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- Holidays like Christmas and New Year are excellent dates to attract more customers and increase sales of your cafeteria or restaurant.
Winter is coming! And the festive seasons. These festive seasons are also a peak in sales and profit margins for the hospitality industry.
Holidays like Christmas and New Year are excellent dates to attract more customers and increase sales of your cafeteria or restaurant.
However, with so many dining options available, it’s crucial to implement the right and practical customer engagement strategies to help you boost holiday sales this year!
INFORM CUSTOMERS THAT YOU ARE OPEN.
Many hospitality businesses take their annual break during these festivities. Take advantage and inform your clients that you are waiting for them with open arms. Here are some methods to implement this:
Show it on your website: Create an aesthetic festive banner for your website that informs customers that they can celebrate Christmas at your restaurant. This will help you drive restaurant reservations.
Post it on social media: The best way to reach the majority of your loyal and even potential customers over Christmas is to share it on social media. You can create simple banners or design templates in Canva to let your customers know about hours, days open, menus, holiday discounts, and any other information about events you host. Promote your restaurant on social media. Don’t forget to capture pretty pictures to show how you’re preparing for the holiday season and post them!
MAKE PROMOTIONS IN ADVANCE.
To boost restaurant sales, you can run digital and social media promotions from early December. Spend a week on a sale and deliver exciting gifts, rewards, discounts and special surprises.
People are very much looking for restaurants that can offer them a good deal, and if they see your campaigns often, you’ll capture their attention, increasing your chances of boosting your holiday sales.
Promotional campaigns help you reach a wider audience.
Here are some ideas for effective promotional campaigns:
- 1+1 on all drinks before 7 p.m. m.
- 15% discount on dinners.
- Subscribe to the restaurant’s newsletter and get a special discount coupon.
- The first 50 customers to book get a special Christmas dessert
- All guests dressed in red get a 10% discount on the final bill.
- Complimentary dessert for everyone who posts a photo of their Christmas meal
- 20% discount for everyone who shares a review of your restaurant online.
- 50% discount on Christmas drinks.
- Appetizers three for two.
- Surprise gifts for customers who spend over a specific limit.
- Free coffee voucher redeemable for the month of January.
GIFT CARD OPTION.
Restaurant gift cards can be a great way for friends and family to ensure they are giving a useful and much-appreciated gift. Having these gift cards available and advertised for these occasions can also increase your restaurant’s revenue. Also, they often end up spending more than the value of the gift card. In any case, this option can be a good way to complete your income on these dates.
OFFERS CHRISTMAS DINNERS TO TAKE AND BAKE.
For those who aren’t interested in the idea of cooking up an entire holiday feast but want to eat in the comfort of their own homes, consider offering grab-and-go prepared meals for pickup a day or two in advance. That way, those who prefer to avoid the stress that comes with throwing a feast can have a relaxing evening with friends and family.
Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to offer the full menu. You can also simply offer pre-made versions of some of your most popular appetizers or side dishes, so the roast is all that’s left to prepare!
ASK CUSTOMERS TO SHARE THEIR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS RECIPES.
One of the best ideas for these Christmas parties is to ask your customers to share their favorite recipes. This will help drive engagement to your restaurant and increase brand awareness.
Create a social media post asking customers to share their favorite dish and recipe. Then find the most common dishes you can cook. Invite some of the people and surprise them with that food in your restaurant. This will make them feel valued, help build loyalty, and increase your sales through word of mouth marketing.
