Seasonal marketing is a strategy that involves creating and promoting holiday- or event-specific products, services, or campaigns. Marketers are keen on developing strategies during these periods because they significantly impact consumer behavior and can pave the way for conversion opportunities.
Apart from the holidays, summer presents many exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs. Especially for restaurants and food and beverage (F&B) establishments, brands should capitalize on this season and tailor their offerings to suit summertime. To help you boost your sales, here are some restaurant promotion ideas food and beverage brands should follow!
Food and Beverage Marketing: Restaurant Promotion Ideas for the Summer
Summer is a season that marketers prepare for since there are many ways to earn substantial sales if you employ the right strategies. The following are some food and beverage promotion ideas to help your business plan for the upcoming summer.
- Offer limited-time meals
Customers want things that they can’t regularly get year-round. As such, an excellent summer promotion strategy you can utilize is offering limited-time meals. You can create summer-exclusive meal choices and incorporate ingredients like seafood or fruits only available during the summer season, making your menu more enticing.
With the increased urgency and curiosity these limited-time items bring, your consumer base will be more inclined to purchase your specialized menu, which bodes well for your business’s bottom line
- Double down on desserts and drinks
A dessert and drinks menu is standard in any food establishment. However, these items could be your biggest revenue-makers once summer rolls around.
Your customers want cool and refreshing products to battle the summer heat. With that in mind, increasing your marketing efforts in promoting desserts and drinks to maximize these seasonal opportunities must be a top priority.
Items like halo-halo, fruit juices, and even cold coffee can relieve your customers from the hot weather. You can promote them on your social media accounts and website to raise awareness and drive sales. Plus, you can reduce supply costs since you consistently know what to buy for your menu during the summer.
- Be generous with summer-based giveaways
Aside from high-quality and timely product offerings, customers love freebies. Being generous with vouchers and other summer-based giveaways is a great way to improve your brand’s image this season. You can create special events or hold sweepstakes that all your patrons can qualify for by reaching a certain purchase amount.
Alternatively, you can jump on trends like launching a hashtag campaign across your social media platforms and randomly select a winner from those who use it. Regular trendy giveaways can help you build excitement toward your brand and generate the business that allows you to maximize your earnings.
Rush, renowned for end-to-end eCommerce solutions, can help you with seasonal marketing as we introduce the “Summer Feelin’” campaign. This B2C campaign is designed to increase traffic and sales for your F&B brand by understanding which promo formats resonate with your target market to see an uptick in your sales performance.
- Partake in summer events
Summer events commonly take on the form of festivals, live music events, and location-wide parties, with many attending to participate. As such, this is a prime opportunity to promote your product and gain attention for your F&B establishment.
You can attend these events and promote your product or service by handing out flyers and talking to organizers about becoming an official vendor. These events boast a diverse demographic, from locals to foreign tourists, which increases your chances of making a sale.
- Organize or host events
If you want to use a summer promotions strategy that provides your customers a fun and interactive experience, you can consider creating your own. Trivia, open mic, or even dance contest events are excellent ways to increase foot traffic for your business during the summer period. - Design email campaigns
An indispensable element of summer promotions is ensuring that most people know your offerings and events. To do this, you can send email blasts to reach a broad and diverse audience.In the email, you can create eye-catching graphics and include all the necessary details, ensuring your patrons will be aware once new summer-based menu items launch or events are announced.
- Create a contest
Creating contests is a great strategy to engage with your customers. Contests are an enticing activity for many, especially when there’s a prize involved for participating. Engage your followers on social media by running a photo competition! Ask your customers to take a picture of your delicious food or at your restaurant and post it on their social media accounts.
When these posts go live to your customers’ social media following, and they discover they can win prizes like a discount or free meals, it incentivizes them to patronize your business.
- Don't forget about takeaways orders
Not all of your customers can regularly dine in your establishment during summer. As such, you must also consider how to spice up your takeaway orders for on-the-go patrons. Ideas you can consider are takeaway picnic baskets so they can enjoy your food in the comfort of their home.
Another great summer promotions strategy is creating takeout-only specials, so those who can’t physically be in your restaurant can still enjoy seasonal offerings as they take their food to go.
A Season of Opportunity
The summer season is a time for relaxation and fun. That said, it’s also a period where more consumers are keen on securing unique and satisfying food and drink fixes, ready to splurge and treat themselves on a hot summer’s day. Keeping these restaurant promotion ideas will help you gear up and find success for the coming season.
Summer is an excellent time for you to shift your food business online. If you need help doing so, consider enlisting the help of Rush, the premier eCommerce solutions company in the Philippines.
For more details, make sure to contact us today!
