Proper restaurant marketing can help you attract new customers, expand your customer base, and ensure customer loyalty. As a restaurant owner, it’s your responsibility to develop a marketing strategy that can boost sales and raise brand awareness. That’s where restaurant promotions come in.
Restaurant promotions can be a fantastic way to spread word of mouth about a new restaurant or encourage existing customers to come for a meal or a drink. From special menus and free meals to happy hour giveaways and coupons, there are so many restaurant promotions you can run to incentivize loyalty in your customer base.
If you want to learn more about restaurant promos, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled a handy guide to restaurant offers and promotion strategies to give you ideas and explain how to set them up in your business.
Restaurant promotions are special offers that restaurants put on to encourage customers to come and eat at their business. They can range from discounts and special menus to freebies and special events.
In short, restaurant promotions are anything a restaurant does to promote itself to new, potential, or existing customers.
New business owners might think that restaurant promotions could lose them money — offering a discount or giving out free drinks seems a little counterintuitive.
However, the right marketing campaign can help you attract new customers and increase loyalty in your existing customers. People are more likely to come into your restaurant repeatedly if they think they’re getting a good deal.
Loyal customers also tend to spend more than new customers. The average increase in visits and spending in restaurants due to loyalty programs can be up to 30%. Loyal customers come to eat more often and spend more when they do.
Now that you know how restaurant promotions can help your restaurant business, here are six ideas for promos and discounts you can offer customers to encourage them to visit your local business.
A loyalty program can be an excellent way to promote your restaurant. A 2022 survey by Deloitte revealed that 47% of customers who were part of a loyalty program use their membership multiple times each month, with almost a third of diners using it several times a week. Clearly, offering small rewards can be an excellent way to get loyal customers who will eat with you regularly.
So, how do rewards programs work?
Customers can collect points or stamps whenever they buy something in your restaurant. They can redeem these points or stamps to earn coupons or other rewards, such as free desserts or appetizers.
If you already have a rewards program but are struggling to get customers to sign up, offer an incentive to encourage them — 100 bonus points or a free cup of coffee at the point of signup could be enough to swing it in your favor!
Another effective way to promote your restaurant is using email marketing. Ask customers to sign up to your email list. (You can offer discounts at signup to encourage them to do this.)
You’ll now be able to send offers directly to their inbox every time you’re running a restaurant promotion. If you ask for a few personal details when they sign up, you can also run personalized promotions such as birthday offers or coupons.
This is a fantastic way of personalizing your marketing efforts and making customers feel like an integral part of your brand.
Many restaurants have specials menus with items sold at reduced prices for a certain period. A specials menu can be a great way to promote your restaurant, but it also lets you test new menu items and see how successful they are with your customer base.
You can also run special offers for existing menu items that aren’t doing as well as you’d expected. If you reduce their price for a limited time, you can see if they’re priced too high or if you need to remove them from your menu altogether.
One of the most popular restaurant offers is a happy hour, which features drink specials or buy-one-get-one-free deals at a limited time.
A happy hour offer can be an excellent way to encourage guests to order food or drinks at times of day that are less busy — mid-to-late afternoon is a popular time. If you offer two-for-one drinks or combo deals from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., you’re more likely to have customers coming in to fill the usually empty space.
Customers enjoying free or cheaper drinks will likely stay longer and order food when they’re hungry.
If your restaurant website offers online ordering, you can offer free delivery if customers order directly from you instead of using a third-party delivery app like Uber Eats or Grubhub. Customers might be less likely to find your website directly, but you could give a promotional pamphlet with all orders to tell people about the available discounts if they order directly from you.
Alternatively, to save money on delivery costs, you could give a gift card or coupon with takeout orders when the customer picks up the food themselves.
Many restaurants run local events like pop-ups to encourage new visitors and spread the word about the business.
One option would be to Invite local influencers and food bloggers to a special dinner when you’re updating your menu. You can offer them discounted checks or free entrees in exchange for promoting your restaurant (just be sure to disclose this when posting about it on your social media channels).
Another idea could be to start a bi-monthly trivia night, which could be a fun way to encourage larger groups to eat or drink with you.
Here are a few handy tips and tools to help you get started with restaurant promotions in your business:
Use social media: Social media marketing can be an effective way to advertise special events, promotions, or discounts. It’s free and easy to use and can help you create a brand that customers want to engage with.
Make the most of public holidays or events: Run special events or offers that coincide with public holidays or events. A special menu for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day could be a fantastic way to fill your tables. You could even have drink offers for sporting events like the Super Bowl.
Use a suitable point-of-sale (POS) system: An all-in-one POS system makes it easier for staffers to process discount codes or vouchers. You can set them up ahead of time and simply scan a code or enter the relevant promo code.
Automate your order process: If you run a quick-service restaurant with limited staff, you can set self-service kiosks through KioskBuddy to speed up the order process. KioskBuddy lets customers place and pay for orders themselves — and you can add a promo code option to the checkout process to make it easy for customers to use discounts and coupons. You can even connect to your loyalty program.
Whether you have a dine-in restaurant or a food truck, restaurant promotions can help you target customers and increase your average order value.
With the right tools, restaurant promotions don’t have to be complicated. KioskBuddy makes it easy for customers to redeem coupons and collect loyalty points. You can also customize your checkout flow to ask customers to sign up for your mailing list, meaning you can boost your email marketing efforts without the need for staffed checkouts.
Sign up for KioskBuddy to enjoy simple self-ordering and to easily carry out restaurant promotions.