The holiday season can be lucrative for restaurants. Between holiday shoppers and those looking to celebrate the season with family and friends, restaurants stand to make big bucks. 

According to the National Restaurant Association, one in 10 people eat out for Thanksgiving and 13 percent pick up a prepared item from a restaurant to include on their holiday table. And when diners eat out for Christmas or New Year’s Eve, most come in parties of five or more. 

That’s why it’s vital for restaurants to start planning now to attract holiday diners. From traditional direct mail advertising to online tactics, we’ve compiled some easy-to-implement ways to capitalize on the season.

Direct mail marketing

Direct mail for restaurants is a highly effective way to get diners in your establishment. Direct mail allows you to target all households in a geographic location or select specific groups. For example, you may want to offer an incentive to people who have just moved to the area. Mailing a plastic postcard with a coupon to a new mover mail list is a great way to welcome families to your neighborhood and provide them an incentive to visit your restaurant.

You can also put direct mail advertising to work during the holidays when people are on the lookout for good deals to make their dollars stretch further. Mailers that offer meal specials or discounts are a great way to attract holiday diners. Direct mail can be tricky to get right though, so consult direct mail companies to help you craft the right campaign. 

Pay per click

In pay-per-click advertising (PPC), you pay each time a user clicks on one of your ads. There are various types, but the most common is paid search ads. These appear when people search for various phrases (i.e. “pizza near me” or “Chinese restaurant with delivery”). The specific search terms used will trigger pay-per-click ads that you’ve created. That’s what makes PPC a good option for the holiday season when people may be searching for specific types of cuisine, catering or restaurant options. 

Geofencing

Geofencing is a way to capture the eyes of potential diners in a specific geographic area. Essentially, you create a digital boundary and serve ads for your restaurant to people who use smartphones within that area.  

This is a practical way to attract holiday shoppers who may be looking for a place to grab a bite. Geofencing ads usually show up in search results as pay-per-click (PPC) ads or as ads in a social media feed. If you’ve set up a geofencing campaign, a sponsored ad for your restaurant will appear when someone googles “restaurants near me.”  

Social media marketing

Did you know there are more than 371 million Instagram posts that include a #food hashtag? Another 41 million include #drinks hashtags. You can’t overlook the importance of interacting with customers on social media. There are a lot of options for social media marketing campaigns, including sponsored ads, influencer marketing and more. The most important step is to create social media accounts and use them! Make posts, even if it’s just your daily specials. Interact with customers who post about your restaurant. When your restaurant is tagged, acknowledge it with a comment or reaction.

Restaurant owners should pull out all the stops to capture holiday diners. With so much competition in the marketplace, a well-crafted direct mail campaign may be your best option for success.