This is the time of year we can give it, give it, give it, give it all. Even Justin Bieber agrees that this is the season of giving. The season of celebration and joy also means the best offers restaurants can provide to their customers. With everyone in the Christmas spirit, how do you get that competitive edge in the market? Let’s explore a few exciting restaurant promotion ideas to engage your customers and increase the walk-ins:
1. Give them the reason to Dress Up
It’s officially the time to get out of those PJs and dress up. After being confined to four walls for most of the time during the last two years, people need a reason to dress up and move out of their house. What better time to give them exactly what they need. Restaurants can run a contest to give free dessert or some discount to the customers who show up as the best dressed during the Christmas week. To abide by the safety norms, restaurants can notch it up by offering a little extra to those whose masks are on the entire time or are wearing some cool masks to match the overall festive aesthetic.
2. It’s Wine O’clock
Christmas is known for gifts. So give your customers just one more reason to celebrate. This festive season, restaurants can offer discounts like 40% off on Christmas drinks. You can run the offer on some of the favourite Christmas drinks like mulled wine, eggnogs, hot buttered rum, Irish coffee, mimosa, champagne, Moscow mule, and more.
3. Make the most of Instagram
Customers love participating in the contests, and this is the era of social media. When everyone is swirling in the wind of Instagram, it is the best strategy for the restaurant to run an Instagram contest. You can ask your customers to post a picture of the Christmas meals at your venue and tag you. Then, the top 5 or 10 customers will get a complimentary drink or dessert on their next visit. Such activity will ensure the amplification of your social media engagements while increasing the repeat rate of the customers.
4. Safety First
Celebrations are a part of life, and so is safety. There is no denying the fact that we are still amidst the pandemic. But to ensure the customers of their safety and 50% seating capacity, restaurants can offer a 10% discount to those customers who make a prior reservation.
5. Christmas without Santa? Not a chance
Be it kids or grownups; everyone loves Santa. And there is no Christmas without the Santa. So restaurants can hire someone to be dressed as Santa who can chat with kids, listen to their wishes, and level up the entire spirit of the festival. This will ensure that families, especially with children, make a reservation to your place to have a gala time. Restaurant staff can even offer free coffee or dessert vouchers for January 1st to have the customers walk into their restaurant again.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way, these promotion tips will surely help your restaurant slay!
It’s December, the Friday of months! And your customers are up for celebration all month long. It’s the season of gifting, food, and getting together. This calls for something more special than your regular drinks on the menu for some happy cheers!
Here are some drinks that can amp up your menu this Christmas season. Have a look!.
1. Mulled Wine
It is a traditional drink enjoyed during the winter season, especially around Christmas. Wildly popular in Christmas markets in various parts of Europe, its popularity is such that there are even non-alcoholic versions of it. With the possibility to be a stand-alone offering, a lot of restaurants utilize the unique texture and flavor of this drink as a base for their other holiday cocktails as well.
Put simply, it is wine cooked in spices and served warm, making it a perfect drink for Christmas.
2. Hot Chocolate
Infuse comfort and flavour with this super decadent drink that combines cream & milk with chocolate. This is one of the most favourite hot beverages among diners during the winter season.
Serve it with marshmallows, cookies, or whipped cream; the variations can be countless.
3. Warm Apple Winter Punch
It is quite well known that fruits are the essence of drinks during the winter season. This one is a beautiful combination of orange, apple, lemon, and pineapple juices that makes this warm fruit punch heaven for beverage suckers. It can also be infused with spice to make it edgy.
4. Classic Eggnog
This traditional Christmas drink dating back to a hundred years is fairly easy to make. It is made of just five ingredients, including egg yolks and brandy.
This could bring that added cheer to your menu.
5. Nutmeg & Orange Christmas Coffee
While you spot so many Coffee lovers at your restaurant daily, here’s something to match their festive mood. Try this blend with nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and orange zest. It’s perfect for after dinner or even for lazy winter mornings.
6. Hot Toddy
Perfect for the colder winter months, this cocktail is a hit among whiskey lovers. It’s usually a mixture of whiskey and hot water with a few drops of honey & lemon juice. Many restaurants and bars have their own unique versions of it.
Make the most of this festive season with these specials on your menu. You can serve them in Christmas special cutlery (Starbucks has set an excellent example for all of us).
There are even more techniques with which you can make sure that you’re able to focus on making this holiday rush work most effectively to your restaurant’s benefit. For example, adopt cost-effective marketing strategies, streamline your operations and manage inventory with robust restaurant management solutions like supply chain management modules and restaurant POS.
A key factor in the struggle for existence can be brought out from Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest. Just like every other industry out there, the restaurant industry can breed cut-throat competition, proving ruthless to the passive and timid players.
Restaurants not only have to keep up with the luxury of fine-dining but have to keep up with the comfort of providing the same taste at home as a home delivery requirement. Hence, restaurateurs need to continuously keep on rebranding themselves to keep up with the changing times and customer preferences.
Rebranding a restaurant is one of the best ways to give your restaurant a new look (keeping the brand identity intact) and bring back the excitement to keep your baby lively forever!
Here are a few tips to keep you upbeat:
1. Take feedback seriously
It is crucial to let your customers know that they are being heard in real-time & then act upon their grievances immediately. It is essential to take feedback in a manner that reassures your customers & builds trust among them. This can only be achieved by acting upon their suggestions or complaints at the earliest.
This is made possible by inresto’s feedback app which notifies the restaurant manager instantly when a feedback is given. The restaurant manager can then give personalized treatment to his/her customers.
2. Check on competitors
It’s crucial to analyze how your restaurant branding stacks up in comparison to your competitors. Here’s what you should focus on:
Recognize the areas where your restaurant performs best, whether it’s food, cocktails, service, specialties, ambiance, or any other element. While growth is all about improving, you need to acknowledge where your business excels. If your bartenders are top-notch, you may want to focus on that in your marketing and branding. If customers love certain aspects of your decor, consider incorporating it in the new design.
Identifying where your restaurant is weakest will help you focus on where you can make the most significant improvements. For example, if you know your servers struggle with table layouts or the current seating system is hurting service, you can create a better floor plan. Your staff and customers should benefit from the changes.
A rebrand is a perfect time to take advantage of open opportunities. Look for ways you can expand physically or through delivery services, change the menus, or do something out of the box that makes people talk. Additionally, you can look at how your competition has been modernizing, then get ahead by adding your spin to it.
You want to be aware of what your competition is doing in order to be aware of the trends and market conditions. The restaurants in your area are vying for the same customers you are — especially if they have a similar theme or menu. Also, pay attention to the rising prices of regional foods. If a particular ingredient is getting too pricey, you may want to consider replacing it in your new menu.
These little details will help you achieve your goals. You’ll have a better restaurant individually as well as in comparison to others.
3. Involve your staff
Staff feedback and recommendation is equally relevant in running a restaurant. Staff have the most interaction with the customers hence their thoughts, suggestions, and concerns matter significantly. They are the frontliners – from serving to taking feedback and suggestions, it’s important that they are comfortable with the changes as well.
Hence, ideas of the bartenders – in terms of of styling the bar area and the chefs – for styling new dishes are the most important to be taken into consideration while rebranding a restaurant.
4. Revising the menu
It’s okay to change the décor but the menu of the restaurant changes the entire taste and vibe of the place!
The biggest attraction for customers is the food and drinks a restaurant serves. While the new look may be great at attracting more customers, the food and drinks is what is going to finally have them coming back.
The limited the number of dishes the classier the restaurant looks. This is because you establish a signature and speciality in a limited number of options and your audience craves to come back for more.
Hence, think simple but effective!
5. Focus on marketing and branding
Advertising is the only way to reach out after a rebranding!
Make a plan: When planning your rebranding as a whole, include a marketing strategy. Think about the types of advertisements you want to use, how you are going to design them, and how much you want to reveal. Sometimes, leaving a little mystery is a great attention-grabber.
Use social media: Whether your restaurant already has an established social media presence or is just beginning, a rebrand is a perfect time to use it to your benefit. You can engage with customers, get them excited for the reveal before your launch, and get feedback after. It’s also a great way to get in some free advertising by releasing dates and times, posting pictures or videos of menu items, and creating a teaser for the reopening party.
When you’re considering digital marketing solutions, some of the top options include Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business. Creating an active Facebook page will give you access to a large consumer base and allow you to interact with and reward customers. Instagram is the best site to take advantage of the food photography trend to boost your visibility and show guests what they can expect from your chefs and bartenders. inresto’s marketing solutions can help simplify the execution of virtually everything we have just mentioned, along with a multitude of other marketing solutions!
Finally, you can confidently implement these rebranding strategies to create a social media buzz and up the impact of your marketing efforts. Rebranding can also enable to better implement your business plans and improve your ROI in both, short and the long run.
As a restaurateur, have you ever realised the importance of retaining your existing diners? Research shows that acquiring a new customer is really tough in a highly competitive industry. As per the study conducted by Thanx Inc, 70% of retail and restaurant customers never make a return visit. The finding is quite significant in the present scenario as restaurants are struggling to cope up with the new challenges posed by Covid-19.
Hence, now it’s the right time to focus on your loyal customers. However, for making a repeat visit at your restaurant, your diners need to have a strong reason.
5 top tips for retaining customers at your restaurant
Let’s explore the various tried and tested techniques for bringing your loyal customers back to your restaurant.
1. Improve engagement with restaurant management software
A robust restaurant management software helps you collect important customer data such as their name, contact details, profession, address etc. Identify your target customers and engage them using the right communication channel. It can be SMS, e-mail or push notifications. Now it’s pretty easy as India’s leading digital restaurant management platform inresto’s Campaign module aids you in running marketing campaigns effectively. Depending on your target segment, reach out to a huge number of customers using these campaigns. There is also the option to automate the campaign so that you don’t have to employ human resources.
With a single click, you can communicate the message to a large audience. Assume that you are offering a limited period discount offer on buffet dinner. With a single click, you can spread the news to several employees working in the IT industry in the city.
2. Develop an attractive loyalty program
According to HT’s Customer Engagement Technology Study, 45% of diners will select a restaurant if they belong to its loyalty program. Hence, come up with a loyalty program that helps you retain your loyal customers. Keep the loyalty program and the redemption process simple. The criteria for awarding loyalty points can either be the number of visits at your restaurant or the amount spent. Offer the feature of instant redemption so that diners can avail discounts on their meal.
Send timely notifications about the loyalty points they have earned and the expiry date of the points. Last-minute offers and rewards can also be effectively promoted with a loyalty program. Extend special discount offers to your loyal customers on occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays.
3. Focus on social media platforms
It’s time to boost your restaurant’s social media presence with official Instagram and Facebook pages. As per the research conducted by Oracle Food and Beverage, Instagram is the most popular channel among younger demographics, with 49% of millennials and 46% of pre-millennials preferring the platform. However, among the older demographics, Facebook is the most preferred platform with 41% of Generation Xers and 22% of over 55s wishing to be contacted with it.
Post high quality images of lip smacking dishes on your restaurant’s official Instagram page. Ensure that you are posting pictures on a regular basis. Upload videos that offer your audience a glimpse to ‘behind the scenes’ of your restaurant. It can be the video of your chef preparing a signature dish. Instagram stories also aid a lot in boosting engagement. Launch contests and games that create interest among the social media users. An example is a special discount of 15% for the best comment on the latest image on Instagram.
4. Work on customer feedback
As per the report by Hyken.com, 43% of those surveyed stated that they don’t complain/leave feedback because they don’t think that the business cares. Hence,it is important to handle both positive and negative feedback with grace. With a good feedback management software, now you can personalise the questions on the feedback form. It helps you collect instant feedback as soon as the diners are done with their meal. There can be various parameters such as quality of food, service, behaviour by staff etc. where you need to improve.
Assume that a diner is not happy with the hygiene protocols followed by your restaurant. On receiving the feedback, conduct a meeting with all the employees. Check where it has gone wrong and take corrective action immediately. Emphasize the importance of implementing the Covid-19 safety measures. Get back to the diner, apologize and assure him that such unfortunate incidents will not recur in the future.
5. Focus on excellent customer service
The easiest way to win your diner’s heart is by offering amazing excellent customer service. As per the report by Ameritas, about 97% of customers will tell others about very good or excellent customer service experiences. Offering quality food at affordable rates is the key to the success of any restaurant. The portion sizes of food should be adequate for your diners. If there is any negative feedback about the food quality, fix the problems immediately.
Make sure that your staff greet the customers with a pleasing attitude. If your restaurant is offering home delivery services, ensure that the food reaches the customer’s doorstep on time. A restaurant management software will help you easily manage the rush in orders. Never make the customers wait too long for food. If there is any delay, inform the diners in advance. Have a live chat option on your website as well as mobile app. It helps your customers in reaching out to you quickly.
Parting Words
A restaurant management system can help you enormously in collecting valuable insights on customer preferences. As discussed above, it aids in designing marketing campaigns and developing loyalty programs. By implementing the aforementioned techniques, now you can easily foster loyalty among diners. In an era where restaurants are struggling with wafer thin margins, these tips will help you create a loyal customer base.
.jpg "The Restaurant Chronicles | Nov Edition | Winter Special")
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png "Retaining Customers Online- 5 Things Restaurants Should Try Out Right Now")
