Key Takeaways:
- Create Visual Appeal: Use clear and attractive signage, such as chalkboards or digital displays, to grab customers’ attention and showcase your daily specials in a visually appealing way.
- Leverage Social Media: Promote your daily specials on social media platforms with high-quality images, engaging posts, and relevant hashtags to reach a larger audience and encourage in-store visits.
- Offer Limited-Time Discounts: Use time-sensitive promotions to create urgency around your daily specials, encouraging customers to act quickly and boosting sales.
- Utilize In-Store Displays: Place eye-catching posters, menu boards, or table tents in high-traffic areas of your restaurant or café to ensure customers see your daily specials as soon as they enter.
- Collaborate with Influencers or Bloggers: Partner with local influencers or food bloggers to feature your daily specials, expanding your reach and attracting new customers through their established audiences.
The right daily or weekly specials can transform your restaurant from a place that people like to visit into part of people’s routine. From increasing retention to giving your restaurant a larger potential audience, specials have a wide range of benefits.
Specials also allow you to benefit from the economies of purchasing ingredients in bulk. With just one or two dishes to focus on instead of several, the right special is ideal for improving your restaurant’s focus and generating a great income.
Many restaurants offer specials, but few market them as effectively as they could with the right combination of marketing materials and sales. In this guide, we will share four effective ways to market your restaurant or café’s daily specials.
Use table tents to list your specials
There’s no better way to market your specials than by listing them in front of your customers. Table tents let you list your specials menu right there on the table, in a location that’s extremely easy for customers to access.
Prepare a list of your daily or weekly special offers and add it to your tables, making it easy for customers to read. Table tents allow you to easily swap out new lists on a daily or weekly basis.
The biggest benefit of using table tents is visibility. Since your specials list is right in front of your customers, the chance of them ordering something from the menu goes up, as do your restaurant or café’s orders.
Make a specials board with daily offers
The specials board is a staple of many restaurants, and there’s no need to remove it simply because you also use other marketing methods. Add a specials board to your checkout area or inside your restaurant to make your specials visible to customers.
The advantage of a specials board is that it allows you to avoid replacing menus on each table. With a centralized list of specials, all that’s required from you is a quick revision every morning or Monday to list the day or week’s new items.
Ask service staff to read your specials
Your restaurant’s service staff can often also be great sales staff. By asking service staff to read out your daily or weekly specials, you can significantly increase orders and encourage customers to take action.
Asking service staff to read your daily or weekly specials has two benefits. First, it increases the rate at which people order due to increased awareness of the special dishes you’re offering.
Second, it allows your service staff to provide useful answers to any questions your customers might have about your special dishes and offers. Many customers have a range of questions that can’t be answered by a menu or specials board alone.
Elevating Your Daily Specials with Smart Sign Holder Placements
Effectively marketing daily specials in your restaurant or café requires not only great deals but also strategic placement of your promotional materials. One of the most powerful ways to ensure your specials are noticed is through the use of well-placed sign holders. Whether you choose tabletop, wall-mounted, or acrylic sign holders, these display solutions can enhance the visibility of your specials and increase customer engagement.
Tabletop Sign Holders: Engage Customers at the Point of Decision
Tabletop sign holders are versatile and perfect for positioning your daily specials where customers are most likely to notice them. Placing these signs near your menu boards, cash registers, or on tables provides an immediate visual cue to your specials as customers make their decisions. Whether you are offering a seasonal dish, a chef’s recommendation, or a limited-time offer, a clear and eye-catching tabletop sign holder can prompt customers to try something new.
Additionally, tabletop displays are great for encouraging impulse buys. When a customer is already seated or waiting, seeing a well-designed special on a tabletop display can prompt them to add an appetizer, dessert, or drink to their order. A sign holder strategically placed on the table allows customers to easily read and engage with your special offers while they wait.
Wall-Mounted Sign Holders: Make Your Specials Stand Out in High-Traffic Areas
In a busy restaurant or café, it can be difficult to ensure that your daily specials reach every customer. This is where wall-mounted sign holders come in. These holders are ideal for displaying promotions in high-traffic areas, such as near the entrance, along corridors, or above service counters. Wall-mounted sign holders ensure your specials are visible to all customers as they enter or pass by.
These signs work especially well for showcasing larger or more prominent daily specials that you want to catch the eye of anyone entering your café or restaurant. Placing a wall-mounted sign holder with your specials near the front door or in the waiting area not only ensures customers see your offers right away, but also helps drive traffic to certain menu items.
Moreover, wall-mounted displays allow for the use of larger signs, making it possible to add more information about the special, such as ingredients, prices, or time-limited offers. This type of display works particularly well for promotions that require more attention or involve a limited-time discount.
Acrylic Sign Holders: Enhance Professional Appeal and Durability
When it comes to durability and professional appeal, acrylic sign holders are an excellent choice for displaying daily specials. Acrylic holders offer a sleek, modern design that suits almost any décor, adding a polished look to your restaurant or café while still delivering key promotional information. Whether placed on tabletops or mounted on walls, acrylic holders provide a clear and organized way to showcase your specials, making them stand out with their high-quality finish.
Acrylic holders are particularly effective when you want to display your daily specials in a way that communicates professionalism. Customers often perceive a business that uses acrylic displays as more organized, modern, and trustworthy. This can lead to increased interest in your specials as customers are more likely to trust the quality of the offerings presented in a professional manner.
Another advantage of acrylic sign holders is their durability. Unlike paper or cardboard signs that can get damaged or worn out easily, acrylic displays are long-lasting, allowing you to update your daily specials regularly without worrying about signs becoming ragged or torn. Acrylic is also easy to clean, making it a practical solution for busy café and restaurant environments where spills and stains are common.
Combining Different Sign Holders for Maximum Impact
While each type of sign holder has its advantages, combining tabletop, wall-mounted, and acrylic sign holders allows you to create a seamless and multi-layered marketing strategy. For example, you can place acrylic displays with your most prominent daily specials in high-traffic areas like the front door or main walls, while reserving tabletop sign holders for less noticeable areas or for specific promotions on individual tables.
By diversifying your sign placement strategy, you ensure your daily specials are consistently visible to customers at various touchpoints throughout their visit. Whether it’s a large, eye-catching poster mounted on a wall or a small, convenient sign on a tabletop, each placement supports your goal of increasing customer engagement with your specials.
Post your specials on social media
Does your restaurant use Facebook or Twitter to promote itself and keep in touch with its customers? If you have a following on social media, try using it to promote your daily or weekly specials.
Social media is a particularly useful tool for promoting seasonal specials, such as a dish that’s only available for part of the year. By raising awareness, you increase the number of people that will visit your restaurant and order from your specials menu.