The Traffic Game: Traffic Keeps Getting Pricier. Only Customers Who Remember You Are Yours

In June 2023, US egg-sandwich chain Eggslut opened in Causeway Bay with long queues outside. Less than two years later, it closed (SCMP).

Queues, social media buzz and the exposure that paid ads bring are all traffic. Traffic can put you in front of a lot of people at once, but it doesn’t make them remember you. And it usually isn’t yours: buzz fades, and when the ads stop, people drift away.

That is the traffic game: it looks like a bargain at first, and gets more expensive the longer you play.

Why traffic keeps getting more expensive

Start with the social platform restaurant advertising leans on most. According to Tinuiti’s Digital Ads Benchmark reports, Instagram’s cost per 1,000 impressions rose 14% year on year in Q1 2025 (report) and 12% in Q2, its fifth straight quarter of double-digit growth (report). Growth slowed to 8% in Q4 (report). These figures are mainly from US advertisers, and costs vary a lot by platform and industry. But on Instagram, the same exposure has cost more quarter after quarter.

Buzz works the same way. Once a shop goes viral, the next video has to be wilder and the next campaign bigger just to keep the same attention.

There is nothing wrong with traffic itself. The problem is that traffic itself isn’t yours. Today’s exposure brings customers in; when it stops, they may not remember you.

After going viral, who stays?

A social media buzz is borrowed traffic.

Taiwanese croissant shop Hazukido drew long queues when it arrived in 2018, grew to about 12 shops at its peak, and had closed them all by 2025 (Marketing-Interactive). Mixue reached nine shops within about three years of arriving, then closed six of them this year (CNA, in Chinese).

To be fair, most of these brands never explained why they closed; reports point to rent, people spending across the border and a weak retail market. We can’t say they closed because they relied on hype. But one thing is clear: queuing once doesn’t mean a customer comes back.

One signature dish, for decades

On the other side are shops that have done the same thing for years. Lan Fong Yuen’s silk-stocking milk tea recipe hasn’t changed in more than 20 years, and there is still often a queue (China Daily). Kau Kee has focused on beef brisket for decades, and still had queues of dozens in 2024 (A Foodie). Tim Ho Wan, built on a baked barbecue pork bun, was recognised by Michelin for the 17th year in a row this year (Malay Mail).

A long history is no guarantee. Lin Heung Tea House, open for more than a century, closed in 2022. But these places share one thing: customers can say what makes them different, and keep recommending them to friends.

How customers actually choose restaurants

A 2023 YouGov survey found that 76% of Hong Kong adults say word of mouth helps them choose a restaurant. A 2021 global Nielsen study found that 88% of people trust recommendations from people they know most.

Regulars are worth more than new customers. Toast and Resy analysed US restaurant transactions this year and found that about 7% of guests, the ones who return, can drive up to half of all orders (report).

You can buy traffic from a platform. You can’t buy customers who remember you and recommend you to friends, and nobody can raise the price on them.

Keep your customers your own

First, answer one question: what makes you different? If customers can’t name your signature dish or what makes your business unique, more exposure only brings passers-by. Our previous article shows how to plan content so viewers get to know what you sell.

Look after your regulars. Remember their names and what they order, collect their contact details and run your own social accounts, so regulars think of you first instead of waiting for an ad to bring them back.

Let genuine word of mouth speak for you. Instead of spending your whole restaurant advertising budget on buying exposure, invite creators whose style suits you to try your food, so more people see honest reviews. In our case study of a restaurant open for more than 50 years, saves and shares rose from 213 to about 17,000 after the creators were reselected.

That is what Try.Eat! does. We don’t sell traffic; we help restaurants find creators who genuinely like them and want to introduce them. You post a tasting campaign, creators apply, and you choose by their grade. See our restaurant marketing plans for details.

Finally, ask yourself three questions

What makes your restaurant different? How would customers describe you to a friend? How much of your business comes from regulars?

If you know all three answers, traffic is a tool, not a trap.

Want to talk with us about how to make more customers remember you? Book a free 20-minute consultation.