Creating NEW promotions each month is the smartest thing you can do to keep your existing customers happy and walking in the door more often. They want NEW, but some would argue they don’t like change either. I believe you’ve got to balance the two to keep everyone happy and business booming.
They say there are only 3 ways to really grow a business. Attract more new customers, get existing customers back in the door more often, and increase the average amount your customers spend with you. NEW promotions will do this for you as long as you have the right strategies in place to do so. Let’s dive into how you can grow your bar or restaurant business in May.
28 Restaurant Promotions
For May
National Hamburger Month
Last year I created a new specialty burger menu for National Hamburger Month and it did really well. We sell a ton of burgers but our customers appreciated some totally unique burger recipes on our menu. You could easily do the same thing. Remember, our customers do get tired of the same old items, try to be creative when you can.
You could run a discount on burgers for the month or a week’s time as another promotion. Here’s another reason why you’re discounting something to get people in the door because it’s National Hamburger Month.
You could create a new burger special once a week. So if you didn’t want to do a whole new menu, you could create one new burger each week for the month of May. Send out a text message or email to your list of people to drive them in to try this different type of burger. Best place – get on Pinterest.com. You’ll find some pretty crazy things on there that you could serve up.
You MUST Do This….
Burger eating competition! Each year we do a one pound burger eating competition during the month of May and it draws a big crowd and gets a lot of attention.
In this month’s edition of the Bar Restaurant Success Silver Membership program, you can get the entire One Pound Burger Eating Competition promotion done for you! You’ll get all the e-mails, flyers, Facebook strategy / ads, and press release we use to generate a huge buzz.
Loyalty Day – 1st
This is the perfect opportunity to give back to your loyal customers! The people who are in your bar 3-5 times a week. The people who are visiting your restaurant 1-2-3 times every single month.
Have a promotion just for them where you do something special for them. Have a loyalty dinner where dinner is on YOU! But, make sure you have servers and bartenders ready to up-sell to at the very least break even on this event.
I’m a firm believer in the more you give, the more you’ll receive. Everywhere you and I go to shop or eat, we don’t get much back do we. But think if you did an event like this, just to say thanks for your business. What do you think your loyal customers will think of you? What do you think they will tell other people? In the long run, even though you don’t make a big profit on this night, you will over time. Always think, lifetime value of a customer rather than a one-time sale.
Kentucky Derby 2nd
Throw the ultimate Kentucky Derby party with food and drink specials. Make it fun by giving away prizes. I believe there are 20 horses in the main race, so you could give a ticket to the first 20 in the door, write the horses name one the ticket, and whoever are the top 3 finishers, those people get a prize.
To theme this out, create some drink specials named after the top 3-5 favorite horses that are picked to win. You could have a contest for the ladies for the best Kentucky Derby outfit!
National Teachers’ Day 5th
You could throw a party for teachers! Get in touch with the school district or find teachers who’d want to help with getting the word out and throwing the event. If you know any teachers, say, “Hey, how would you like to have a big teachers bash? It’s National Teachers Day on the 5th and we thought it would be fun to do.” I’m sure you’ll get some who’d want to help. I have each year.
Tell them, as an incentive for helping, “You bring in x teachers, and we’re going to throw you a $20 dollar gift card for your help!” Let them do the marketing for you. Get them to come in and bring their friends in and have a good time.
I always do prizes for the first 25 teachers in the door and we do school supplies as the prizes and of course we throw in gift cards as well, but to theme this out, school supplies fits. Maybe this year we will do wooden paddles!!
You could just run a discount special for all teachers who come in on this day as well. Give them 20% off on their tab or free appetizers when they buy a meal or something like that.
No Dirty Dishes Day 18th
This is the perfect type of promotion to do with an email or a letter to your own customer list, saying, “Hey, it’s No Dirty Dishes, and nobody should have to eat at home. You’re probably tired of eating frozen dinners. That’s why you should come in for this special. Let us take care of you. You don’t want to be doing your dishes on No Dirty Dishes Day.”
This is just something kind of fun, unique, and different. And again, things like this work. You’d be surprised. As long as you have a good email list and you have people who are always opening your emails and you have good consistent communication with them, these types of things work like crazy.
23 More Restaurant & Bar Promotions For May
If you’d like to get the 23 other restaurant and bar promotions for May, click the image above National Teachers’ Day and get access right now.
Don’t forget, if you feel marketing and promotions is a weak point for you or you just can’t find the time to focus on them, then you should at least peak into our monthly
This is where I deliver done for you promotions with all the marketing materials and marketing strategies I personally use in my own bars and clients bars / restaurants.
But what’s even better than that, you’ve got me by your side to help you get things implemented and I’m there to answer any and all your questions. The truth is you have to have a team that does multiple tasks to keep business booming and customer happy. Do you have someone on your marketing and promotions team? Are they giving you everything you want out of what they are doing?
If not, try a risk-free trial of Bar Restaurant Success elite and let me help you or your marketing and promotions department grow your business and give you the ultimate advantage over your competition. If within these 7 days you feel you’re not getting at least a $1,000 value from my support and materials, I advise you cancel, but I’m 99% sure you won’t want to.
