Ken Burgin

Restaurant Marketing

How to Use Special Weeks for Cafe & Restaurant Marketing

The Aussie Artisan Week promoted by Pepe Saya Buttery got me thinking about how else the ‘Week of…’ idea could be used for interesting promotions. They can be short and punchy, and bring in outsiders or employees, or run with different food & beverage themes – an easy way to create some restaurant marketing action.

Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with so far. Run the week over 5 days or 7, and a big topic could even stretch to a month. Pile on the content, with a new post every day. Plan it in advance and most of it can be scheduled in advance – Facebook, Instagram and email promotions all ready to click over. Maybe do a special week every 3 months?

Food Events for Restaurant Marketing

Week of Suppliers – each day featuring a different food or beverage vendor, with a link and some photos, ideally with real people ie the producers or delivery person.
Week in the Kitchen – each day highlighting the work of a different staff member, with photos of them working, and something about their background. Don’t forget the kitchenhand!
Week in the Bar – a version of Week in the Kitchen, this time with staff showing the variety of things they do and products they serve. Even some short videos taken with a phone (horizontal format works best).
Chocolate Week – each day featuring a different dessert or drink, plus some information about where chocolate comes from. There are interesting YouTube videos available that could be added to Facebook posts.
Week of Summer Fruits – featuring plums, peaches, apricots, cherries and all the wonderful products that appear over Christmas. I’m amazed at how many varieties of plums appear week by week in most fruit shops.
Week of Spices – featuring cumin, coriander, nutmeg, turmeric and many more. Especially good if they’re the foundation of your cooking eg Indian food. Show photos and YouTube videos if available, and highlight your menu and recipes. Repeat for a Week of Herbs.
Week of Favourite Recipes – chefs nominate their favourite recipes and food, including things they cooked when they started their training. Or highlights from previous menus.

Customers & Supporter Events for Restaurant Marketing

Week of Favourite Cookbooks – another one for the kitchen or customers, each day with a photo of a well-loved cookbook and why it was chosen.
Week of Knives – a chance for the kitchen crew to show off their kit. First knife, oldest knife in their collection, strangest knife, how they are used etc. Plus demos and knife-sharpening.
Week of Business Supporters – this one highlights all the people who keep you operating. The cleaners, electrician, fridge repair people, exhaust hood cleaner, linen suppliers and window washer. Hopefully, you can get a photo of them at work, or find one from their website. This helps people understand what complex businesses we run!
Week of Community Supporters – highlighting a range of local charities, non-profits and volunteer organisations. Some of them you may support directly, others are just well recognised. One each day with photos and links.
Week of Sport – maybe this is team members nominating their favourite team and players. Or the sport that some of them play – lots of photo opportunities. This would work well around the time of grand finals.
Auto Week – sharing customer and staff photos on social media, first car, dream car and what you have now. if there’s space, could be space to bring some favourite vehicles and park them out the front for a few hours.
Pet Week – dogs are already welcome, but now they get extra treats and photos posted on social media. Plus sharing childhood photos of first cat or dog, pet fashion and pet selfies.

Have fun with this, and there’s an extra bonus for staff motivation if they are involved in choosing themes and examples.

Also check the Calendar of Hospitality Industry Events and Promotions and Restaurant Marketing Calendar for Social & Environmental Issues

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