Q4 Planning: Get Ahead on Your Holiday Marketing

It may still be hot outside, but now is the perfect time to start your Q4 planning! The fourth quarter of the year is a busy time for most restaurants, especially when private parties, catering, and gift cards become top priorities. At L.A. Social Karma, we work closely with restaurants to ensure they make the most of the holiday season by launching timely and effective promotions. Read on for a few ideas to help you get ahead of your holiday marketing!

Planning and Reviewing:

It is important to take a minute to step back from the business's day-to-day grind and consider the big picture of which campaigns will help increase revenue during the holiday season. Make a list of possible promotion ideas. Always review what you did last year, see if the campaigns were effective and, if so, add them to the list as well. In addition, think about promotions you've seen other restaurants employ; if any of those look interesting, add those to your holiday promotion list. Once you have collected all the possible ideas, narrow your list to those that seem the most relevant, on brand, and revenue building. Now you have your promtion list!

Create a Holiday Plan for each Promotion:

Once your list is complete, time to create a simple marketing plan for the quarter that lists what you need including for each promotion the goal of the promtion, launch date(s), and any assets you need. In addition, you should also make a plan on how you plan to get the word out, how long it will run, if any printed/online marketing materials and cost calculations needed for the promotion.

An example:

• Holiday Promotion List

  • Holiday Party Promotion: Bonus card for the host if you book your party by October 13

  • A done for you Christmas Dinner.

  • Gift card promotions. Buy a $100 gift card and get a $25 bonus card.

• Holiday Plan - Gift Cards

  • Goal: Increase gift card sales in Q4

  • Launch Date: October 1-December 1

  • Assets Needed: Menu inserts, check presenter, graphic for email, images/ video for social media content  

  • Marketing Channels:

    • In-house:

      • Servers mentioning the promotion table-side

      • Table tents and check presenters

    • Social Media:

      • Facebook and Instagram ads

      • Organic social media posts

      • Influencers or organizations, such as a chamber that will share your promotions

    • Email Marketing

      • Mention gift card promotion in Bi-Weekly emails

    • SMS

      • Bi-monthly text message promoting the offer

This rough plan is a great start to strategizing and implementing your holiday promotions. Contact your marketing team to start building the assets you'll need. Planning in September ensures you will make the most of your marketing dollars during the busy holiday season. The sooner you get started, the sooner the material will be ready, and you can launch the promotions!

As always, LASK is here to assist you if you need any help with your holiday marketing.