Prerna MishraLast Updated on by Prerna Mishra
Restaurant promotions are a marketing tool that can be very effective when used in conjunction with the right price. Restaurant promotional campaigns are one of the biggest tools of restaurant marketing. It is also one of the most effective marketing tools in the industry. The restaurant campaign gives the restaurant owners a strong return on their investment.
If you want to boost your restaurant business, the promotional campaigns and discounts help to make way! Restaurants offering a one-day special offer, see a massive footfall of people dining in that day. Therefore, an effective promotional strategy is to promote the restaurant in the most effective manner possible.
What Does Promotional Campaigns Mean?
Promotional campaigns are a way of promoting a business. It is a form of advertising. Promotional campaigns can include print, radio, television, the internet, and other forms of media. It is to encourage customers to visit a restaurant or other business. So, promotional campaigns are advertisements that improve the image of a company or cause.
Promotion and discounting are two of the most common ways restaurants use marketing techniques to boost sales. Promotions can include free drinks, coupons, free meals, and free food samples. Likewise, Discounts on food can include discounts on menu items or discounts on specific items. Promotions can also be directed at specific customers, customers that have made reservations, or customers that have made a purchase.
Types of Discounting & Promotional Campaigns
Promotions can be directed at specific customers, customers that have made reservations, or customers that have made a purchase.
The marketing plan should be bullet-proof. It must ensure that you can offer your customers a variety of promotions from various restaurants and the menu is regularly updated. It should also ensure that promotions are presented in a transparent way so that it is easy for customers to determine which restaurants are offering promotions.
A plan should include both a promotional and discounting campaign. The promo campaign is a promotion that encourages customers to visit a particular restaurant. The discounting campaign is a campaign that encourages customers to shop at a specific restaurant.
Promotional Campaigns Include:
- Complimentary Gift
People really get excited when it comes to complimentary gifts. Therefore for promotional campaigns restaurants can take the help of free gifts and make their customers happy and remember them. This has escalated the business of restaurants immensely. there are so many ways one can add a complimentary gift for their customer. Restaurants can offer a long-term subscription for their customer. A small gift can also be a minimal cost for packaging for the customers.
- Organize events
There are so many options to promote the restaurant. One of the best ways is to organize an event and give a Shout Out to your new restaurant. People not only notice these events but also actively take part in them. These events are memorable and give a long-lasting impression on people. They become visitors and slowly turn into your loyal customers.
- Create Your Website
Creating the website of the restaurant really helps in its promotion. If you have a good website and you can promote it well, it is a bonus. You can design the website accordingly and put an attractive theme so that customers love visiting your site.
Strong social media promotion and influence on people can escalate the business of your restaurant. Social media is so powerful that it can catch the attention of thousands of people, which events and other promotions can’t do. Through Email marketing and SMS, restaurants have been able to hike their sales as well.
Approximately 22% of consumers say they wouldn’t eat at a restaurant if it didn’t have a website with a menu, according to a current analysis by METRO. Having no website means you could be losing nearly 14% of potential guests before they’ve even been to your restaurant.
Now let us also know about the discounting campaigns that restaurants can use to boost sales.
Discounting Campaigns Include –
- Coupling Menu Items
By bundling items, food can be conveniently provided to groups while increasing ticket sales. Many restaurant operators will offer bundles or combos catering to families and groups, such as a main dish with sides, beverages, and desserts.
- Free Delivery
People really appreciate the free delivery option the restaurant gives to its customers. Offering customers a way to have your food delivered to their homes is an affordable way to market your business.
- First Time User
Restaurants can give discounts to first-time users as a welcome bonus. The idea is to make customers feel good about their discounts and offers. Also, this is a way to maintain the continuity of the customer in the restaurant.
Case Study
We have already learned how to promote restaurants in an updated way that people get attracted to. But, you must also be aware of the food challenges that restaurants host. This is not only a way to earn better but, also the promotion of a restaurant which has got a lot of eyes and footfall.
Pune restaurant launched a food eating contest that offered participants a chance to win a Bullet motorcycle worth Rs 1.65 lakh. Participants in the ‘Win a Bullet bike’ contest had to finish a non-veg thali within 60 minutes.
Because the platter consisted of 12 dishes made with 4 kilograms of mutton and fish, it was not an easy task. The menu included Fried Surmai, Pomfret Fried Fish, Chicken Tandoori, Dry Mutton, Grey Mutton, Chicken Masala, and Kolumbi (Prawn) Biryani.
A video clip of this challenge was also uploaded on social media with gained a lot of attention. This made a huge impact on the restaurant’s promotion and also turned a great profit for them.
Advantages & Disadvantages Of Running Discounting Offers
Before you implement discounts and offers in your restaurant you should be well aware of their pros and cons. In the below pointers you will know the advantages and disadvantages of running promotional campaigns and discounts.
Advantage-
- Boosts Sales
Promotional campaigns and discounts help in boosting sales in a very short time. Customers like spending on meals that are affordable and have quality. Deviled is one of the best ways to hike the business.
- Gains New Customers
Some people can be swayed by a worthwhile discount. It’s especially important for customers considering visiting your restaurant.
- Loyalty of Customers
Taking care of old and new customers and offering them time to time discounts is really an effective way to build a strong relationship with the customer. With time the loyalty with customers increases and people become regular.
Disadvantage-
- Negative Impact
When restaurants provide frequent discounts, it triggers people negatively. People get a mindset of only dining when there is a discount at your place.
- Slashing Down Prices
The slashing down of prices of certain meals that used to be premium ones can also affect people negatively. The exclusiveness of the meal gets reduced in this case and people doubt the value of that meal. Therefore the premium meal prices should not be lowered blindly.
- The Reputation Of Restaurants Lowers
By offering discounts repeatedly, a merchant will appear unconvinced about their products. Lack of faith would then result in products lacking quality, reliability, or even desirability.
Strategies To Run The Best Promotional Campaign To Maximize Sales
- Step out on the streets
The idea is to promote the business in a more lively way. You must have seen that the sidewalks are often chalked down with promotional slogans or advertisements. This is helpful in catching the attention of people. Trying out pamphlets and flyers at different cafes in public places can be one of the stronger strategies to boost sales.
- Using photo contest
A photo contest is great for several reasons. It’s easy to enter (anyone with Instagram and a few spare seconds can enter). And, it provides sponsors with great user-generated content.
- Strong social media influence
Nowadays making small reels and posting them on Instagram or any other social media helps a lot in the promotion.
- Prize-draw
A sweepstake or giveaway is a tried and true classic contest. As part of the submission form, you can request email subscriptions as well. Being free to enter, it is one of the most participated contests by the people.
- Lively visuals
While promoting your business online try keeping it lively with the addition of videos and images. Text is boring to people. So, the use of images between paragraphs of text is crucial for keeping visitors engaged.
Conclusion
You could probably implement and test at least a few of these with little to no cost. As we’ve discussed, leveraging sales promotions can reap big benefits. These are some tried and tested methods that have had businesses boost sales instantly.
Try out the My Rasoi app and offer some very exciting discounts and coupons to your customers. The app makes it very easy to manage restaurants and keep track of the sales of each and every customer. You can take your business online within 15 seconds using this app as well!