Marketing. Money. Mystery.

Attribution Annie spends $3,200 per month on marketing her restaurant.

Facebook ads: $800 Instagram promotions: $400 Google ads: $600 Yelp advertising: $500 Local magazine: $400 Direct mailers: $500

When I asked her "Which one brings you the most profitable customers?" she said...

"I have no idea. I think Facebook maybe? Or word of mouth? People just... show up."

She's spending $38,400 per year and has absolutely no idea what's working.

According to a study by Toast, only 23% of restaurant owners can accurately track which marketing channels drive the most revenue. The other 77% are essentially throwing money at a wall and hoping something sticks.

Annie's problem isn't her marketing budget. It's that she has no attribution system.

YOUR ONE STRATEGY LAB THING TODAY: 'What Gets Measured Gets Optimized'

Here's the painful truth most restaurant owners won't admit:

You're probably wasting 40-60% of your marketing budget on channels that don't work.

But you keep spending because: A) You don't know which ones are actually working B) You're afraid to stop something that "might" be working C) You have no data to make confident decisions

So you keep doing everything. And wondering why your marketing ROI is terrible.

HERE'S WHAT MARKETING ATTRIBUTION LOOKS LIKE:

A customer walks into your restaurant. Before they order, your system captures:

• How did they hear about you? (source tracking)

• Is this their first visit or returning? (customer database)

• What did they order? (POS integration)

• Did they become a regular? (lifetime value tracking)

Then you can see ACTUAL data:

FACEBOOK ADS:

• Spent: $800

• New customers: 12

• Cost per acquisition: $66

• Average lifetime value: $340

• ROI: 5.1x

YELP ADVERTISING:

• Spent: $500

• New customers: 3

• Cost per acquisition: $166

• Average lifetime value: $180

• ROI: 1.08x (barely breaking even)

LOCAL WEBSITE AD:

• Spent: $400

• New customers: 1

• Cost per acquisition: $400

• Average lifetime value: $120

• ROI: 0.3x (losing money)

Now you know: Cut the magazine ad and Yelp advertising. Double down on Facebook. That's $900/month saved or reallocated to what actually works.

THE SIMPLE TRACKING SYSTEM:

You don't need fancy software. You need a simple question asked at every first visit:

"How did you hear about us?"

Train your host/hostess to ask it. Capture it in your POS or a simple spreadsheet.

Options: ☐ Google search ☐ Instagram/Facebook ☐ Friend referral ☐ Yelp ☐ Walked by ☐ Other: _______

Then once a month, tally it up. Compare marketing spend to customer acquisition by channel.

WHAT'S POSSIBLE IN 90 DAYS:

You discover:

• Instagram brings 3x more customers than Facebook (shift budget)

• Word of mouth is your #1 source (build a referral program)

• Google ads cost $120 per customer (too expensive, kill it)

• Yelp brings tourists who never return (deprioritize)

• Local partnerships bring high-value regulars (invest more here)

You cut 40% of wasted marketing spend and reinvest it in what actually works. Same budget. Better results.

YOUR ACTION STEP: For the next 30 days, track source for every new customer. Just ask and write it down. You'll be shocked at what you learn.

Want a complete attribution system with templates, tracking sheets, and automated reports? The 14-Day Restaurant Accelerator includes the exact tracking workflows we use inside Strategy Lab.

→ jlittrell.com

We got this, Jason | The Strategy Lab

P.S. "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." - John Wanamaker said this in 1900. It's 2025. You can know. You just need to track it.

P.P.S. Your best marketing channel might not be the one you're spending the most on. But you'll never know until you measure.

#strategylab #wegotthis