If it improves business, then any small change or addition is valid. Be it in the restaurant industry or otherwise. Promotions make for a great way to bring back old customers and create a new pool of new ones. Everyone needs a hook to come into your restaurant. With fairly good food served in many restaurants today, promotional activities help give you an edge. Depending on the kind of restaurant yours is, the promotional activity will vary. Another factor to consider in is the size of your restaurant. Ranging from a food and wine pairing and tasting event to a festival special promotion, the kinds of promotions you can do are limitless.

What a promotion draws customers in and creates a buzz in social media which then brings more customers in. That’s the kind of chain reaction you’re looking for. Now, not every promotion has a 100% success rate. It will depend on location, kind of restaurant and of course, the timing of the promotion. Let’s look at a few fuss-free options you can look at.

Discounts and combos

For casual dining restaurant or a cafe, discounts or combos work really well. Particularly if the restaurant is in a location with colleges and smaller offices around. People in the age group of 18-25 aren’t looking to spend a lot of money during weekdays and prefer quick and affordable meals. This is where you can create high value at low price. This isn’t something new that restaurants are doing. The idea of clubbing dishes together and slashing the price has been known to have worked for many years. Customers see value in paying less for 2 or 3 items on the menu sold as a combo, as opposed to paying full price for the same dishes. In the recent years it hasn’t been just the fast food chains that are doing this. Indian and Chinese cuisine restaurants have also been serving combo meals like one rice dish, one curry/gravy and an appetizer for a certain price.

Happy hours

This is a no-brainer. If you’re a pub or a bar, happy hours is bound to bring in customers. The offer you’re going to give is crucial here. Not just that, you have to be crystal clear about the offer as well. Happy hours in most establishments for the longest time gave one free drink for every drink ordered. And many diners still believe this is the definition of happy hours. But that has changed over the years and we have seen happy hours where the second drink comes with a 25% off and many other such discounts. It’s always better to be upfront about the offer than be vague and confuse the diners. Again, this promotion is stress free and doesn’t require additional resources to pull it off.

Live gigs

Okay, this one will require some effort – planning, scouting, space management, equipment, etc. If the band/artiste will take care everything, you’re good to go. Otherwise you’ll need to get a few things sorted before hand. But once you do, you’ll not only have new diners coming in to check out the event, but also you will also convert most of them to regulars. The nature of entertainment is up to you but do your research and find out what’s hot in the market these days and what will work in the location you’re in. Live band is a classic and with the right kind of music, you’re sure to draw in some music lovers. These days many restaurants host stand up comedies. Besides, there are poetry slams, book readings and karaoke.

Specials

If you’re unsure of starting something of a routine, you can start off with special days and test the waters. For example, Oktoberfest. You’d think it’s only a pub special. But there have been casual dining restaurants and cafes that serve Oktober special menu with a few German dishes and if they serve alcohol they team it up with a couple of German beer. It’s simple, but it’ll get people to try out something new and they’d look forward to coming back to your restaurant for such specialties. Another way of getting into the promotions game is to create festival special menu. Pongal, Ganesh Chaturti, Diwali, Navratri, Eid, Easter, Onam and so many more festivals when you can chalk out a small specials menu just for the occasion. And most festivals give you scope to run the promotion for up to a week, if not longer.

Stand out

Besides these popular promotions, you could do events like contests, quiz, themed meals, wine tasting, beer tasting and so on. Pub quiz are great fun for the restaurant and diners. Keeping it interactive will make the restaurant lively and more and more customers would want to be a part of it. If you want a more sophisticated event, try wine tasting. You could tie up with a wine brand locally and do a 3 or 5 course meal pairing it with the right wines. You could do a dessert buffet if you’re up for it. Food festivals are always a safe way to bring in more people into your restaurant. A seafood special week or biryani from across the country, a regional special or an all out vegetarian thali special – the possibilities are endless. Once you begin such promotions, make sure you advertise them so it reaches the right audiences.