Restaurant insights by 7shifts

In this edition, we’re talking about everyone’s favorite buzzword: AI.

While artificial intelligence has been shaking up the tech world for years, it’s only recently started making waves in the restaurant industry. But for many folks, turning that buzz into practical, workable solutions can still feel like uncharted territory.

The good news is you don’t need to understand what GPT stands for in ChatGPT to put AI to work (it’s “Generative Pre-Trained Transformer”, by the way). What matters is uncovering how tools like that can help you save time, boost efficiency, and take tasks off your plate.

Let’s be real—you’re probably not planning to roll out robot servers anytime soon. But AI can still play a powerful role in your business, from crafting subject lines for your email newsletters to brainstorming your next holiday offer.

We sat down with Josh Kopel—Michelin-awarded restaurateur-turned-consultant (and the host of Full Comp podcast)—to discuss how AI can change your restaurant marketing game.

Why aren’t more restaurateurs using AI?
”Whether people realize it or not, they’ve been using AI for years. Alexa is AI, Siri is AI, and over the years, you’ve figured out all of the different ways that you can use Alexa and Siri in your day-to-day life to add value.

I think the problem with ChatGPT and AI language models is that they do too much. And when something does everything, you do nothing with it. And so the learning curve isn’t learning how to use it—you just talk to it—the hurdle is figuring out all of the different things that you can do with it.”

Which AI tool should I use for restaurant marketing?
“ I think ChatGPT is probably gonna be the easiest model to use. I also think from a marketer’s perspective, it’s a really good place to go. The simplest thing that you could do is, number one, download it. Number two, pay the $20 a month.”

How do I start using AI for my marketing efforts?
“Lead with curiosity…if you don’t know where to start, whether it is with AI-based language models or the marketing strategy for your business, starting from scratch and asking fundamental questions will get you there. I would tell it to ask questions about [my restaurant]. I would tell it to ask questions about my audience on a Saturday night.”

Explainer: This is because ChatGPT is a language model that uses machine learning to improve its responses as you provide more context. By answering questions about your restaurant upfront, the AI’s responses will be better tailored to your business needs.

To illustrate what we mean, the Food Runner team went meta (not the Zuckerberg kind) and asked ChatGPT for the context it needs to prime it for contextual marketing requests. Here’s what it had to say:

What are different ways to use AI for restaurant marketing?

🔎 Researching competitors – Josh explains that AI doesn’t just have access to historical data—it also has access to everything on the internet, making it a powerful tool for competitive research. He offers this as a sample prompt after feeding the model information about where you’re located:

“ I want you to do a competitive analysis in my area. I want you to figure out what everyone else is doing for Easter, and I want you to help me conceptualize a concept that will be better than my competition.”

You can also try custom tools like RestaurantGPT, which scans your restaurant’s online presence to see how it stacks up against competitors—in exchange for your email.

📈 Creating offers & optimizing for reach – AI can also help you brainstorm offers of your own. Josh believes that most people have great restaurants but terrible offers, so he suggests this as a sample prompt:

“ Based off the principles of scarcity, urgency, and incredibly high perceived value, I want you to take this special (insert special) that we’re running this weekend and create an email that would inspire people to come in. What does that offer look like without discounting or freebies?”

And while creating an appealing offer is one thing, getting people to hear about it is another. That’s where optimizing for reach comes in, with a prompt like this:

“ Give me 10 options for a subject line. Optimize for high open rate and high click-through rate. Restructure this email in a way that’s going to increase the click-through rate. Give me 8 samples of calls to action that you believe will have a high click-through rate.”

And if the results aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, you can always ask AI to refine them with additional prompts. Here are some ways to do so, according to ChatGPT itself:

🤝 Building loyalty – Josh believes that the best restaurants in the world still have lackluster loyalty programs because they’re all based on transactions—like get $5 off when you spend $100. He suggests asking AI for loyalty program ideas that are rooted in experience and status instead.

Some ideas, drawn directly from Josh’s past experiences, include:

• Offering exclusive access to off-menu items
• Offering previews of seasonal menu items before the official launch
• Offering the ability to pre-purchase high-end liquor at the restaurant with liquor lockers

For more insights on using AI for restaurant marketing (and a few other meticulous tasks), listen to The Pre-Shift podcast episode or read the recap.