Five Tips to a Successful Valentine's Day Promotion

Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for the restaurant industry! Based on Fishbowl’s research, 53% of couples typically dine out on Valentine’s Day each year. Take advantage of these five tips to help promote your restaurant this Valentine’s Day:
1.) Define Your Target Customers: Target audiences for Valentine’s Day include couples, singles, and families. Make sure to tailor select specials your target audience. Note: those 25-34 are the biggest spenders on Valentine’s Day.
2.) Develop a Strategy: Post about your special offerings on your social media pages and leverage Facebook ads to target your customers. If you’re an OpenTable customer, you may sign up for their Valentine’s Day promotion.
3.) Promote Early: It’s important to begin promoting for Valentine’s Day 3-4 weeks in advance to allow time for reservations. However, consider increasing your budget from February 7th-14th to capture last minute planners.
4.) Offer Specials: To encourage potential customers to choose your restaurant this Valentine’s Day year, offer special promos and deals. These can include Prix-Fixe Menu, Kid Friendly Activities, or Takeout Options.
5.) Leverage Keywords: You’ll likely rely on email marketing as one strategy to promote your restaurant this Valentine’s Day. Wording for your email’s subject line can be very influential in the open rate of your message. According to Fishbowl’s research, “Sweet” and “Heart” were the two subject line features to perform above the Valentine’s Day message average.
Keep these tips in mind when planning your Valentine’s Day Strategy to help your restaurant stand out this year!
 
This blog was written by Morgan McAlpin.