The spring season officially starts tomorrow! We, of course, realize that the winter season may only come to end, in name alone. The recent string of chilly temperatures in Toronto has proven that. Nevertheless, we are well aware that warmer days are ahead. What is your restaurant doing to prepare? The springtime is a great time to breathe new life into your eatery.
Here are four cool ways to turn your restaurant into a springtime hot spot:
1. Spruce up your menus.
Firstly, be sure to create a super inviting atmosphere at your eatery. You want its ambiance to match its newly spruced up menu. Freshly-designed menus will intrigue your guests to take longer looks at what you have to offer. ChowNow.com recommends you use your updated menus to promote your new offerings to your customers.
“Whether it’s time for a full facelift, a couple seasonal specials, or just some basic copyedits to increase ticket sizes, don’t forget to promote your new offerings to your customers,” encourages the website, “Generate some excitement around your updated menu by offering a ‘first look’ special of 10% off online for one week only, or printing flyers highlighting your new menu items.”
2. Celebrate April Fools’ Day.
We love this idea because April 1st usually doesn’t get the type of recognition it deserves. It’s not a real holiday or anything. There really is nothing to the day other than the act of playing pranks on loved ones. Why not make the day extra special by celebrating it at your eatery? In the weeks to come, promote special savings for visitors on and leading up to April Fools’ Day. “Eat well and save cash! No foolin’!” is just one fun marketing tagline we can think of.
“Tasteful April Fools’ Day pranks can leave your customers smiling,” believes Michael Elkins on Waiterio.com, “Your creative ideas on April 1st can become a tradition at your restaurant. Customers will look forward to the day and be sure to grab a table to see what you come up with each year...The simplest promotion is renaming your regular menu items with funny titles. You can also switch things around by offering lunch at breakfast and breakfast at dinner.”
3. Launch a social media contest.
Take to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X to launch a simple hashtag-based contest. Encourage your customers to take photos of their meals in your restaurant (or even meals they’ve made at home) and post them with the hashtag #FavouriteMeal. Be sure to offer worthwhile prizes and/or discounts and choose winners on a weekly basis.
“Choose a hashtag that corresponds to your restaurant, such as #springathudsons, and invite customers to take photos of your food and use that hashtag,” encourages ChowNow.com, “At the end of each week, you’ll pick a lucky winner whose photo you will feature online or own your own Instagram, and they will also receive a $25 credit to your restaurant.”
4. Provide a painless payment process.
This spring, freshen up your payment processing with the sleek dual-screen smart payment terminal from Unity Payments! With our POS solution, your restaurant can optimize the checkout process, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and drive revenue growth. To learn all about it, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at [email protected].
