7 Back-to-School Restaurant Promotions to Boost Engagement & Sales

Back-to-school season is a busy time for parents, students, and teachers alike. Take advantage of this chaotic time of year to grow your restaurant’s sales.

How? By offering impossible-to-resist back-to-school restaurant promotions that will keep customers coming back for more.

4 benefits of back-to-school promotion ideas for restaurants

Thinking of adding a back-to-school promo to your restaurant menu? Here’s why this is a good idea:

• 1. Attract more families to your restaurant: Back-to-school is a big deal for kids and parents so targeting this demographic by offering family discounts or kids’ menus will help you attract more families to your restaurant.
• 2. Boost your end-of-summer sales: If your restaurant is located in a town with a big student population, sales will tend to drop in the summer. Get an early start to your fall season by running back-to-school promos in the last month of summer, anticipating the students’ return, and targeting families that have started to prepare for the upcoming school season.
• 3. Increase online sales by targeting busy college students: Back-to-school is the perfect opportunity to start selling your food online if you aren’t already. Many students have little time to go to lunch or dinner at a restaurant, and they prefer to order in. Ensure your back-to-school promotional items are also available for pickup and delivery, not just in the restaurant.
• 4. Grow your reach in the community: Your back-to-school restaurant promotions shouldn’t strictly target parents and students. Teachers are also going back to work and would benefit from discounts and special offers for those long nights grading papers.

When should you run your back-to-school restaurant deals?

How long does the back-to-school season run? While there’s no official timeline for this, most businesses start promoting their back-to-school offers as early as July going well into September.

As a restaurant, you can start in August, as families begin preparing for the new school year and have less and less time to cook food at home. Keep the promos going for the entire month of September as students accommodate to their new schedule.

7 back-to-school restaurant promotions to attract students, parents & teachers

Without further ado, let’s look at a couple of back-to-school promotions that you can implement to make your restaurant the go-to place for busy families, college students, and teachers.

Celebratory first day of school dinner for the whole family

Many families like to mark the first day of school with a celebratory dinner, whether that’s at a restaurant or at home. Regardless of the location, you can supply the food.

Create a meal bundle promo that includes appetizers, main courses, and desserts for the entire family at a special price.

You don’t need two separate menus to offer this meal bundle to both dine-in and takeaway customers.

Simply set up your online ordering menu using GloriaFood and then generate a QR code menu that customers can use for dine-in ordering.

Discounted kids’ menu

Targeting families with kids means you need to brainstorm a kids’ menu with delicious and nutritious back- to-school foods such as chicken and vegetable noodles, air-fried fish fingers, and lactose-free mac and cheese.

And because parents care about the food their kids consume, make sure you list all the ingredients, allergens, and nutritional information for each dish.

Since kids’ menus are typically smaller anyway, offer them at a discounted price to encourage customers to bring their kids to your restaurant.

50% discount on your next order if you order at least 5 times

At the end of the back-to-school season, you want to look back at the experience and be able to say you got a few loyal customers out of it.

One of the best ways to ensure that is to reward repeat purchases. This is especially effective for customers who order delivery a lot – think college students who end up studying (or partying) all night and want to order a pizza or a burger because their fridge is empty.

Similarly, teachers who are burning the midnight oil can take advantage of this promo to save some money if they’re loyal customers.

Encourage customers to keep ordering by setting up a 50% discount promo that only applies to returning customers who have ordered at least 5 times.

Buy one large pizza, get one free

School is a shared experience. Whether it’s high school or college, students will want to share meals with friends. And what better way to attract two people who want to have dinner together than with the promise of a freebie?

The classic BOGO (buy one, get one) promo is excellent for motivating customers to order more often. It doesn’t have to be pizza; it can be anything your restaurant is known for, be it pasta, tacos, or burgers.

Happy hour all first week of college

The first week of college is a cause for celebration, whether you’re reunited with old friends or making new ones. Make your restaurant the center of it all by starting Happy Hour.

Offer irresistible discounts on beer, wine, and cocktails every day for that first week to attract college students in your area.

Remember to always check IDs and practice responsible alcohol service to keep your customers and staff safe.

If you want, you can also organize a family-friendly happy hour with non-alcoholic cocktails and fun drinks for the kids.

Free delivery for large group orders

When you order delivery often, the delivery fees can add up. Offer free delivery to orders over $50 to encourage customers to gather their friends or roommates and place a large order together.

For customers who prefer to drop by the restaurant to pick up their takeout and eat it at home or in the dorm, make sure you also enable pickup, not just delivery. This will eliminate delivery fees altogether.

Free coffee with any lunch menu

It’s well-known by now that students run on pizza and coffee. Give your customers a much-needed pick-me-up whenever they stop by or order food for lunch with a free cup of joe.

This simple promo proves that back-to-school restaurant promotions don’t have to be complicated to work. Think of the audience you’re targeting and what they need and your promotions will convert.

How to set up your back-to-school promo ideas in minutes

If you want to set up any of the back-to-school restaurant promotions above or other special offers you’ve prepared to celebrate the new school year, we’ve prepared a video tutorial that will walk you through the steps.

With GloriaFood’s promotions module, you can add your first back-to-school promo in minutes. Let’s see how:

How to promote your back-to-school restaurant specials to reach a larger audience

You have your back-to-school meals ready, and the promos are up and running, but how will customers know? Here are a couple of ideas for marketing your special offers:

• Post about it on your website: Everyone who visits your website should quickly see your back-to-school promos. Dedicate a section of your homepage to letting customers know they can enjoy discounted food and special offers if they visit your restaurant or place an order.
• Spread the news on social media: Let your followers know they’re in for a treat this back-to-school season. You can also enable them to order your delicious dishes directly from Facebook by adding an ordering link to the Start Order button.
• Print flyers and distribute them around the neighborhood: Do you have a back-to-school restaurant promotion you’re particularly proud of? Print it on a flyer using our flyer generator and share the love in the neighborhood.

Wrap up

Running a successful restaurant means taking advantage of every chance you get to reward customers and promote your dishes. The back-to-school season is no exception. Test the back-to-school restaurant promotions above until you find the perfect recipe for you.