Everything has a cost. It might not be a dollar value; it may cost time, energy or the big one opportunity cost.

Not investing in a marketing strategy is free.
But what is the missed opportunity?
To achieve a return on your marketing investment, the first step is you need to invest.

There are many free marketing tools available, but free may be costing you if you are not using them correctly.

You create a website using a free tool.
You put up some pictures and create some content but is it effective?
Is the information people after easy to find and understand?
Is it optimized for search engines?
Does it give a good understanding of the type of experience a guest will have at your restaurant?

With your website, you only have 5 seconds to make a great first impression. However, you may have a "FREE" website, but if it is not converting websurfers into paying guests, then that's a missed opportunity.

Now "FREE" is costing you revenue and new guests.