While football fans across the country are picking sides and prepping for the big game, savvy Connecticut restaurant owners and managers should take note and make a few tactical preparations in their marketing and planning too.
Pizza restaurants should pay close attention – Super Bowl game day is the busiest day of the year for venues that serve and deliver pizza per the National Restaurant Association (NRA). Now’s the time to take to your website, your social media, and to put up in-store reminders that your restaurant offers catering, delivery or take out services. If you put out regular mailers in your local newspapers, now’s the time to get the word out on any specials or services you might have in conjunction with Super Bowl Sunday.
It’s a fact, people and food on Super Bowl go together like Valentine’s Day and roses. Speaking of Valentine’s Day, did you know that, per the NRA, Valentine’s Day is the second busiest day of the year for restaurants around the country?
People love to shower their loved ones with a special night out and a meal from their favorite place, so why not make sure your restaurant is ready for the influx of lovebirds? Be ready for tables for two. Go that extra mile and make the table setting romantic with candles and fresh flower arrangements and be sure the ambience (music and lighting) match the mood you’re aiming for on this special occasion.
Make your Valentine’s menu special by focusing on perennial favorites like seafood and steak (think Surf and Turf entrees) and decadent desserts. Pull out all the stops for your romance junkies and they may reward you by become regulars if they weren’t already. Putting on a good show for Valentine’s Day is a great way to make believers out of people hesitant to give your venue a try.
Also, if your restaurant doesn’t normally take reservations, consider a change in policy for that night and encourage people to make reservations well ahead of time for Valentine’s Day.
All the little things you do in terms of preparation and marketing for these two restaurant holidays will pay off big in the end.