Restaurant advertising is increasingly distributed across paid social, search and review platforms, first-party messaging, loyalty programs, and delivery marketplaces. The benchmarks below show how diners discover restaurants, what content influences visits, and where operators are directing marketing effort. Measurement periods range from 2018 historical survey data to 2026 industry reporting, so each statistic should be read in its stated context.
Contents
- Advertising budgets and paid channels
- Social media discovery
- Content, engagement, and influencers
- Search, websites, and reviews
- Email, SMS, loyalty, and first-party marketing
- Promotions, delivery, and marketplace advertising
Advertising budgets and paid channels
Toast recommends that restaurants begin with a marketing budget equal to 3%–6% of gross revenue. That is a planning guideline reported for 2026, rather than a universal spending requirement. It provides a useful range for testing advertising while keeping the budget tied to the restaurant’s sales scale. (Toast, “Restaurant Marketing: 11 Strategies to Attract and Retain Guests”)
Large restaurant brands offer different reference points. Chipotle spent about 3.1% of revenue on advertising, marketing, and promotional costs in 2025. Domino’s says U.S. stores generally contribute 6% of sales to national marketing and advertising campaigns. These figures describe specific company or franchise systems; they are not directly interchangeable with an independent restaurant’s local advertising budget. (Toast, “Restaurant Marketing: 11 Strategies to Attract and Retain Guests”)
Paid social is already common. Toast reported in 2024 that 67% of restaurants pay for social-media ads. At the same time, the company reported that 82% of U.S. restaurants use social media as part of their marketing strategies. The difference between those figures is a reminder that an organic social presence and paid social advertising are separate activities. (Toast, “Your Guide To Restaurant Advertising”; Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
AI adoption is also appearing in restaurant marketing. Among operators using AI, 19% of full-service restaurants and 15% of limited-service restaurants use it for marketing, according to Toast’s 2026 reporting. Toast also reported that restaurants using its full Marketing Suite saw 63% more sales than restaurants not using those features. That comparison is associated with the platform’s users and features; it should not be treated as a controlled causal estimate for every restaurant. (Toast, “Restaurant Marketing: 11 Strategies to Attract and Retain Guests”)
Social media discovery
Social platforms compete with search engines for the first discovery moment. In a Toast survey measured July 15, 2024, 42% of respondents preferred social media to search engines when discovering new restaurants, while 58% used search engines such as Google or Yelp more often than social media. Facebook was the leading individual social platform: 59% used it most to discover new restaurants. Instagram accounted for 19% and TikTok for 17%. (Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
Age differences are substantial. Facebook was the leading discovery platform for 80% of guests aged 54 and older, 62% of guests aged 35–44, and 45% of guests aged 25–34. TikTok was used most by 41% of guests aged 18–24. These figures support audience-specific creative and placement decisions rather than one social plan for every customer group. (Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
| Discovery measure | Share | Measurement context |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants using social media in marketing | 82% | U.S. restaurants, 2024 |
| Respondents using Facebook most | 59% | Survey measured July 15, 2024 |
| Respondents preferring social media to search | 42% | Survey measured July 15, 2024 |
| Respondents using search more often than social | 58% | Survey measured July 15, 2024 |
| Respondents using Instagram most | 19% | Survey measured July 15, 2024 |
| Respondents using TikTok most | 17% | Survey measured July 15, 2024 |
Women were more likely than men to prefer social media for restaurant discovery, at 45% versus 38%, in the same Toast survey. The result describes preference among surveyed respondents, not the share of restaurant visits attributable to social media. (Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
Content, engagement, and influencers
Food and atmosphere lead the content preferences reported by diners. In the July 15, 2024 Toast survey, 84% preferred restaurant posts showing food and drinks served at the restaurant. Decor and ambiance followed at 47%, promotions at 44%, videos of the dining experience at 38%, and behind-the-scenes footage at 19%. (Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
Visual proof can affect the decision to visit: 57% said food pictures on restaurant social media influenced their decision. Positive creator reviews influenced 30%. Separately, 40% said an influencer’s restaurant review affected their decision to dine there, and the figure rose to 49% among guests aged 25–34. These are reported influence measures, not conversion rates or guaranteed incremental visits. (Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
Social accounts can also support pre-visit consideration and retention. Sixty-two percent sometimes checked a restaurant’s social media before deciding to dine there, while 28% always checked. Forty-three percent considered it very important for restaurants to respond to social-media comments or messages. After a positive visit, 31% followed a restaurant. Together, the figures connect advertising creative with the ongoing work of answering questions and maintaining an active account. (Toast, “How Are Diners Using Social Media?”)
Search, websites, and reviews
Restaurant advertising does not end when a person sees a social post. In Square’s 2023 survey for its 2024 report, 45% of diners said a restaurant website would inspire them to try a new restaurant, while 48% said in-person dining options would do so. Among baby-boomer diners, 35% were interested in locally sourced food as a reason to try a new restaurant; the corresponding figure for Gen X diners was 34%. (Square, “The Future of Customers: 2024 Edition”)
Older Square survey data gives a separate view of review behavior. In 2018, 77% of surveyed consumers said specific details about the food purchased were very or extremely important in a reliable restaurant review. Twenty-eight percent named Google Reviews as their favorite online-review source for restaurants, and 78% named Facebook as their favorite social platform for finding restaurants. Because these figures come from 2018, they should be treated as historical context rather than a current platform ranking. (Square, “How New Customers Find Your Restaurant”)
Review checking was recurring in that 2018 survey: more than 20% looked up restaurant reviews on a website or app a few times per week, and nearly 25% checked restaurant reviews a few times per month. The findings support keeping menus, food details, location information, and review responses consistent wherever a potential guest encounters the restaurant. (Square, “How New Customers Find Your Restaurant”)
Email, SMS, loyalty, and first-party marketing
First-party marketing benchmarks emphasize repeat behavior. Toast reported that up to 50% of restaurant order volume can come from 7% of guests in its 2026 restaurant marketing reporting. It also reported a nearly 30% return rate for loyalty-program guests versus a 7% baseline. These are Toast-reported benchmarks, and the source does not establish that the loyalty program alone caused the difference. (Toast, “Restaurant Marketing: 11 Strategies to Attract and Retain Guests”)
Toast’s Q1 2026 data showed that 86% of email-originated orders at restaurants using Toast tools came from repeat guests. SMS-originated orders were similarly repeat-heavy, at 83%. That pattern makes email and SMS especially relevant for reactivation, offers, and reminders aimed at known guests rather than only broad awareness. (Toast, “Digital Marketing for Restaurants: What’s Working in 2026”)
Earlier Toast email reporting found an average open rate of approximately 39% for restaurants using Toast Email Marketing in Q3–Q4 2021. Restaurants using the service averaged about $2,800 in additional sales during the 14 days following an email. The timing and platform scope matter: these are not universal email benchmarks, and the 2021 sales figure is not a forecast for current campaigns. (Toast, “Email Marketing for Restaurants: 10 Great Examples + Best Practices”)
Toast also reported a 69% higher email click-through rate for Marketing Agent beta messages than for messages created without it, measured March 1–April 1, 2026. In the same 2026 reporting, 85% of surveyed restaurant operators expected to use AI more in the future. The click-through comparison is specifically a beta-message comparison, not a general prediction of AI performance. (Toast, “Digital Marketing for Restaurants: What’s Working in 2026”)
Gift cards provide another promotion and retention channel. Toast reported that 59% of adults planned to give restaurant gift cards during the 2026 holiday season. The planned-giving figure was 74% among Gen Z adults and 70% among millennials. These are seasonal intentions, not completed purchases. (Toast, “Restaurant Marketing: 11 Strategies to Attract and Retain Guests”)
Promotions, delivery, and marketplace advertising
Delivery marketplaces combine promotion, reach, and measurable merchant activity. In 2024, 87% of surveyed restaurant operators said third-party delivery increased their profitability. Sixty-one percent said third-party delivery platforms performed well on promotions offered to customers, while 50% of consumers said offering more promotions was the best way restaurants could improve delivery programs. (DoorDash, “Growing Off-Premise Profitability”)
DoorDash reported that more than 100,000 small and midsize restaurants advertised on its U.S. marketplace in Q4 2024. Eighty-three of the top 100 U.S. restaurants advertised there during the same quarter. Merchant advertisers had an average quarterly retention rate above 85% in 2024, and average quarterly revenue retention above 110%. Those marketplace figures describe DoorDash advertisers and its reported retention measures, not the entire restaurant industry. (DoorDash, “Exhibit 99.2”)
Promotional planning remained active in the industry outlook. Forty-seven percent of restaurant operators planned to add new discounts, deals, or value promotions in a 2025 forecast. Taken together with the delivery findings, the figure points to continued interest in value-led advertising, while the profitability and retention figures show why operators also need to evaluate the economics of each channel. (National Restaurant Association, “STATE OF THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY 2025”)