The Three Commandments Every Restaurant Must Live By: Attract. Build. Retain.
Restaurant Marketing Secrets – Episode 886 Recap
🎧Listen on Spotify
If you’re tired of watching national chains like Chipotle and McDonald’s eat your lunch—literally—then it’s time to get serious about your marketing game.
In episode 886 of Restaurant Marketing Secrets, I laid out the foundational framework that powers every successful restaurant we work with at America’s Best Restaurants. It’s what we call the Three ABR Commandments:
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Attract
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Build
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Retain
Let’s break down each one—and why they’re non-negotiable if you want to stay relevant, profitable, and on your customer’s radar.
1. ATTRACT: Own Your Backyard
You’re not going to outspend Chipotle’s marketing budget—but you don’t have to.
What you must do is dominate the 3–5-mile radius around your restaurant. That starts with attention. Are you posting engaging content daily? Are you on video? Are you in your community events? If you’re invisible online, you’re invisible in real life.
Attracting attention is your foot in the door. But it’s not the whole house.
2. BUILD: Capture That Attention
Once you have people’s attention, you need a predictable way to talk to them again.
Most restaurants stop at the post or the promo. They forget to collect the email, phone number, or birthday that lets them re-engage that customer. That’s a massive mistake.
It’s like catching fish, tossing them back, and hoping they bite again.
You must build a database—a pipeline of future business that’s automated, trackable, and personal. It’s not about gimmicks. It’s about smart, ethical value exchanges.
3. RETAIN: Win The Long Game
You got their attention. You captured their info. Now what?
Retain it. You stay relevant with ongoing, value-driven communication:
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Texts about specials
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Emails that entertain and inform
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Content that keeps you top of mind
Chipotle doesn’t do this. Neither does B-Dubs. And that’s your opportunity.
Be in their inbox. Be on their phone. Be in their community.
The third commandment is where lifetime value is created—and where average restaurants fall off the map.
Why This Matters Now
At ABR, we don’t just preach these commandments—we’ve built an entire ecosystem around them. From our DRYVER Acquisition program to ABR University, we help independent restaurants put these commandments into practice every day.
This is more than a podcast episode. It’s a challenge to every independent restaurant owner:
Will you stay stuck—or will you step into the ABR marketing mindset that actually moves the needle?
🎧 Ready to Go Deeper?
Over the next three episodes, we’ll unpack each commandment in detail. Don’t miss them.
👉 Listen to Episode 886 on Spotify
🚀 Subscribe and join the movement to make your restaurant America’s best.
