We've got the perfect gift for you! Here's a free playbook to help you drive more revenue.
Since you're on the nice list, we've also got tips on how you can reach more guests.
Stand out with unique holiday treats!
While finding the best way to engage with guests over the holiday season can feel overwhelming, there are plenty of restaurants who have already carved out success using a wide variety of events, special menu items, and game day promotions. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel here, take a look at our list of treats that have proven to help restaurants earn additional revenue while providing guests a memorable experience.
Pop Tip: Once you’ve identified the opportunities you want to capitalize on for the holiday season, create a promotional calendar to make it easier to schedule marketing communications and keep your staff organized.
Sporting Event Watch Parties:
Making your restaurant the destination for guests to root for their favorite teams is a great way to earn repeat business. The best part? It can be as simple as making sure you have the right cable channels and turning on your TVs.
Brixx & Barley takes their game-day celebrations a step further by hosting tailgate parties at Metlife Stadium and letting guests pre-order tickets through their online ordering.
Prix Fixe Dinners:
Exclusive dining events can help your restaurant earn some extra revenue—plus it creates an exciting opportunity for your kitchen staff to flex their creative culinary skills!
Henderson & Kane hosts a four-course dinner that pays homage to Dia de los Muertos. Their chefs create a menu featuring authentic flavors with a modern twist. Guests can purchase tickets through their online ordering.
Live Music and Entertainment:
A rotating calendar of local talent is a sure-fire way to entice guests to visit for the holidays. Don’t feel limited to just music though, you can also feature comedians, movie nights, karaoke, and trivia!
Thai One On regularly features local musicians for guests to enjoy. In some cases, they even sell tickets to earn revenue from these events.
Festive Decorations:
A little decoration can go a long way to dazzle guests for upcoming events and celebrations.
The Union Kitchen hosts a Taylor Swift brunch with trivia, a charity raffle, and music from all of the Eras soundtrack. To really sell the experience, they decorate their restaurant with balloons, sparkles, butterflies, and more!
Holiday-Themed Menus:
Special menus or menu items are a great way to attract diners seeking seasonal delights. It can be as simple as a clever rename of a fan favorite dish or as complex as crafting a menu with classic holiday offerings.
Poogan’s Porch features Thanksgiving classics like herb-roasted turkey, sage, sausage & cornbread dressing, whipped potatoes and more to satisfy guests’ holiday cravings.
Holiday Events:
Whether it’s a grand party or an online ordering event, making your food the centerpiece of guests’ holiday celebrations is a great way to ensure your restaurant is a part of their holiday traditions.
Flora Mexican Kitchen is hosting their annual Halloween party with a 5-course meal, open bar, and live music to ensure guests have a spooktacular time!
Offers and Discounts:
Providing a special discount to incentivize guests to sign up for your email list or to earn a revisit from a loyal customer is a win-win! Your guests enjoy holiday savings and you earn repeat visits from your biggest fans.
Hummus & Pita co. invites guests to place an online order with an enticing 15% discount on their first order. To maximize visibility and drive more orders, they have a message about the offer pop up on the homepage of their website.
Gift Cards:
Selling physical and digital gift cards provides diners a thoughtful and convenient way to share the joy of dining at your restaurant, and can be a reliable revenue boost during the festive season.
For Small Business Saturday, Lucy’s Pizzeria encourages diners to stock up on cards for the holiday season by offering a free $5 for every $25 spent on gift cards.
Be consistent with marketing.
Hot take: Even the best guests can forget their favorite restaurant. Why? (Great question.) When you aren't consistent with your marketing, you create gaps for other restaurants to fill. Help your guests take the guesswork out of where to eat this holiday season with regular and relevant information.
Make it personal.
Whether it's saying "thank you" for a review or offering a birthday reward, your guests love a little somethin' special in their inbox. Use what you know about guests (like their favorite dishes and dining preferences) and other data to create marketing materials that hit the spot!
Reward regulars for their loyalty with an automatic email that sends whenever they spend a certain amount.
Create timely offers tied to preferences to drive orders and reservations.
Steam Boys generated over $18,000 in revenue with automated rewards.
Automated Emails
Automated messages triggered by follower engagaement.
Your open rate is 36.1% higher than industry average.
18,885
Delivered
55.8%
Average open rate
$18,480.66
Pop ordering revenue
Offers
Diners are hungry for discounts and special offers this holiday season.
While a discount initially means smaller order value, it can go a long way to entice new and repeat guests. Plus, encouraging guests to sign up for your email list to join a loyalty program can improve customer retention and grow revenue in the long term.
Just check out some stats from restaurants who are already using offers.
Provided guests a $6 discount
Earned $17,000
Guests who redeemed an offer are 3x more likely to place multiple online orders
Provided guests a 15% discount
Earned $24,500
Guests who redeemed an offer are 2.7x more likely to place multiple online orders
Provided guests a 30% discount
Earned $260,000
Guests who redeemed an offer are 1.4x more likely to place multiple online orders
Track it all to determine your next move.
Monitor results in real time.
Now, we know the word "data" can conjure images of mind-numbing spreadsheets. Look for tools that provide easy-to-read, actionable findings that can help you determine 1) whether your marketing efforts are working and 2) what to do next.
Key questions to ask:
How many people are coming to your website? What actions do they take?
Is your list of guest contacts growing?
Which marketing messages and channels are producing the most revenue for you?
Which days and times are orders spiking or dropping off?
Libby’s Neighborhood Brasserie identified Monday and Tuesday as slow ordering days, so they created a 35% off discount deal for Monday and Tuesday for the summer.
The result: they earned nearly $20,000 in revenue from an offer in just one month. Bonus: Monday and Tuesday are now their busiest ordering days.
Grow your guestbook.
Myth: Guests don't want to share their contact info. The reality? 80% of guests are willing to provide their email to receive info on special offers, events, and updates from their favorite restaurants.
Here are a few ways you can easily capture key info:
Create automated prompts across your website that promote the benefits of signing up.
Invite guests to become a VIP on social channels and table tents.
Entice them to join with a special offer.
Be smart about how you work with third parties.
Use third parties to introduce yourself to new guests.
Third-party ordering and delivery services are a great way to reach new guests. However, the commissions that these services charge often eat into your profits. Encourage guests to order direct to minimize those losses:
Add an "order direct" sticker to your third-party order packaging.
Incentivize direct online ordering with a small discount.
Add reservation links to your website.
Taking reservations is a huge way to grow your business and your guestbook....but be smart about it. Embedding links to reservations not only reduces the cost per reservation for you, it also makes the experience easier for guests—meaning they're more likely to grab a table.
Who else is using this playbook?
Libby’s Neighborhood Brasserie generated $500,000 in direct online orders, saving $150,000 in third-party fees.
Emporium Thai collected over 20,000 contacts and $98,400 from marketing campaigns with Boost.
Max's sent 102,000+ automated emails, generating over $126,000 in revenue.
Henri’s Bakery and Deli earned an extra $40,000 with special online ordering events.
Learn more about the tool that automates most of this playbook.
Schedule a demo to see how you can reach even more guests with Popmenu.