Small Restaurant Promotion Ideas to Boost Sales

Your restaurant may be small, but your profit doesn’t have to be! If you add some attractive promotions on top of delicious food and great service, you are on your way to becoming a staple name in your community.

Providing restaurant deals will encourage potential clients to take the final step and either make a reservation or place an online order.

Check out these small restaurant promotion ideas that are guaranteed to boost your sales:

How promotions can help small restaurants thrive

Offering promotions is a marketing strategy most restaurant owners use because it has proven to be efficient. Are you worried that implementing deals will affect profit at your small restaurant? Don’t be!

In the next section, we’ll show you how to set up small restaurant promotion ideas for cheap to enjoy the following benefits:

• Gain new clients: if you promote your deals on your website, social media, and Google Business Profile, you will tempt people who are searching for a new place to eat to choose your establishment;
• More returning customers: loyal customers are more valuable than new ones because they become brand ambassadors. You can persuade clients to keep coming back by offering promos according to the number of orders or amount of money spent;
• Increased average order value: by adding a minimum order amount to each restaurant offer, you tempt people to spend more to enjoy the deal. For example, a client would rather add a dessert to their order than have to pay for delivery.

How to add deals to your small restaurant’s menu

As a small restaurant owner, you already have a variety of expenses that you must keep in check in order to keep your business profitable. Therefore, you need a way to add promotions that have a good return on investment.

The best choice is to use the Promotions module from GloriaFood. The setup process is simple, follow these three simple steps to add a free online ordering system to your menu:

• Sign up on GloriaFood and add your restaurant’s basic information;
• Create an irresistible menu with the help of our wizard;
• Publish the menu button on your website.

If you prefer video instructions, check this out:

Now, you are ready to add any promotion you can think of:

1. Go to Marketing Tools -> Promotions -> Self made-promos

Choose your preferred restaurant offer from the variety of tried-and-tested options. You can have one active promotion for free at the top of the menu at one time. If you want to offer more promos at once, you simply have to purchase the affordable Advanced Promotions module.

2. Set up the promotions

Let’s pick a random offer: Free delivery. Click on Next, and in the first screen, you can customize the headline, the description, and the picture.

3. Select a minimum order value

After you click next, you will be able to select the minimum a person has to spend to take advantage of the offer. It is important to select a high enough value for you to make a profit, while still providing a good deal for customers.

4. Further customize your small restaurant promotion

You have a variety of customization options so you can create the perfect offer for your small restaurant. For example, you can make the offer available only for returning customers or make it visible during specific hours.

5. Activate the promotion

After you set up all necessary promotions, go to the initial screen and press on the Status button to activate the promotion. The button will turn green. You can now preview your offers in the Menu Setup section.

Here is what it will look like for clients. As it is at the top of the menu, customers won't miss it.

Small restaurant promotion ideas you must try

A great strategy to increase your reputation is to become a well-known and loved part of the community. Here are a couple of small restaurant promotion ideas that will turn your place into a favorite spot for the local crowd.

15% off for the first online order

If you just launched your online ordering service, you could tempt people to place their first order by offering them a small discount. You can make the offer available only for new clients and only for the first ten days until your restaurant starts to get noticed.

50% off for selected items at the end of the day

Some items like stews or soups have to be prepared at the start of the day and they can only be served the same day to ensure freshness. But what if the dinner rush is ending and you still have some left?

To prevent throwing away food, you can add this promo two to three hours before closing time. Instead of wasting good ingredients, you could allow customers to purchase them at a way smaller price.

You can make this a regular promotion and post about the limited-time offers on social media to attract more customers.

Free dessert for Holidays

Be it Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, help customers celebrate by gifting them a free dessert for every order over a certain amount. You can make this offer available for on-premises clients if you use a QR code restaurant menu.

Buy a main dish and get a free one for your restaurant’s anniversary

Invite your community to celebrate your first year in business by offering them a free dish on top of each paid one. If you don't want to invest a lot of money, you can limit the promotion to a couple of hours on the celebratory day.

10% discount on the whole cart for big orders

If you want your small restaurant to be the place where families and groups of friends gather, offer discounts for big orders. They will have no problem ordering over the minimum order value and the offer may be the tipping point in choosing your establishment over your competitors.

Read more: 10 food promotion templates to boost online restaurant sales

Final words

While running a food establishment can be a challenge, implementing small restaurant promotion ideas will help you boost your reputation and create a better bond with your community. Moreover, offers will run a profitable business that passes the test of time.