If you want to really go above and beyond, find out what would be personally meaningful to your top staff and try to give them that as best you can. Holidays can be a massive source of new business, but they also bring their fair share of competition.

Every restaurant in your area is going to be running promotions and specials to compete for that holiday dining dash. This is a day to pull out all the stops and celebrate someone incredibly important and special.

You want to offer a great experience and charge a price that makes this an incredibly successful day for your restaurant. This phrase is intentionally vague but entails a limitless supply of alcohol. Mimosas or wine are great options here, where you can supply a large amount of drinks at a relatively low budget.

Instead of ignoring this or trying to fight it, why not profit from it? Create a ready-to-grill, take-home package that people can order to make their cookout easier AND higher quality at the same time. You can even offer to grill it yourself for people who want the cookout experience without needing to do any work.

The demographic for this celebration tends to skew a bit younger, however, and while diners are willing to spend money, cost is still a consideration. A prix fixe menu is the perfect fit for this holiday.

It lets your customers receive an upscale experience while also providing a fixed price they can commit to before arriving at your restaurant.

Offer upsells like wine pairing, main course upgrades, or special desserts to increase your average ticket size and make more money from the big spenders who visit your restaurant.

Reach out to as many as you can and find one that is interested in collaborating with you. Look for a mutually beneficial collaboration that is going to help both businesses grow together, and make sure both companies are contributing to the promotion and being featured in any advertising you both run for the event.

Customers love the convenience of simply showing up and experiencing the menu without needing to make wine decisions at each course. Start by choosing two or three signature dishes and then choose either one glass of wine or one bottle that best compliments the food.

For example, your menu might offer three glasses of champagne, as well as a description of what dish they go with and why they pair well together. Those who celebrate it tend to do so with the entire family, and you can encourage families with children to choose your restaurant on Easter by providing them with a special, kid-friendly menu that is intentional rather than an afterthought.

The key here is to go a step beyond the normal kids fair of chicken fingers, fries, burgers, and pizza. Offer something exceptional but still accessible to young kids and then advertise it heavily leading up to the event.

This is an especially great promotion option for restaurants looking to attract families year-round. Halloween is all about fun. Halloween events are more about decoration than anything else.

You can do the same types of events you would do other times of the year, like trivia, karaoke, contests, and more — as long as you really put some effort into the décor. You can also do stuff like menu item puns, random candies, fall-themed desserts, and so much more. If there is ever a holiday to just go nuts and have some fun, this is the one.

The best way to tap into this demand is to roll out a little in-restaurant Irish pub of your own. Thanksgiving is a celebration of gratitude, and for many, a time to think about those less fortunate.

People want to give back, and you can help them do just that with a Buy-One-Give-One promotion. This is similar to a BOGO offer, but instead of providing customers with a free meal with each purchase, that purchase results in your restaurant donating a meal to those in need, usually through a partnership with a local charity.

Everybody likes gifts, especially around Christmas time. Offering a free gift during the month of December is a great way to tap into that Christmas energy.

You can offer a free appetizer. You can give away branded merchandise like Christmas-tree ornaments or cheap t-shirts. Or you can do something really simple like giving away a free item or two along with a connected purchase.

The idea here is to offer something low-cost to everyone. You can run a single-winner giveaway with a more noteworthy price any time. For Christmas, you want it to feel more like a gift than sweepstakes. One of the best ways to create regulars is to have a weekly special they love, look forward to, and show up for week in and week out.

Prizes can include anything from free drinks to gift cards to branded t-shirts or whatever you have available. The night can also be enhanced with other types of games or anything that creates a game-like or carnival-like atmosphere.

When you offer freebies as a one-off promotion to get people in the door, you are planning to recoup that cost through repeat orders at full price or at a minor discount where you are still bringing in a profit.

You want to be strategic about the loss leader item and make sure it depends on additional orders to be enjoyed. Craft beer is appreciated by a wide variety of people and can be paired with a wide variety of foods, making for a fun and interesting weekly experience.

To make your beer night special, choose a different selection of beers each week and include a description of why you chose it. Another great addition is to provide branded mugs or glasses customers can order.

Challenges that are nearly impossible are more spectacular and more likely to grab viral attention. Pair these with a notable prize. Challenges that are accessible are more fun and more likely to create regulars. Offer smaller prizes most people are capable of winning. Live entertainment can take many different forms.

The key here is to measure performance and either tie entertainer compensation to sales or make sure the bump in customers is justifying the expense. Trivia night combines a lot of what people like about game nights with what they love about live entertainment.

Trivia nights are great at pulling in regulars and can often appeal to a higher spending crowd than other types of activities. Some ideas to make these nights extra special include doing rotating themes, offering food and drink prizes for winners and runners up, and offering small discounts to all active participants.

Remember to use these nights to promote new menu items, specials occurring on other days, and anything else that could use some extra eyeballs. Given these nights are often presold and can be created in bulk, you are typically able to offer these at a compelling price point, further increasing the draw and encouraging customers to come back on a regular basis.

This type of weekly special is also a great opportunity to bring in guest chefs offering unique menus. The more variety you can provide from week to week, the more likely you are to get regulars. Designating a weekly night where a percentage of profits go to a specific charity allows you to attract customers, give back to your community, and support great causes at the same time.

While this will likely work better as a monthly event for some restaurants, depending on your location and clientele, this could make for the perfect weekly event. You might even consider trying a hybrid class, where you combine a light cooking lesson with a more typical dining experience, giving patrons the best of both worlds.

Maybe even pair it with a more standard promotion offer. BOGO offers are generally perceived as a better offer than a percentage discount or even a free appetizer, so assuming you only offer this deal on Customer Appreciation Night, it will end up feeling like… actual customer appreciation.

Regulars are the backbone of your business. The trick with creating a great loyalty program is to find something that coaxes more people from occasional purchases to frequent purchases without losing all your margins along the way.

We want to get people in the club as quickly and easily as possible, and then make them reach for the biggest rewards. A great way to do this is to use email or text signup as your entry point to the membership.

Take promotional events you would otherwise simply offer the general public and make them member-only, BUT all people need to do to become a member is simply signup via their email or phone number. You can apply this concept to the rest of the ideas in this category and really any of the ideas in this guide.

Consider which promotions to run for all customers and which to attach to membership, motivating more people to sign up. The power of a point system is in its simplicity. A lot of restaurants using a point system forget to tell their customers exactly how it works or help them track their points, which ultimately defeats the purpose of having the system in the first place.

We have a point-based system built directly into our Owner. com platform, and it will automatically send out emails just like this to your customers after each purchase. We want to incentivize our most frequent patrons to spread the word about our restaurant and even bring people in with them.

If you are using a point system, set it up so successful referrals result in a big point bonus you email the customer about and make a point of celebrating. We want to make that experience feel really great. We want to motivate that patron to continue referring people to our restaurant.

If you are offering any sort of the exclusive VIP rewards we talk about elsewhere on this list, make referrals a key entry point to the top rewards. People love getting a behind-the-scenes look at the places they frequent, and restaurants are no exception.

This is especially true for foodies, who already love learning about the origins of different foods, as well as how to prepare them. A great way to reward your loyal patrons and engage your local foodie community is to host recurring Behind-the-Scenes Tour nights, where you can introduce customers to your history, tell them how you prepare some of your most popular dishes, and give them an idea of what it takes to run your restaurant on a daily basis.

If you have an open kitchen, let people watch from nearby tables so they can see their meals being prepared. This is also the perfect promotional opportunity for cross-promoting with other businesses looking to get their names out there, like local farmers or specialty goods producers you partner with.

Consider inviting these partners along on your tour nights so customers can learn more about their offerings as well. Rotating local partners into the event will also keep it interesting for customers who want to return multiple times. Having your customers tag you on social media while visiting your restaurant is a great way to get exposure to new customers.

A few times a week, randomly pick a customer who has tagged you and surprise their table with free drinks or a free dessert.

Either way, this is a great strategy to get exposure to new customers AND create loyal customers who are eager to return to your restaurant again.

This one is less about an offer you run and more about how you present your brand. You can also take photos of your customers and add them to the walls. This sort of deeper engagement is an important part of creating real loyalty from your customers that goes beyond the food they are purchasing.

Just like a popup allows you to experiment with creating a new experience, you can achieve something similar while also building customer loyalty by holding exclusive dining events for members. The goal here is to create special, exclusive experiences people rave about and look forward to attending.

If you have a smaller customer base, try what we talked about earlier and attach these events to the lowest membership tier, where anyone who signs up via email or phone number can join the fun.

Quarterly or bi-yearly events are the perfect VIP bonus for outstanding patrons. And I can promise you they would LOVE to weigh-in and have some influence on the direction of that menu. Providing opportunities for customers to interact with and influence your business is both a great promotion tool and a great way to build loyalty.

If you already use limited-run menu items as a promotion tool — which I highly recommend — this becomes really easy and even systematic. You can periodically take previously run items and invite your customers to vote on what to bring back.

Attach this to the entry level of your loyalty program to motivate more people to signup, but only if you are doing it periodically.

It might even be somethin retro like fondue. This received massive coverage by the press. This is huge, but others offer such a massive offer to customers. This can help accumulate user-generated content, increase engagement on social media, and attract new customers.

Launch a loyalty program. Again, you need to come up with something genuine and worthy. You need to provide something really appealing that gives customers a compelling option to order food online. This can help build customer loyalty, encourage repeat business, and generate positive word-of-mouth recommendations.

Staple restaurant promotion ideas refer to tried-and-true marketing strategies that are commonly used in the restaurant industry. These ideas are not meant to make viral or something that gets published by news or press.

They are effective to drive traffic and increase restaurant sales. Holidays can be a great time to offer special promotions and events at your restaurant.

For example, you can choose any holiday, Black Friday, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and more you think are most popular in the region. Then, you use these occasions to offer special discounts.

Besides, you can also provide a special holiday menu or host a themed event to attract customers and generate buzz. You have implemented an online food ordering system to let your customers order directly from your website.

But, what if you are at a new location with no-so-easy-to-find? You can take help of third party food delivery, like Uber Eats or DoorDash. You can choose this as part of your marketing till you get exposure among dinners.

Later you can promote your own online food delivery system using social media channels and let users order using app and website. But, make sure you have gained enough exposure so you can achieve you goals quickly. Using third party food delivery, you can mega wide radius with discounted dishes.

Organizing charities will do two things: first, it will be a powerful way to promote your restaurant. Second, it will make a positive impact on your community. Even though you have plenty of options to organize charities, the two things —donating a portion of your profits to any cause or hosting a fundraising event will be great options for restaurant promotions.

For example, it will attract customers especially those passionate about the cause and generate positive word-of-mouth. Apart from attracting customers, organizing such events can help you strengthen your relationship with other organizations in your community.

Customers look for something fresh and exciting when visiting your restaurant or ordering online. Seasonal ingredients are the best way to make them experience something new.

However, you need to ensure a few things when creating a seasonal menu for your customers. Research the seasonal ingredients that are popular during the period you want to create the menu.

Highlight local food and ingredients so you can build a good repo with local suppliers. In addition, it will indirectly promote your restaurant by bestowing you as a supporter of local businesses. Gift cards will not just help you grow popular among GenZ people but also help you spike sales, albeit you have plenty of other options to increase restaurant sales.

Those who want to give a gift to their friends or relatives can get the possibility to connect with you. Besides, it will encourage repeat visits from customers with gift cards. With TikTok marketing as one of the best options for small and local businesses to grow customers and popularity, Influencer marketing is yet another best option.

Recently, we have seen a vast number of influencers popping up —thanks to social media channels like TikTok, Instagram, and others. They can help you attract more customers and grow popular in your region. Tip: Connect with local influencers or celebrities, as they can help you get emotional attention from the local communities.

You can easily create a buzz by giving your customers incentives, such as complimentary appetizers and discount vouchers if they follow you on social media channels. Ask every customer to follow your channels and get the best offer.

It will help you in many ways. For example, it will increase engagement and brand loyalty. Winter restaurant promotion ideas are the effective digital marketing strategies that most restaurants apply to attract customers during winter.

These ideas often incorporate seasonal themes that include warm and comforting dishes, winter events, holiday decorations and more. We have explained a few here for you to explore.

Offer a happy hour deal during cozy winter to encourage customers to visit your restaurant. Happy hour is a great idea to give customers enough reason to visit your restaurant, though you must have a compelling happy hour menu.

For example, the winter happy hour deal may include heavy discounts on drinks, small plates, and more. If you want more orders pre-paid online think about incentivizing such behaviour a bit.. Client type — allows you to set a promotion only for new clients or only for returning ones.

This is most useful to convince more of your website visitors to become your customers. Frequency — set how many times a promotion can be used by your customer. An example might be the reward campaign for your loyal customers mentioned above.

If you feel overwhelmed by all these options, then just stop reading so much stuff and just login now. The interface will guide you every step of the way. And to finish of properly, you can simulate and test any scenario for which you set a promo deal:.

The promo engine would not be complete without support for coupon codes. Most common restaurant promotion ideas with coupons involve mass distribution of leaflets or other printed materials or text messages.

The purpose here is to acquire new customers. However, they can also work for building loyalty. Print them on cards and offer them with pickup or delivery for discount on the next order. Coupon codes are automatically generated for a promotion, but you can also create it custom, for easier input like PRONTO Your customers just insert the code in the cart and the promotion shows up.

This way, every dine-in customer of yours may also become an online client, ordering more often, together with more people, without even occupying valuable table space during peak times.

Slip one of those promo cards inside the bag of every takeout order. There are good chances your customer is not eating alone, so your promo card could actually be seen by more people. Final tip: Not only is the online marketing module a great way of doing effective promo deals but it can also help track the success of your promotional efforts.

In your Admin panel you can see how many times a promotion was used. toggle navigation Food Ordering Restaurant Services Pricing Log in Get Access Now. Restaurant Promotion Ideas You Can Try Today.

Browse by topic. See Demo MENU. Browse more unique restaurant promotions here.

A restaurant promotion can be any special offer to guests at a restaurant. Many restaurant owners offer a percentage off a meal or specific menu item. These Sampling is a promotional activity where restaurants provide small samples of certain dishes for customers to try. Fast food chains, pizzerias, and ice cream 7 Food Advertisement and Promotion Ideas For Your Restaurant · 1. Offer A Solution · 2. Create Urgency · 3. Come Up With Exciting Discounts · 4

Food Sample Promotions - The 15 Best Food and Beverage Restaurant Promotion Ideas · Leverage a Big Local Event · Charities & Influencers · Holidays · Loyalty Offerings · Bundling and Fixed A restaurant promotion can be any special offer to guests at a restaurant. Many restaurant owners offer a percentage off a meal or specific menu item. These Sampling is a promotional activity where restaurants provide small samples of certain dishes for customers to try. Fast food chains, pizzerias, and ice cream 7 Food Advertisement and Promotion Ideas For Your Restaurant · 1. Offer A Solution · 2. Create Urgency · 3. Come Up With Exciting Discounts · 4

Learn more here. We had done a large campaign like this previously, but it was cost prohibitive. Think Halloween; think candy. Celestial Seasonings makes teas. In this video-based promotion, Southern Recipe celebrates Pork Rind Appreciation Day with football fans. NestFresh conducts an annual contest aiming to support charitable efforts with its giving campaign, NestFresh Cares.

Get Started Today. Barry Feldman is a content consultant for ShortStack. Barry was named one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. In an effort to improve security and the over-all experience of email recipients, Gmail and Yahoo have implemented new requirements for bulk senders.

Learn what they are and how to stay in compliance with this quick read. Learn how you can use query string parameters in your next entry form to collect better data and engage users. Uncover the secrets to viral giveaways with 17 comment-to-win contest ideas.

Elevate your brand effortlessly and attract a flood of new leads and followers. Join Fine tune your campaign. Design an interactive campaign fully tailored to your brand. Engage your traffic. Get leads.

Create the perfect interactive content to pull leads in. Streamline your workload. Handle several contests and analyze their data in one place.

Discover expert tips and trends for interactive marketing success. Get quick answers to common questions about Shortstack features. It allows your brand ambassadors to speak directly to consumers, and build a real connection with your future customers.

Let them experience the product, learn what makes them tick and genuinely understand their buying criteria. Supermarkets have a great infrastructure for food sampling opportunities and wider awareness campaign activity.

Working in foyers, car parks, or even internal event spaces outfitted with everything needed for a successful food sampling campaign that will reach a wide audience and create unique experiences. You can engage with customers, discuss their shopping habits, and encourage them to try the product.

The feedback from this type of promotion is invaluable. Increasing awareness is a critical first step in the success of any new company, brand, or product. Advertising, sampling, and experiential marketing are all components in the same promotional toolbox that can be used to raise awareness.

Raising awareness is an essential component of your communication and engagement strategy. A product sampling campaign can help your team to provide vital information to their target audience.

A campaign can use facts and figures to educate and engage the public. It lets you immediately answer any questions or objections, making a good first impression. Our extensive experience working with agencies, brands, small and large businesses, start-ups and established organisations makes us well-equipped to meet all your business or event requirements.

Access Point specialises in matching businesses with prime product sampling places and unique food sampling locations for you to develop and grow.

To assist you in making decisions, we use demographic information to locate the best promotional venue for your company or product.

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