12 Ways to Successfully Promote Daily Specials & Happy Hour Deals
Daily specials and happy hour deals attract attention and pull new and existing customers into your restaurant or bar. But these promotions can only work if you get them in front of interested prospects.
You need to know how to successfully promote daily special and happy hour deals if you want to reach the right audience and drive them into your business.
So how can you do it?
12 Ways to Promote Daily Specials and Happy Hour Deals
A variety of organic, paid, and in-store tactics can put your promotions in front of the right people. Let’s look at ways you can effectively promote daily specials, happy hour deals, and other restaurant promotions like limited-time offers and one-time specials.
Organic & Outreach
You can promote daily specials without spending a lot of money through organic and outreach efforts.
#1) Email Marketing: When you have a database of existing customers, you can easily (and affordably) let them know about your daily specials. Send weekly round-up emails that introduce customers to the deals they can expect to see during the week. Or, on a day with a really great offer, use email marketing to send out a promotional email highlighting that specific deal.
Related: Email Marketing for Restaurants: 7 Ways to Bring Customers Back
#2) Text Marketing: Similar to email marketing, you can quickly and easily reach customers through text messaging if you have their phone numbers. Create a process for having customers text to join your list. Then, periodically send targeted messages when you have a weekly deal or special happy hour promotion.
Related: This Is Why Restaurants Miss Out By Not Using Text Marketing?
#3) Local Area Sites: Local Area Sites are a collection of hyperlocal websites organized by area code. Each site shares the best things to do, see, and eat in the area. The sites also curate a list of weekly specials so readers can quickly view the day’s best deals across their city. Get more eyes on your weekly specials by creating a profile for your business and adding your daily specials. Your specials will be featured on your profile and on a curated list for your entire area.
Create your profile and add your specials today.
#4) Google My Business: Many local businesses create their Google My Business profile and then never go back to update or manage it. They miss the opportunity to use their Google My Business page to promote their weekly specials and deals. Once your page is set up, you can create posts that customers see when searching for a business like you, increasing the odds of driving in new, interested prospects.
Related: How to Use Google My Business for Multiple Locations
#5) Organic Social Media: Put your restaurant’s social media to use promoting daily specials. Create static posts that share deals that are coming up for the week. Also, add graphics and videos to your stories (on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat) that share daily promotions.
#6) PR and Influencers: Encourage other media outlets and social media channels to help you promote your daily deals. Reach out to local influencers and media outlets like Local Area Sites to negotiate coverage for your restaurant or daily specials.
Pay to Promote
To get extra eyes on your specials and deals, you can run targeted paid (yet extremely affordable) ads to boost visibility.
#7) Geofencing Ads: Use geofencing advertising to promote restaurant and bar specials to people when they are in the areas where they are most likely to be interested in your business. For example, you could target people when they are near your restaurant or in a similar bar and present them with display ads that share your specials.
Related: How to Use Geofencing for Restaurants to Increase Store Traffic
#8) Search Ads: Use targeting in search ads to create more specific ads that catch customer attention. Create an ad that promotes your daily specials and set it so it only displays on the day of your special. For example, a pizza place with a two-for-one Wednesday special could display ads for their promotion to people who search for “pizza near me” on a Wednesday.
#9) Social Media Ads: If you don’t have a large social following, organic posts may not make much of an impact. To extend your reach, set up paid campaigns to target people who are already on your email list or have visited your website using digital retargeting.
Around the Restaurant
In addition to running promotions that drive people closer to your business, you can also use tactics to drive interest in your daily specials right near your restaurant or bar.
#10) Outside Signage: Signage outside of your building doesn’t just inform customers coming into your restaurant or bar; it can actively pull in customers walking past your door. Update signage near your entrance to reflect daily specials, happy hours, and limited-time offers.
#11) Table Tents & Boards: Carry messaging about your daily specials into your location by featuring deals on table tents and boards around the business. Place them in the areas where customers are more likely to see them, such as behind the bar and in menu inserts.
#12) Trained Waitstaff: Don’t overlook the power of your team. Train your waitstaff to share the daily specials during their initial interactions with customers. Take it one step further by training your team to encourage customers to sign up for your email or text list so customers never miss a deal (and you can gather information to reach them and drive them back in for another visit).
Related: 7 Simple Ways to Collect Your Customer's Contact Information
Boost Visibility for Your Daily Specials & Happy Hour Deals
Daily specials and happy hour deals are a great way to incentivize existing and new customers to visit your restaurant. But if customers don’t know about the deal, it won’t be able to lure them through your doors.
Use these tactics to successfully promote your daily special and keep your restaurant or bar filled with happy customers.
If you need help implementing any of these tactics, MyArea Network is here to help. We specialize in helping businesses reach more local customers and can help you set up a system for placing promotions in the places where they will attract the most attention.
See how we can help you reach more nearby customers. Request your free call with us today. Or, sign up to create your free business profile and start boosting your local visibility today.
