5 Creative Restaurant Promotions to Try This Spring
Springtime means the promise of something new. New beginnings, new growth, new energy — and if you can be productive during the spring months, that feeling of success can carry you through the rest of the year.
Unfortunately I’m no motivational speaker, so let’s cut to the chase here: if I could choose your new mantra for spring (both professionally and personally) it would be try some creative restaurant promotions to achieve success.
So, we’ve sourced our latest creative restaurant promotions and are excited to share them with you here, as inspiration to grow your bottom line, delight your customers, and launch you into spring (and beyond) successfully. How’s that for productive?
5 Fresh Spring Creative Restaurant Promotions
1. The Big Reveal: Offer a First Look at Your New Menu/Items
Whether it’s time for a full facelift, a couple seasonal specials, or just some basic copyedits to increase ticket sizes, don’t forget to promote your new offerings to your customers.
Generate some excitement around your updated menu by offering a “first look” special of 10% off online for one week only, or printing flyers highlighting your new menu items. If you’re not sure where to begin, reach out and we’d be happy to share some strategic tips to give your menu a quick facelift.
2. Keep in Touch: Boost Loyalty with Automated Email Marketing
Want to boost customer loyalty, but don’t have the time or budget for a big campaign? Take a tip from our restaurant partners and encourage customers to enroll in an automated email loyalty program. Simply place a fishbowl at the host stand to collect email addresses. Even better, with ChowNow, each time a customer places an order you’ll get their email address (among other valuable restaurant customer data). If you’re a ChowNow client, contact us to activate our monthly email marketing program at any time and we’ll handle the legwork of emails every month, and send you the results!
3. Everyone’s a Winner: Add a Surprise Item to One Order a Day
Give your customers something to talk about. Rather than running a social media contest and selecting one winner, highlight a winner every day. Simply choose one low cost food item (think a slice of pizza, a piece of cake, a fountain drink, it can vary each day) and slip it into a customer’s to-go order. The more people order, the more they have a chance to be surprised with something different, and they’ll be telling all their friends to get in on the fun too! For tips on running a successful social media contest, click here.
4. #Winning: Hashtag Your Food Photo, Get Rewarded
This is one of our favorite marketing promotions for restaurants because it’s perfect for social media. Choose a hashtag that corresponds to your restaurant, such as #springathudsons, and invite customers to take photos of your food and use that hashtag. If you need some extra hashtag inspiration, check out tools like Hashtagify or just search around on Instagram.
At the end of each week, you’ll pick a lucky winner whose photo you will feature online or own your own Instagram, and they will also receive a $25 credit to your restaurant. It’s the perfect way to generate buzz, and you’ll benefit from the user-generated content as well! Best of all, you can issue online credits through ChowNow easily for this promotion by emailing support@chownow.com with the customer’s name and amount, and we’ll handle the rest.
5. Insta-Incentive: Flash Promo for Your Followers
If you haven’t invested anything into Instagram yet, spring is the perfect time to start. Running a flash promotion with an enticing incentive on social media is a great way to reach your customers and their friends. Try something like “Experience our new protein bowls for $7 this weekend only, usecode: INSTA for your discount”. Check out our Instagram Guide for quick tips and advice on how other restaurants are cashing in on this growing platform.
Want more spring marketing inspiration? If you’re a ChowNow client, reach out anytime and my team and I are here to chat about all kinds of marketing promotions for restaurants! If you’re not taking online orders through ChowNow yet, get started with a free demo today!
