With the rise of digital adoption and social media, savvy consumers are now more informed and more demanding than ever. In addition, new food trends like Veganism, Flexitarianism, and Vegetarianism continue to reshape the dining scene.
Even in this increasingly competitive environment, restaurants continue to find new ways to stand out. Restaurant holiday promotions usually offer a great opportunity for operators to effectively drive traffic in their locations during an otherwise slow time of year. However, many restaurants still struggle with developing strategies that can help them win during these key months.
However, this does not imply that you cannot succeed with your holiday promotion strategy in 2022. You can still win big this winter if you understand your target audience and develop an effective business plan.
What You Should Know About Restaurant Holiday Promotions in 2022
While staying on top of current trends is important, it’s also important to look back at how things were done in the past. Restaurant holiday promotions have been a mainstay in the Food and Beverage industry for decades. You can learn many things from past promotions to tailor your future strategies better.
For example, many restaurants have offered gifts such as a free dessert, drinks, or appetizers with the purchase of an entrée. While these can be great for drawing in customers, the gifts themselves don’t have any significance, leading to their effectiveness wearing off over time.
Similarly, many restaurants have run holiday promotions that involve giving away gift certificates. While giving away holiday gift cards can be a great way to encourage visits, it doesn’t offer additional incentives for customers to come back to your location over and over.
Strategies to Win with Restaurant Holiday Promotions in 2022
While there are many different strategies you can employ for your restaurant promotions, it’s important to choose the right ones that align with your restaurant’s strengths. We recommend you look at the following ideas to see which can be best utilized for your business this holiday season.
Food Tastings and Sampling Events
Food tastings and samplings are still one of the best ways to drive business during the holiday season. If you run a bakery or restaurant that serves desserts, it may make the most sense to do sampling events for desserts. On the other hand, if you own a Chinese buffet, you may want to hold Chinese food sampling events to drive more guests to your location.
Additionally, as you implement your food sampling events, you should remember that guests come to your restaurant for more than just the food. They are there for the entire experience, so you must deliver on all fronts.
What does that mean in practice? You have to have the food ready and served promptly, which means having enough staff to serve the guests. You also need to ensure that the guests are comfortable and have enough space to enjoy their food.
Giveaway Events and Activities
Like food sampling, giveaway events and activities are also a great way to drive guests to your restaurant during the holidays. You can do gift card giveaways, raffles, or even door prizes by giving away free meals or desserts. However, unlike food sampling events, you don’t need to have the giveaways on the premises.
You can easily organize these types of events online. If you offer gift cards or certificates as part of your promotion, check with your state to ensure this is a legal form of promotion. Some states require you to have a limit on the number of gift certificates you can give away at any given time.
A la Carte Dinner Event
Another restaurant promotion idea to consider is hosting an a la carte dinner event during the holidays. This works well for restaurants that serve full meals but also offer smaller dishes or appetizers. It can also work well if you’re trying to drive more business to your lounge or bar.
An a la carte dinner event can be a great way to attract businesspeople and executives in your area. If you want to host this type of event, you can offer an a la carte menu, with the price based on the number of courses that the customers order. You can also offer an a la carte menu for a fixed price.
Give out a card for every purchase
Giving something away when guests buy something from your business may appear illogical. However, the holidays is a time for giving. Giving your clients a special holiday present when they come to your business may be just what they need to get them in the door. In 2019, one Hampton restaurant made waves by delivering special gifts and stockings to every kid who attended on a specified day.
You can also promote the holiday spirit by giving away holiday apparel with your restaurant’s branding. Starbucks, for instance, is well-known for providing free reusable coffee mugs throughout the holiday season.
Promote your business online
Promoting your products online is an excellent strategy to bring in more clients. You can use social media, a site, email campaigns, and paid advertising to spread the word.
For instance, if you specialize in handcrafted pies and other festive delicacies. You can send out coupons or free dessert offers via email to urge folks to choose your restaurant over others in town.
Simultaneously, market your business on social media. Capture eye-catching images to demonstrate how you’re prepared for the Christmas season. You should also publicize your holiday menu options to attract more customers.
Why is a Holiday Promotion Important for Restaurants?
Restaurants benefit greatly from the holiday season. The holidays can account for up to half of a restaurant’s annual income in some cases. Because of the number of individuals visiting and dining out, restaurants are among the busiest venues during this period.
84% of restaurant owners expect pre-pandemic sales levels to be met or exceeded during the holidays. 33% of operators anticipate a return of corporate Christmas parties throughout the holidays.
During those periods of the year, people prefer to spend more than they normally would. It is also when most diners arrive in groups (with friends or family). To win in this competitive industry, you must guarantee that your business is ready for the festive season.
Conclusion
Restaurants can utilize many ideas and strategies to better appeal to their customers during the holiday season. Of course, you’ll have to come up with something specific to your type of establishment, but the general rule of thumb is to do something value-added.
That means going beyond what your customers are used to and ensuring they walk away from experience feeling like it’s worth the price they paid.
