Looking for more creative ideas to help market your restaurant for one of the busiest periods of the year? Here are some more ideas to help get your plans into place and position your venue perfectly for the seasonal dining rush.
1. Offer Corporate Entertaining
Most offices and businesses will have Christmas dos for their staff, so market yourself directly to local businesses and position your restaurant as the perfect place for these events. Put on special corporate dining packages with sit-down meals or buffet/canape options, and also consider providing catering to local businesses who entertain on premises.
2. A Charity Event
Christmas is a traditional time of year to think about others, so it’s a great time to put on a fundraiser or commit to donating a percentage of your seasonal profits to a charity. You could host a raffle, gather food for a local food bank or host a special charity evening.
3. Open on Christmas Day
Growing numbers of people are now willing to eat out on Christmas Day and avoid the hassle of cooking and washing up. So consider opening up on this potentially very profitable day. You can charge a healthy margin for a traditional Christmas brunch, buffet or full-service menu. The same applies for Christmas Eve.
4. Sell Festive Pastries
Everyone loves pastries, mince pies, cookies, brownies and muffins at Christmas, so expand your kitchen repertoire to include freshly baked seasonal goods which you can offer to incoming customers or to local businesses. The commercial ovens on sale at 247 Catering Supplies will give you the kitchen equipment that you need.
5. Hold a Carol Service
The festive season is synonymous with music, so why not host an evening of carols or traditional songs and tie it in with an event? Serve mulled wine, non-alcoholic punch and mince pies.
6. Hold an Advent Offer Promotion
Consider offering an advent offer promotion via your social media channels which offers a deal a day during the run-up to Christmas Eve. These could be things such as a half-price dessert with every meal or a free hot drink with a lunch. The offers will encourage customers to think of you when they are planning to dine at this sociable time of year when few people want to cook at home.