15 unique restaurant promotion ideas:

  1. Take advantage of Holiday Promotions
  2. Turn each day into a special one
  3. Free fries this Friday
  4. Use luck promotions to surprise your customers
  5. Use 3-for-2 offers to increase the average order value
  6. Family combos never fail
  7. Encourage new customers to order from you: Any {food} for just {$ dollars}
  8. Stimulate repeat business by offering a discount on future visits/orders
  9. Promote the same offer on certain weekdays {ideal for slow days}
  10. Impel customers to place online orders by offering them free delivery
  11. This month’s special event: All you can eat for just {x dollars}
  12. Buy any {fill in the blanks}, get a free {free in the blanks}
  13. This month’s drink special: x {$ dollar amount} y {type of beverage}
  14. Mix & match for just $9.95
  15. Everyone likes a good brunch: The Brunch Lunch Special

As a restaurant owner, your primary goal is to grow your sales. To grow your sales, you need to sell more. So a great way to drive more sales is to have repeat customers. Keep reading to discover 15 unique restaurant promotion ideas that will increase loyalty in 2021.

According to Food Service Warehouse, repeat customers account for as much as 15% of your total client base.

However, that 15% provides about 1/3 of your entire revenue.

But how do restaurants attract new customers? What motivates people to order from you [online]?

Getting those frequent customers can turn out to be challenging, but if you follow the proven ideas shared below, it won’t be as hard as you think. Let’s see how. Did you know that as a restaurateur, you can reach out to your customers and turn them into loyal clients, by using a handful of unique restaurant promotion ideas?

Because they’ll help you take advantage of and tap into the very essence of human nature. How?

You see, during their lifetime, people acquire something that psychologists call secondary human wants:

  • To be informed.
  • Satisfying your curiosity.
  • Cleanliness of body and surroundings.
  • Efficiency.
  • Convenience.
  • Dependability/quality.
  • Expression of beauty and style.
  • Economy/profit.
  • Bargains.

And you can actually pick up business at a restaurant by appealing to the last two: economy/profit & bargains. No one will ever pass out on the opportunity to buy something cheaper, no matter how rich they are. Especially when they come across unique restaurant promotion ideas.

Because the need to have and save money is something that we learn in our lifetime. And this is a very powerful want that we will never shake off. It’s just part of who we are. And tapping into these particular secondary human wants by using a few savvy and unique restaurant promotion ideas is the way to go.

And the best part? You could use these creative restaurant promotions to boost your sales particularly on those slow days in which customers don’t seem to line up to your doorstep.

So how exactly can you do that?

1. By using customer loyalty incentive programs. One of the most common is using reward programs to drive frequent visits. Keep them coming back for more with your excellent menu and a great rewards program.

2. By using a few unique & fun restaurant promotion ideas (for example, this unique restaurant marketing app actually pays people to attend restaurants).

15 examples of unique restaurant promotion ideas:

1. Special offer – this upcoming [holiday name]

Use any restaurant holiday promotions you can think of to promote your business and increase your profits. And it’s quite easy to do so when you can choose from a vast array of food and beverage promotions ideas and offer your clients some great discounts or freebies.

st patrick's day restaurant specials 2019

So for instance, on St Paddy’s Day, you could run promotions on lager or open a St Patrick’s-themed pop-up restaurant. Here is just one example of the many restaurant promotions messages we’ve jotted down for your personal use:

Restaurant promotions messages #1:

On March 17 we honor St. Patrick.

That’s why beer is only £1.50 at [your restaurant name]

Restaurant promotions messages #2:

Leprechauns don’t exist.

But our special beer offer is unbelievably real.

Just £1/bottle.

On Black Friday, you could run any restaurant holiday promotion you could think of. And you can put on a flyer something along the lines of…

Special offer on Black Friday

At [your restaurant’s name] you can finally take a breather and stop chasing limited offers.

[Food and beverage promotions idea – fill in the blanks] for just [fill in the blanks]

Columbus Day:

Columbus discovered the Americas.

Now, it’s your turn to discover our mouth-watering menu offers.

[fill in the blanks] for just [fill in the blanks]

Veterans’ Day:

This upcoming veterans’ day we salute all veterans.

We wouldn’t be here without you.

That’s why we’re giving you a free [i.e., dessert] with every meal.

Offer available from November 12 to November 18.

Mother’s Day offers restaurants (promotion ideas for restaurant):

This Mother’s Day, show your mother how much you appreciate her.

[Special offer] for just [fill in the blanks]

You bring the mother, we’ll bring the flowers.

*Complimentary flowers. On us.*

Father’s Day:

This Father’s Day, we show our appreciation to all dads out there.

Main course (meaty, of course) +  garnish + drinks of his choosing

It’s just £ [insert the desired amount]…

You can always go on https://www.officeholidays.com, select your country and voila. A list of all important holidays will pop on the screen. So give restaurant holiday promotions a try and see how to make a slow restaurant busy.Get More Online OrdersSimply choose one from our list.GET MORE ORDERS

2. Special offer on National [fill in the blanks] Day

So, for instance, you could give free brownies to your customers’/kids on National Brownie Day. You see, each day of the year is a declared food day. And you can capitalize on it.

So how will you know what’s celebrated on which day? Well, that’s easy. Just go on Twitter and follow @Foodimentary. Their Twitter page is like a log with all the National Food holidays throughout the year. Use that as your source of inspiration.

Other current restaurant promotions:

3. Free fries this Friday

Because potatoes are cheap. And delicious. Everyone wants a piece of that.

4. Every tenth customer to walk through the door gets a free…

You can provide them with a free coffee, smoothie, dessert, drink, etc.

5. Increase the average order value: 3-for-2: get a free main course for every 2 main courses ordered

6. Family combo: 2+1 Deal, get 3rd [fill in the blanks] free

For example: Family pack combo: 2+1 Deal, get the 3rd pizza free.

unique restaurant promotion ideas: 2+1 deal

7. Encourage new customers to order from you

I.e., Any house pizza or 3-topping pizza, of any size, for just £9.99 each. 

8. Encourage recurring visits: Spend $50 and get $10 off your next visit

Encourage recurring sales by offering your customers this generous offer: I.e., Spend £20 to receive a £5 discount on your next order. This way, you can easily turn them into your loyal customers.

unique restaurant promotion ideas -> spend $50 and get $10 off your next visit

9. Boost sales on your slowest days: Special offer on certain days of the week

Turn your slow days into your busiest restaurant days. Promote the same offer on certain weekdays. For example, Punjabi Palace, one of our restaurant members, has been successfully promoting the same offer every Wednesday for a few years.

10. Impel customers to place online orders: Free delivery on orders over £30

unique restaurant promotion ideas -> free delivery offer

A huge chunk of your profits can come from online ordering. To draw people to your new service, create exclusive online promotions on your restaurant website.

11. This month’s special: All you can eat for just £xx

E.i.,  This month’s special: All you can eat for just £19.95

12. Buy any {fill in the blanks}, get a free {free in the blanks}

E.i., Buy any pizza, get a free soda/dessert | Buy a pizza, get one free | Buy any 2 large pizzas and get a free 2L coke

13. This month’s drink special:

E.i.,  This month’s drink special: £1.50 beer.

Think about what’s your most sold out beverage & discount it on certain days of the week. Make it extremely appealing for alcohol lovers to spread the word around.

Make lunchtime, buzz-time: Current Restaurant Lunch Specials Ideas

Mix & match for just £9.95 

That’s actually one of the greatest and easiest to implement easy lunch specials for restaurants. Apart from your current menu, you can quickly put together a small menu page divided into two: appetizers/starters & main courses. So people can just choose a dish from each section. And mix & match as they please.

The Brunch Lunch Special

According to a mass study conducted by Technomic in 2017, consumers have shifted their behavior and attitudes towards having breakfast. 30% of people are skipping breakfast more than they were back in 2015.

And get this, the same research study revealed the following:

Over 40% of consumers eat brunch at least once a week.

This is terrific news, considering that you can actually monetize on these trends with some great lunch specials idea or lunch menu ideas.

unique restaurant promotion ideas: offer brunch for a special price

You could include in your brunch menu:

  • eggs Benedict,
  • avocado yogurt with berries and nuts,
  • avocado toast,
  • French toast,
  • peanut butter and banana sandwich,
  • hash browns with eggs and bacon,
  • pancakes,
  • waffles,
  • bacon, scrambled eggs,
  • smoothies and granola bowls,
  • cinnamon buns,
  • or croissants in your menu.

Or whatever else you find more appropriate.

And here’s a text sample that you could put on a flyer:

Join us for brunch!

Monday through Friday

10am – 12am

£7.99

Alternatively, you could also add the list of foods and their prices, if you’d like.

How to get the word out about your unique restaurant promotion ideas

So now you know what food deals to have. There’s just one thing left: how to actually drive clients in your shop. Go out and physically invite people to your restaurant. Ok, you might ask yourself, but Andreea, where should I go?

Go to nurseries, schools or colleges in your neighborhood, and tell teachers that the upcoming week is Teacher Appreciation Week. You can also pass along a flyer promoting Teacher Appreciation Week.

Go find coaches teaching basketball, baseball, swimming, etc., basically any type of coach – and let them know that if they bring their teams after practice or after a game they can all benefit from some great promos. And you could also go to college campuses and pass along promotional flyers to sorority girls. Use any unique restaurant promotion ideas you can think of to make them come to your restaurant.

Invite them to try out the low fat, vegan dishes or to host different types of events at your restaurant. The great part about having sorority girls coming to your restaurant is that they’ll Instagram the whole thing.

And in my book, that’s helluva publicity. Because your restaurant’s name will get out there with little effort on your part. You could also invite local entrepreneurs to host their company dinners there and try out the food. Take pics of all these events yourself and put them up on your Facebook page to show you have a packed house.

Why do promos work?

Because everyone is afraid of losing money. So, for instance, you can’t go wrong if you target students or teachers – in one of your promotions. Because not one of those client categories is financially secured.

They want to spend less. Above all, when you’re giving them something for free or at a discounted price, they’ll feel like they’re getting a better value for their money. As a result, you’ll be able to boost your sales, since you’ll attract plenty of new clients.

Using these unique restaurant promotion ideas is similar to using a magnet to draw your clients into your eatery -> they work without fail since you’re appealing to basic human desires.

Use promos to get more orders
Simply choose one from the Admin section. It’s all free & easy to use.

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