Out of all the holidays, Mother’s Day is often one of the busiest for restaurants across the country. Families see it as an opportunity to treat Mom to a day or night out where she doesn’t have to worry about anything else, other than ordering delicious food.
Consider some of these creative promotions and marketing strategies to ensure parties choose your restaurant when making reservations for the special day.
Prix Fixe
You have worked hard to build beverage, brunch, dinner, and dessert menus that Mom and her entire entourage will love. Ensure that guests get a taste of each by offering prix fixe menus. Prix fixe locks in a set price for your courses all together. The concept tends to be more affordable for guests looking to sample everything, and it establishes a higher level of average check for restaurants — a win win!
Inspirational Video
It's common to switch up the menu for Mother's Day, but most restaurants don't explain why they choose specific meals. Allowing your chef the opportunity to hop behind the camera on social media and explain dishes along with their significance will help add a personal touch to your Mother's Day menu.
Memories with Mom
Most of us have memories of cooking in the kitchen with our parents. Ask your staff to talk about their favorite cooking memories and recipes with their mom and record the stories. Compile the clips and share them on your Facebook page or Instagram/Tik Tok feed.
If you want to go one step further and get your guests involved — ask them to comment on favorite cooking memories with their mothers. Everyone who comments can receive a voucher for a free dessert, cocktail, or swag on Mother's Day.
Include Everyone
While Mother's Day is about celebrating moms everywhere, don't forget to include all "moms." It's common for dads, grandparents, aunts, sisters, and other family members to fill the mother role in families. Having a social media post or brunch item dedicated to all the moms in our lives can be a great way to include everyone.
Repeat Customers
It’s fantastic to book out your restaurant for Mother’s Day. It’s also important to have a strategy to bring families back. Here are a few creative spins on what they can receive next time they visit the restaurant:
- “Don’t want to cook? Specials are on us!” — offer for a free drink, app, shareable, or special plate for Mom anytime in May.
- Mother’s and Father’s Day discount — offer discounts if the family books both Mother’s and Father’s Day with your restaurant.
- Mother’s Day Raffle — give each party a raffle ticket on Mother’s Day and raffle off a complimentary dinner for Mom to be used within the next month.
