Summer is upon us so it's time to consider new restaurant summertime marketing tactics.
With longer days and sunnier weather, now is the perfect time to leverage the season's potential.
However, if the warm weather leads patrons to pass up your restaurant in search of root beer floats and ice cream sandwiches, then it may seem like summer simply spells out drier revenue.
If that's the case, it's time to get creative with your restaurant marketing. With the right strategy, the coming months could be a real opportunity to differentiate your business from the competition.
Following are several tips and practical ideas to inspire you to take advantage of the revenue boost summertime brings.
1.) Establish strategic partnerships with nearby businesses
Look around your neighborhood.
You likely have dozens of small businesses located near your restaurant, and you have a lot more in common with them than you might think. Those seemingly unrelated small businesses are looking to see an uptick in summertime sales as well.
Summer brings the perfect opportunity to work together with other local businesses, as tourists and residents alike gravitate towards popular shops, attractions, hotel pools and lounges, etc., to escape the sweltering temperatures at home.
By offering discounts, referrals, and other incentives to visit nearby businesses (and vice versa), you cross-pollinate markets and create instant opportunities for all parties involved.
For example, if you're located near a business that offers kayak tours, you could work out a mutually beneficial arrangement where you offer customers a 15% discount on their meal just for mentioning the tour company's name.
In return, the managers at the kayak shop can give their customers a coupon of some sort if they show their receipt after dining at your restaurant.
Neighboring small businesses can easily become a great source of referral traffic for your restaurant! All it takes is a little hustle and friendly collaboration.
2.) "Temperature Promotions" boil up serious opportunities
With temperatures on the rise and utility bills soaring, people often look for locations that offer relief from the heat. This seasonal phenomenon prompts many restaurants to welcome the heat with creative promotions that lower prices based on current temperatures.
Example: West Coast sandwich-parlor chain, Cheba Hut, uses their San Diego-based Instagram account to promote deals on beer as temperature rise.
3.) Take your menu on the road
Food trucks and mobile stands are hot this season.
In fact, Emergent Research found that in the past five years (i.e., 2012-2017), the food truck industry grew from $650 million to $2.7 billion in annual revenue
If your restaurant struggles to attract customers in-house during summer months, taking your menu on the road might produce an incredible uptick in sales, while simultaneously spreading awareness of your brick-and-mortar location.
The basis of mobile food success stems from convenience, as hungry patrons on tight schedules look for quality ingredients without the burden of parking, waiting to be seated, and tipping. If you're already thinking about buying a food truck or customizing a mobile stand, then summer might represent the perfect opportunity to take that risk and explore a new channel for promoting your restaurant.
4.) Beach bodies and summer go hand-in-hand
Looking good and feeling great is never a bad thing.
A subtle reminder that your restaurant offers delicious meals without adding empty calories is an effective, persuasive strategy to attract summertime guests. So get busy posting dishes that portray clean eating and great taste. Health-minded diners will be grateful for the options as they look to maintain their summer physiques.
Planning your restaurant summertime marketing tactics don't have to be a complicated process. In fact, some of the most effective, lucrative ideas stem from the simplest of promotions—so don't get bogged down when your creativity hits a dry spell.
Think logical and practical.
Frame your restaurant summertime marketing tactics around your restaurant's strengths, while focusing on ways to improve areas of weakness. There is no right or wrong way to execute summertime marketing promotions. The only way to experience the payoff is to go out and try something different.
So, what are waiting for? Things will cool down for autumn sooner than you think...
Article sourced from The Restaurant Hot Spot.