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Fill the slow nights.
Facebook ads for restaurants, in a minute.

Type your website. Showfolk reads your logo, colors and photos, starts from an ad a big brand has kept paying to run, and hands back four versions built for a restaurant.

3 days free. $0 today.

What eats a restaurant’s ad budget.

Three things that go wrong with restaurant ads, and what Showfolk does about each one.

  1. 01 · THE PROBLEM

    Slow Tuesdays, and no time to make an ad about them.

    By the time a post is designed, the night it was for has passed.

    THE FIX

    Type your website once. Showfolk reads your logo, colors and photos, and a finished ad for the slow-night special takes about a minute.

    Ads

  2. 02 · THE PROBLEM

    Phone photos of food look like phone photos.

    A dark plate under warm bulbs, next to a chain’s studio shot, loses the scroll.

    THE FIX

    Your ad starts from a food brand’s ad that is already winning, so the light, crop and layout are theirs and the dish is yours.

    Ad library

  3. 03 · THE PROBLEM

    The whole menu in one square.

    Ten dishes and the hours in tiny type read as noise, and nobody stops for noise.

    THE FIX

    One dish, one line, one reason to come this week. Four versions to pick from, and you change anything by pointing at it.

    Ads

3 days free. $0 today.

Proven ad in. Your ad out.

Nothing is copied. The reference becomes a written brief about layout, lighting and mood; its product and brand stay out, and every output is checked for them.
The Huel ad used as the referenceThe ad Showfolk made from it for La Vecina Taqueria
Huel’s ad, from the library.La Vecina Taqueria (example brand): the ad Showfolk made from it.

  • 211

    food & beverage e-commerce ads in the library, from 15 brands

  • 67.3%

    use the most common layout: product hero

  • 37.9%

    open with the most common hook: offer

  • 29.4%

    show a person

Brands to start from: HelloFresh, RYZE Mushroom Coffee, Chomps, Huel, LMNT, Magic Spoon, The Farmer's Dog, YETI.

The full food & beverage e-commerce breakdown.

5 ads a restaurant could run this week.

One ad, one message each. Run two or three at once and keep the one that works. The headlines are for a made-up business; use your own words, prices and reviews.

  • 1. The signature dish

    “The green chile burger people drive across town for”

    Show: Your best seller, close up, in daylight, filling the frame.

  • 2. The slow-night special

    “$2 tacos, all day Tuesday”

    Show: The dish and the price, big and simple.

  • 3. Something new

    “New this week: brisket mac”

    Show: The new item on a plain or tabletop background.

  • 4. Catering and groups

    “Feeding the office? Trays for 10 to 100”

    Show: Trays or a full table from above.

  • 5. A real review

    “Best pho in Ogden.” (a real Google review, with permission)

    Show: A guest’s words as the headline, with the dish behind them.

  • Make one of these now.

    Your website in, four versions out, in about a minute.

    3 days free. $0 today.

The restaurant cheat sheet.

Which offers to make, what to photograph (phone photos are fine near a window in daylight), when to run new ads, and what to leave out.

  • Offers that work

    • A special on your slowest night
    • A free drink or dessert with a first online order
    • Kids eat free one night a week
    • A catering discount above a minimum order
    • Happy hour, with the hours in the ad

  • Photos to take

    • Two or three dishes shot close, near a window, from above and from the side
    • The room when it is full and warm
    • Hands at work in the kitchen or at the pass
    • Your takeout packaging, if you sell a lot to go

  • When to run new ads

    • Early in the week, to fill slow nights
    • Two weeks before Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, for bookings
    • Game days, if you have screens
    • October and November, for holiday party catering
    • Graduation season, for groups

  • Don’t

    • Putting the whole menu in one ad. Pick one dish.
    • Dark phone photos taken at night under warm bulbs.
    • Tiny text with the address and hours. That belongs in the caption and your page.

How do I make one in a minute?

  1. 1

    Type your website

    Your logo, colors, fonts and photos are pulled into a brand kit. You do this once.

  2. 2

    Get a finished ad

    Showfolk picks an ad a major brand is running in a category like yours, writes a headline from your site and rebuilds the ad around a restaurant. Four versions, in about a minute.

  3. 3

    Change anything by pointing

    Click a spot, say what should change there, and everything else stays as it was. Then download it.

3 days free. $0 today.

Questions

How far away should a restaurant target?
Start with the area your regulars actually come from, often a few miles, and widen it only if the ads run out of people to show to. Delivery-heavy places can go wider.
Should a restaurant ad show prices?
When the price is the point, yes: a special or a deal. For a signature dish, the picture does the work and the price can wait.
How many ads should a restaurant run at once?
Three or four different ones, for example a dish, a special and a review, and swap in a fresh one every week or two.

See a restaurant in an ad that already works.

Type your website. We pull your logo, colors and photos and hand back a finished ad in about a minute. 3-day free trial, $0 today.

3 days free. $0 today.