Mother’s Day is quickly approaching, meaning consumers across the UK will be looking for the perfect restaurant to book in preparation for the special occasion.
In 2019, an astronomical £1.6bn was spent on Mother’s Day, and this figure is predicted to increase this year. While this presents a strong opportunity for restaurants to drive covers and boost revenue, competition leading up to the holiday can be fierce. The entire industry will be strategically gearing their marketing towards consumers booking Mother’s Day outings, making it slightly trickier than usual to really stand out from the crowd.
With this in mind, we have put together five ideas that can help you win guests this Mother’s Day.
1. Put loyal guests first
SevenRooms found that restaurant regulars spend about 67 percent more than new guests do, so keeping them coming back can have a substantial effect on your revenue. While it’s important to promote your Mother’s Day offerings to a wide range of guests, families who joined you on Mother’s Day last year should be the first to know about your plans, promotions, and special events for this year. It would be a nice perk to give them an opportunity to book before reservations are available to the wider public.
Frequent communication with your VIPs is shown to result in increased engagement and helps to build longer-lasting loyalty to your restaurant. Why not have the Restaurant Manager send your top guests a personalised email to highlight tailored offers, prompting them to book? Personal communication is surprisingly rare in the restaurant industry and can have a huge impact on your relationship with guests.
2. Encourage VIPs to spread the word
According to research by Nielsen, 92 percent of people put a significant amount of trust in their friend’s recommendations, and they are four times more likely to invest in experiences they learn about through word of mouth.
Setting up a promotion for last year’s guests that recommend you to a friend, such as a discount or a free bottle of wine when they visit ensures that loyal customers are telling their friends about you, too.
3. Make it special with gifts and experiences
On Mother’s Day the focus is around treating Mum and making her day memorable, so it’s important to make it an unforgettable experience. There are countless ways to add an experience to a meal, such as opting in a chocolate tasting event or a cocktail masterclass after the meal for the whole family to enjoy.
These experiences can also be complimented with a gift for Mum – even small touches like a complimentary off-menu dessert or a free welcome cocktail can make a restaurant experience feel more personal and special, therefore developing a long-lasting relationship between a restaurant and its guests. After the chocolate tasting, why not send Mum home with a box of the chocolates that she liked the most?
4. Offer upgrades during online booking
Allowing guests to upgrade their meal, with touches such as a bottle of her favourite champagne or a flower arrangement at the table for Mum can help to further personalise the dining experience and make her Mother’s Day particularly special.
It’s simple to automatically advertise add-ons and capture revenue before guests even arrive at the restaurant by making use of a booking system that prompts guests with these optional upgrades during the reservation process.
There are several advantages to this including increased revenue as guests are prompted to spend a little extra, reduced no-shows as guests will have already pre-paid for upgrades and better Customer Experience as guests can rest in the knowledge that they’ve already arranged something special for Mum.
5. Build a custom landing page for Mother’s Day
Creating a dedicated Mother’s Day landing page allows you to keep imagery, menus and reservation links in one place, and makes the guest booking journey as smooth as possible. Including “mothers day restaurant” + “[your city]” as the keyword in your URL, page title, and page headline will also help to increase your SEO, so you can reach any guests in your area searching for restaurants this Mother’s Day.
While this advice goes a long way in helping you maximise revenue this Mother’s Day, it certainly can apply all year round. Special experiences and upgrades can be a regular offering – why not offer kitchen tours, ‘An Evening with the Head Chef’, or a wine pairing option with bookings?
There is no doubt that options like this will make your restaurant a destination to remember.