Cost of acquiring a new customer vs. retaining an existing one
Harvard Business ReviewDIEGO F PARRA · CREATOR OF THE MASTERESTAURANT® METHODOLOGY

Restaurant marketing plan free templateThe sheet to decide, month by month, what to do in marketing, on which channels and with which indicator to measure it
A restaurant marketing plan is the sheet where you decide, month by month, which strategy to follow, which actions to take, which goal and indicator measure them and on which channels. This is the MASTERESTAURANT template: free to download, in Spanish, one quarter per sheet.
See all the toolsToolkit sheets
The marketing plan and the sheets that go with it (in Spanish)
Marketing plan (in Spanish)
The sheet to plan a quarter: month, marketing strategy, what we will do, goals and KPIs, and a mini media plan.
Marketing checklist (in Spanish)
Nineteen yes-or-no questions to see what your restaurant's marketing is missing before you plan.
Content plan tied to goals (in Spanish)
So every post answers a restaurant goal instead of a calendar of last-minute ideas.
Main restaurant KPIs (in Spanish)
The restaurant's key indicators, to pick the ones the marketing plan moves.




@masterestaurant
Why a restaurant needs a written marketing plan
A marketing plan organizes what a restaurant does to attract and keep guests: it aligns market objectives with daily operations and gives a clear roadmap. Restaurant marketing is not only about promoting dishes; it is a whole strategy that runs from social media to sales channels, personalized promotions, theme events and loyalty programs.
A good plan starts by identifying the target guest and analyzing the competition, designs specific campaigns and measures the impact of each action with indicators such as return on ad spend, guest conversion rate and average check. The sheet on this page is part of the MASTERESTAURANT digital toolkit, designed by Diego F. Parra to download free, print and use every quarter.
What is a restaurant marketing plan?
A restaurant marketing plan is the document where you decide, month by month, which marketing strategy to pursue, which concrete actions to take, which goal and indicator will measure them and which channels will carry them.
Its job is to take marketing out of improvisation. Without a plan, a restaurant posts when someone remembers, pays for ads when sales drop and never learns what worked. With a plan, every action answers a business goal —filling a slow night, raising the average check, winning back guests who stopped coming— and carries a number that shows whether it paid off. The MASTERESTAURANT sheet fits it on one landscape page: three rows, one per month, to plan a full quarter and review it as each month closes. It does not replace strategy; it executes it. First decide how the restaurant will stand apart, then write down what gets done each month to get there.
What is restaurant marketing strategy, and where do you start?
Restaurant marketing strategy is everything the business does so the right guest chooses it, comes back and recommends it: value proposition, menu, price, service, space, sales channels and communication, online and offline.
That is why it does not start on social media; it starts with the business. The order that works: understand why and when guests choose you, compare yourself with the competition, define what makes you different, and only then decide what to say and where. Digital marketing is one part, the most visible one; the rest happens in the dining room, on the storefront, in the delivery packaging and in how a complaint is handled. Managing marketing means putting all of that into a plan with owners, goals and indicators, and reviewing it every month against sales. The MASTERESTAURANT strategy guide, in Spanish, walks through the six steps that come before the plan.
What fields does the restaurant marketing plan template have?
The template has the restaurant name, date and version, plus a table with five blocks: month, marketing strategy, what we will do, goals and indicators (KPIs), and a mini media plan with five digital and two offline channels. The sheet is in Spanish.
Each row is a month and the sheet has three, so one sheet covers a quarter. The “Marketing strategy” column states the month’s objective in one line; “What we will do” turns that strategy into concrete actions, with an owner and a date; “Goals and indicators” sets the number you want to move and how it will be measured. The mini media plan forces a choice: there is room for only five digital channels and two offline ones, and each box notes which action that channel carries in the month. The version box exists because plans get corrected: when something does not work, you make version 2 instead of erasing the first one.
How do you write a marketing plan for a restaurant, step by step?
Start from a diagnosis, choose one objective per month, define the actions and their goal, assign channels and budget, and at the close of each month compare the result with the goal to adjust the next one.
First, check where you stand: sales by day and daypart, average check, how many guests come back and what reviews say. Second, pick one objective per month that answers that diagnosis; three objectives at once dilute effort and budget. Third, write actions under “What we will do” that someone on the team can carry out this week, not intentions. Fourth, give each action a goal with a number and the indicator that measures it. Fifth, mark the channels for each action in the mini media plan and assign a budget. Finally, schedule a short meeting at the close of each month to decide whether each action is repeated, adjusted or replaced.
Which goals and indicators should a marketing plan track?
The ones that connect marketing with sales: new and returning guests, average check, sales by day or daypart, reservations, orders by channel and review ratings. Followers and likes only matter if they explain one of those numbers.
Every action in the plan needs an indicator the operations team can read without an analyst. If the action is a Tuesday menu, the indicator is Tuesday sales against the average of previous Tuesdays. If it is a loyalty program, it is how many guests come back in the month. If it is paid social, it is the orders or reservations that came through that channel, not the reach. Write the goal with a number and a deadline —for example, going from 40 to 50 Friday reservations in a quarter— so there is no argument at the close. The MASTERESTAURANT toolkit has a sheet with the restaurant's key indicators; the plan uses only the ones marketing moves.
How do you choose the channels in the mini media plan?
Choose them by where your guest decides, not by fashion: if they book through Google search, your Google Business Profile comes first; if they order delivery, the app and WhatsApp; if they walk by, the storefront and sign matter more than any post.
The sheet’s mini media plan has five boxes for digital channels —for example Instagram, TikTok, Google Business Profile, WhatsApp and delivery apps or email— and two for offline channels, such as signage, flyers in the neighborhood, partnerships with nearby businesses, events or the dining room itself, where servers make recommendations. Having few boxes is a design choice: it forces the team to focus on channels it can keep up consistently, because a channel that gets opened and abandoned does more harm than good. Digital —social media, content, paid ads and reviews— also has its own digital marketing guide on this site, in Spanish.
How does the marketing plan connect to strategy and budget?
The plan executes a strategy you decide beforehand: who you compete with, what sets you apart and who you are talking to. The budget comes from a fixed percentage of sales, set in advance, not from whatever is left at month end.
In the MASTERESTAURANT methodology the marketing plan is the last of six steps: before it come the competition map, defining what type of restaurant you are, the canvas, the marketing checklist and the growth map. Setting aside a permanent percentage of sales avoids a frequent mistake: investing only when sales fall, which is exactly when winning guests back costs the most. The right percentage depends on the business’s stage and goals; what does not change is measuring the return of every action in the indicators column and moving money toward what works. A restaurant marketing strategy without a budget rule ends up as a list of good intentions.
Which businesses is this marketing plan template for?
It works for any food and beverage business that wants to organize its marketing: traditional restaurants, virtual restaurants, ghost kitchens, cafés, bars, bakeries, hotels and foodtech companies across hospitality.
It is designed for owners, managers and partners who market by instinct today and want marketing to depend on a plan rather than on one person. In a traditional restaurant the plan combines the dining room, the storefront and social media. In a bar, events, theme nights and partnerships weigh more. In a business that sells only through apps, digital channels fill almost the whole mini media plan. In a group with several locations, every site uses the same sheet so results can be compared. It was designed by Diego F. Parra, creator of the MASTERESTAURANT methodology, applied in more than 8,400 restaurants in 43 countries, to be filled in during a team meeting.
Example
What a completed quarterly marketing plan looks like
A sample quarter using the sheet's fields, for a casual restaurant that sells dine-in and delivery. Name: Sample restaurant · Date: 10/01/2026 · Version: 1.
| Marketing strategy (objective) | What we will do (action) | Channels (mini media plan) | Sample budget | Goal and indicator (KPI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Win back guests who stopped coming | Build the guest list and send them a reason to return by WhatsApp: the new dish of the month | WhatsApp, Instagram and a card with the check | USD 150 | Returning guests: from 80 to 120 in the month |
| Month 2 | Fill Tuesday, the slowest day | Fixed-price Tuesday menu and local ads within a 2-mile radius | Instagram Ads, Google Business Profile and neighborhood flyers | USD 300 | Tuesday sales: +20% vs. the month 1 average |
| Month 3 | Raise the average check | Train servers in suggestive selling of desserts and drinks; a delivery combo | Dining room (servers), delivery app and menu | USD 100 | Average check: from USD 14 to USD 15.50 |
| Quarter | One objective per month | A 30-minute review at the close of each month | At most 5 digital and 2 offline channels | USD 550 | Version 2 of the plan if a month misses its goal |
Sample figures, not from a real restaurant. The budget comes from a fixed percentage of sales that each business sets; it is shown in dollars only to illustrate.
Sourced data
Guests, loyalty and social media: what the sources say
Restaurants saying their loyalty programs increase basket size
SquareNon-enrolled who would join a loyalty program if their favorite restaurant offered one
National Restaurant AssociationChefs ranking social media among the top trends affecting operations in 2026
James Beard FoundationVISUALIZATION
The numbers, visualized
RESOURCES
MASTERESTAURANT studies, guides & tools
MASTERESTAURANT original research, tools and analysis you can apply to operations in your market:
- AI PROMPTAnnual Marketing Plan Builder for Restaurants
- GUIDERestaurant partners: traditional method vs Masterestaurant method — Step-by-step guide
- STUDYRestaurant partners: traditional method vs Masterestaurant method — Prices and costs
- CONCEPTDelegating Restaurant Operations: Before vs After · Definition
- CASE STUDYOmnichannel Customer Experience in Restaurants
- CANVASBusiness model canvas gastronomico definicion
- LIST7 ways to use AI in your restaurant management · List
Who created them
Tools from someone who has run restaurants
They are designed by Diego F Parra, creator of the MASTERESTAURANT methodology: engineer and consultant with more than 20 years working inside restaurants, ghost kitchens and restaurant groups in 43 countries.
Every sheet in this toolkit was born solving a real problem in a real operation, so none of them needs prior theory: print it, fill it in with the team and use it again.
In this marketing plan that shows in three design choices: one row per month so the plan fits a quarter and gets reviewed, goals and indicators next to every action so nothing is done without being measured, and only seven channel boxes to force a choice.
The methodology
Discover the MASTERESTAURANT methodology
Behind every restaurant that grows profitably there is a system, not luck: the MASTERESTAURANT methodology, applied in 8,400+ restaurants across 43 countries.
Who is Diego F Parra?
Engineer and C-Suite consultant, Amazon TOP 5 author and creator of the MASTERESTAURANT methodology, applied by 8,400+ restaurants across 43 countries.
Published doctrine
The books that changed restaurant management

De Esclavo a Dueño AMAZON TOP 5
Practical strategies and tools from Diego F. Parra to take control of a restaurant, based on more than 20 years of experience. Amazon TOP 5 in hospitality.
Triunfar o Morir en el Intento
Practical tools and key strategies to design and operate restaurants and food businesses efficiently.
Podcast: Masterestaurant — Mistakes for Restaurants
The public autopsy of the mistakes that bankrupt restaurants, so you do not repeat them. Every episode is condensed operating doctrine, direct, no anesthesia.
Listen on SpotifyDownloads
Resources and access
MASTERESTAURANT services portfolio
The complete catalog of services, programs and engagements of the ecosystem, with scopes and formats.
Download PDFBook: From Slave to Owner
The complete doctrine of the owner who takes control and maximizes the success of their restaurant. TOP 5 on Amazon.
See on Amazon52-Week Membership: group trainings and mentoring
Access to the MASTERESTAURANT membership of group trainings and mentoring sessions for 52 weeks.
Learn about the membershipDirect payment for your session
Reserve your seat with direct payment: Bold, PayU or PayPal (payment links are confirmed and updated when scheduling).
Pay with BoldPortfolio
More services by Diego F Parra and his team
If you want to build and run the plan with support, Diego F. Parra and his team do it through training, mentoring and consulting: it starts from a diagnosis of the business, sets the quarter's objectives and ties every action to a sales indicator. These are their services:
Direct contact
Want help applying it in your restaurant?
Your message goes straight to Diego F. Parra's team. Tell us what kind of business you run, how you market it today and what you need, and we will reply with a tailored proposal.
Want to build your marketing plan with a method?
Tell us how you market your restaurant today and we will tell you where to start.
Explore more
Related tools and resources
The MASTERESTAURANT toolkit sheets are free to download and printed in Spanish. A practical order: run the marketing checklist to see what is missing, fill in this restaurant marketing plan for the quarter, then use the content plan and the KPI sheet to execute and measure. The programs and services below help teams put them to work.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What should a restaurant marketing plan include?
It should include the diagnosis it starts from, one objective per period, the concrete actions to reach it, a goal with a number, the indicator that measures it, the channels that carry it, the budget and the review date. The MASTERESTAURANT template lays all of that out by month on one sheet.
How do you write a marketing plan for a restaurant?
Start with the business numbers and what guests are saying; choose one objective per month; write actions the team can actually carry out; set a goal and its indicator; assign channels and budget; and every month compare the result with the goal to adjust the next month.
Is the restaurant marketing plan template free?
Yes. The MASTERESTAURANT “Plan de marketing” sheet downloads free from this page as a landscape PNG image of 3,300 × 2,550 pixels, ready to print or fill in on a tablet. It is in Spanish and has fields for name, date, version, month, strategy, actions, goals and indicators, and the mini media plan.
Can I use it as a marketing plan for a bar or café?
Yes. The table on this page is a restaurant example, and the same sheet works for a bar or a café. In a bar the monthly objectives lean toward filling slow nights, events and partnerships, and the mini media plan leans on social media, WhatsApp and the bar itself, where staff make recommendations.
Do I need restaurant marketing software?
Not to start. A written plan, a spreadsheet for the indicators and the channels you already use are enough for the first few quarters. Restaurant marketing software makes sense once you have a guest database, several locations or automated campaigns to measure; before that, it adds cost without adding order.
Who designed this marketing plan template?
Diego F. Parra, creator of the MASTERESTAURANT methodology, as part of the digital toolkit for restaurants. MASTERESTAURANT training and consulting cover how to build the plan from a diagnosis of the business and tie every action to a sales indicator.
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