaurant?
It’s a judgment call for each kitchen, but people go to restaurants for more than a recipe: the skill, the room and not having to wash up. Pick a dish you’re happy to see made at home and keep the rest.
Can Chapbook make a kids’ activity pack for a restaurant?
Yes. A pack is 8 to 40 printable pages of coloring pictures, worksheets and puzzles, as one black-on-white PDF on US Letter or A4. Every character must be your own, and only a parent, guardian or teacher aged 18 or over can sign up for it, never the child.
Read a chapter of your own book before you pay for it.
The outline, one sample chapter up to 2,500 words and a watermarked cover are free: 60 Book Credits on sign-up, no card.