The best restaurant promotion ideas
that help increase sales

What is a restaurant promotion?

A restaurant promotion is a marketing strategy used by restaurants to attract new customers, retain existing customers, increase sales, and promote specific products or services.

Restaurant promotions can take various forms, such as discounts, special offers, contests, loyalty programs, and happy hour deals. The goal of these promotions is to encourage customers to come in or order food online and in return they get rewarded with discounts or fee items.

A number of platforms (restaurant marketing channels), including social media, email newsletters, printed advertising, and word-of-mouth, can be used to promote promotions.In this article, we will take a deep dive into 10 of the most successful restaurant promotion ideas that you can implement today to assist you in positioning your company against competitors and establishing your reputation in the industry.

Restaurant promotion ideas

Happy hour discounts

Happy hour specials usually provide customers with discounts on food and drink at off-peak times, like the late afternoon or early evening. These promos can increase sales of alcoholic beverages and appetizers by enticing patrons to visit the restaurant during slow periods.

Scenario: Let's say that you have consulted your restaurant sales report and noticed that, Wednesdays between 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM generate the lowest sales for the month.

Solution: Create a restaurant happy hour promotion for that period. Offer discounts on alcoholic drinks when paired with an appetizer like wings.

Family meal deals or Group discounts

For large groups or families, you can provide exclusive offers like complimentary meals for kids under a specific age or affordable meal packages. These promos target groups and families who are searching for convenience and good deals.

Scenario:You’ve noticed that the inventory for the items on the kid menu is slow-moving. This could be an indication that your restaurant is not as kid-friendly as you thought.

Solution: Create a restaurant promotion that pairs the kid menu with other items on the menu. Example “1 kids meal + 2 main courses + 3 desserts” for a flat price.

Buy One, Get One (BOGO) Deals

BOGO promotions reward customers with a free item with the purchase of another item at a regular price. This is a great promotion to help you move slow inventory and a whilst remaining profitable.

How it works: Let’s say you’re selling a menu item for $10 that costs you $4 to produce. With the BOGO deal, you can now offer 2 of these items, which will now raise your costs to $8. That still leaves you with a profit of $2! Now everybody is happy, you made a profit and moved slow inventory. Your customer leaves satisfied because they “Got something free.”

Discount Coupons or Codes

Restaurants frequently offer discount coupons via a variety of platforms, including social media, email newsletters, and local newspapers. These coupons usually encourage clients to visit the restaurant and redeem the offer by offering a percentage discount on the entire bill or particular menu items.

Scenario: Another restaurant has opened 2 doors down from your establishment. They offer an identical cuisine to what you’re offering at roughly around the same price point.

Solution: Create a flyer using Gloriafood’s restaurant flyer maker. The flyer includes all of your restaurant’s information and a coupon code that customers can redeem if they come to your store to eat. Hand out the flyers around the neighborhood and stick them in the to-go packaging when a customer orders takeaway.

Free delivery promotions

If your restaurant has its own delivery drivers a good way to drive delivery orders is by removing the delivery fee. When offering free delivery promotions you should always be mindful of your profit margins. Some restaurants are profitable enough to absorb the cost of the delivery fee, while others raise the prices of menu items for delivery to recuperate the loss of the delivery fee.

Scenario: You’ve looked over your delivery heatmap and realized one of your delivery zones has way fewer orders than the others.

Solution: Create a free delivery restaurant promotion for the delivery area in question. Advertise the promotion somewhere visible, like on the top of your online menu. Ensure you set a minimum order amount in the promotion’s requirements.

Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs reward regular consumers with discounts, freebies, or special incentives, based on how often they visit or spend, With every transaction, customers can accrue points that can be redeemed for discounts or savings on subsequent trips, encouraging recurring business and retaining customers.

Scenario: You’ve known your regulars for a long time and have gotten to know them very well. You want to do something nice to show them that you appreciate their “loyalty”.

Solution: Create a loyalty program that discounts their food on every 10th order or every $100 spent.

Conclusion

The best restaurant promotions ideas are those that are aimed at the target market and brand of the restaurant while providing value to clients. You can drive sales and enhance client satisfaction by customizing promotions based on your customers preferences and behaviours. Effectively executing these restaurant promotion ideas can help you increase sales, attract and keep customers, and enhance your restaurant’s presence in the community.