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Restaurant promotion ideas guaranteed to attract new customers

What are the best restaurant promotion ideas, and more importantly how do you use them to attract new customers to your restaurant? Every restaurant operator has asked themselves this question, and today we’re going to answer it.

With so many restaurants to choose from, a customer can often be overwhelmed with choices. A great way to get them through your door over your competitors can be to offer enticing promotions which attract new customers to your venue. But it’s not just enough to offer a promotion, you need to have a restaurant promotion that works.  

At Access Hospitality, we help thousands of restaurant operators utilise hospitality software to attract and retain new customers, building a solid base of customers who are loyal to their brand. And, with new customers, it often starts with creative restaurant promotions. 

Posted 05/10/2022

What are restaurant promotions?

Restaurant promotions are special offers that will help you increase new business by getting your venue in front of a wider audience and attracting them to your business and encouraging them to return. From good old fashioned happy hour drinks to loyalty discounts and coupons, there are lots of creative restaurant promotion ideas to turn your one-time customer into a trusty regular. By identifying a promotion which is popular in your area you can help turn slower periods in your venue into big money makers. 

Restaurant promotion preparation

Before you even think about which restaurant promotion to go for, preparation is key. And there are several things you should do to prepare for releasing a restaurant promotion.

Know your ideal customer

Knowing your ideal customer is key for restaurant promotions as it will determine the type of promotion you choose. It’s impossible for a hospitality business not to know who their current customers are and who they want to target in the future.

For example, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Where are you located?

  • What age do your customers tend to be?

  • What motivates your customers?

  • Do you actually attract repeat customers?

Asking yourself these questions will help you lay the groundwork for designing a creative promotion for your restaurant that is sure to land new customers. 

Know your margins

Some promotions such as vouchers and coupons are going to have a specific monetary value, meaning that you need to weigh up the cost. Can you afford to offer drinks or food at a discounted price, or is it just not feasible in the current climate? 

To get the most value, it is best practice to promote offerings with high profit margins as a lead into the rest of your menu. For example, when promoting a new menu item such as a burger, it is much better to offer customers a freebie with their order rather than giving them a free starter or dessert. 

Consider your business challenges

Introducing a restaurant promotion is a great way to overcome business challenges, but you must be aware of these before you go all in. Restaurant promotions are a great way for restaurants to beat challenges, and any major issues can be detected by using a restaurant EPoS. 

5 restaurant promotion ideas 

There are lots of different promotion ideas you can try in your restaurant including happy hours, coupons and vouchers. We always recommend looking at what is currently available in the local area and seeing if there is a gap you can fill or a promotion that resonates with your local potential customers. Again, think about who you are trying to attract, as this will ensure you choose the right promotion for your customer 

A few ideas we’ve seen our customers have great success with are the following:

1. Create promotional events for your restaurant

Bottomless brunch 

Bottomless brunch promotions have steadily risen in popularity over the last decade. A great promotion to generate more bookings in your usually quiet periods, the instagrammable #BottomlessBrunch hashtag makes this a great promotion idea for targeting young adults, friend groups and students who will advertise your venue on their social media channels. Bottomless brunches often have a fixed menu and price which makes this an easy promotion to run in your venue.   

Fixed Price/ Set Menus 

Offering a range of fixed and set menus is another great way of appealing to new audiences. Customers who feel like they’re getting a bargain with your promotion are likely to come in and give the place a go, and also tell their friends. You’ll have so many new and existing customers coming in that you might need to invest in a restaurant booking system. With many restaurants also having optional add-ons for their set menus, you’ll often see the spend-per-head quickly tot up.  

Live Music 

Many restaurant operators we work with host live music nights in their venues to create extra interest. If there are slower nights in your restaurant, the sound of live jazz trickling into the street, or showcasing local talent can be a great way of drawing in new crowds. However, there are some strict do’s and don'ts with live music in restaurants and they all depend on the vibe you are trying to set.

Ensure that the music isn’t so loud that diners can’t hear each other speaking, and always ensure you don’t prioritise entertainment over quality food.

Loyalty Schemes 

Running loyalty schemes in your restaurant is a great way of building customer loyalty. Whether they collect points with each visit or stamps towards a final goal of a freebie, having some kind of card in their wallet can help keep the venue at the front of their mind. Our own booking system enables you to create unique labels for your customers, helping your floor staff identify regular customers can help you to give great service to those who are loyal to your business.  

Special Nights (Themed Cuisine, Themed Menus) 

Running special nights on a few occasions can again turn a slower day into a hot ticket. Whether it’s tying in with the change in season or targeting a popular sporting event, performing menu analysis to create a new bespoke menu can get customers through the door. Lots of our customers have created themed nights around film releases, the World Cup or just seasonal menus to tie in with the time of year to much success.

After your promotions have hit big with new and existing customers, don’t neglect customer service. Prioritising customer experience and investing in a suitable table booking system or even hospitality guest Wi-Fi software is a great step in turning your new customers into loyal regulars.

2. Gift card promotions

Gift cards and vouchers are an easy restaurant promotional strategy that come at a low cost for the business. An online voucher management system means that customers can purchase vouchers online without any input from you. Research suggests that customers in the UK spend as much as £48 more than the value of the gift card or voucher when they come to use them, so they are a great promotion for restaurant businesses. 

3. Using social media to promote your restaurant

Social media is one of the most effective ways to expand your reach and be discovered by new audiences. The key here is to get your content in front of as many users as possible, to do this, many venues will run competitions or incentives to get you to share their posts. 

Promoting Restaurants on Instagram  

Competitions help to increase interactions with your social media accounts, with users tagging and resharing posts which will lead to an increase in your follower account. By creating shareable content across social media platforms and making sure you use high quality images of your food and drink items you can convince your new followers to visit your venue. Also, make sure to share your customers’ posts to your Instagram story, as this will incentivise others to do the same for some easy followers and engagement.  

Promoting Restaurants on Facebook  

By first selecting the objective of your campaign, running ads through Facebook can help you reach audiences depending on your target demographic. Whether you want more customers to visit your website or get more likes on your page, you can tailor each campaign to your ideal audience using age, interests and geography.

4. Use of influencers /PR invites

Creating a buzz around your venue is a great way to generate interest and attract new audiences. With the success of social media foodies and accounts dedicated to trying new restaurants, PR invitations can be an effective way to reach new audiences. Influencer marketing can be useful if you have a unique item on your menu that other venues don’t offer. Instead of showcasing it yourself, inviting an influencer to your establishment can be a great way of showcasing the ‘wow’ factor of your item.  

Many accounts are dedicated to specific regions and areas so find your local influencers and invite them to try your venue in the hope they will then share their experience with their followers. Whether it’s Instagram stories or a write up in your local paper, getting people talking about your venue is always a step in the right direction. 

5. Use a CRM to promote to your customer base

Utilise a hospitality CRM to manage your customer data to help push promotions that target the right audience, for example you might want to specifically target parents for your latest half term kids eat free offer. By collecting opt in for marketing as part of the booking journey, your hospitality booking system can help you build audience lists and inform future marketing campaigns.  

Read the following tips to use your CRM effectively:

Tip 1 - Analyse your sales data from last year to identify lower performing months and generate an email promotion to draw return customers back during this period.  

Tip 2 – Run an automated birthday campaign that sends customers a voucher to use in your venue on their birthday.  

Ready to run your first restaurant promotion? 

In this article, we’ve looked at several different ideas for running promotions in your restaurant, as well as the importance of preparing for restaurant promotions. So, whether it’s a brand-new midweek brunch offering or a tasty Taco Tuesday night, a hospitality booking system like Access Collins can help you book in customers who discover your restaurant through your promotional campaign and track the success of your new promotions.  

If you’d like to find out more about how Access Hospitality software can help you with marketing and promotions in your restaurant, get in touch with the team today.

Find out more ways to develop your restaurant marketing and increase your restaurant profits.