8 Fastest Ways to Promote Your Seasonal Menu Offers Online

Seasonal menus are a great opportunity to boost sales, attract a new pool of customers, and create buzz around your restaurant’s limited-time dishes. However, simply adding a pumpkin spice latte or a winter deal is not enough, you need online visibility. 

In today’s increasingly online age, most diners are now discovering restaurants online. If you strategically post your seasonal offerings, you can drastically improve foot traffic and online orders. 

1. Showcase your seasonal dishes with visuals

Seasonal food is all about invoking an emotion as people crave comfort in the warmth of fall soups or festive holiday confectionaries. High-quality visuals that have mouth-watering close-ups, warm lighting, and natural textures can help customers imagine the taste of food before even walking into your cafe. 

If you do not have professional photography to capture your dishes for you, you can use online tools such as AI background remover to keep your graphics distraction-free. Clean and polished images perform better in ad posts and you can expect an uptick in post interactions and shares. 

2. Create promotional graphics

Making a marketing plan which prioritises visuals as its main selling-point can increase customer engagement. Incorporate techniques involving visuals, timing, and consistent messaging. These strategies can help with getting your seasonal menu noticed fast. 

By using customisable restaurant flyer templates, you can produce social graphics, in-store posters, and much more. In addition, you can easily resize your posters to adapt them to different social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and email marketing headers. You can take inspiration from the following template ideas:

• Announcing a limited-time special dish 
• Highlighting special seasonal pricing 
• Promoting a weekend or holiday menu

3. Build anticipation

How can small businesses build buzz around their food and create anticipation? By drawing attention to scarcity, which will drive customers to take action. People are more likely to immediately buy when they know a dish will not be around for too long. Time-sensitive conversion rates can increase the sense of urgency in customers. 

By using messaging such as ‘only available this month’, ‘season ends soon’, and ‘final weekend to try our winter bakery items’, you can invoke a sense of immediacy and secure more orders. Using complimentary techniques such as countdown posts or weekly spotlights can also help with gaining traction. 

4. Utilise multiple different social media platforms

The world is progressing digitally and so should restaurants and small businesses. Having one active social media is not enough and a cost-effective way to reach local diners is to have a strong brand presence online. Instead of posting in a random and disorganised manner, plan a content schedule which builds excitement and momentum for the launch of your seasonal dishes. Ideas which incorporate social media marketing are:

• BTS (behind-the-scenes) clips of the kitchen
• Chef intros and gag reels for seasonal items 
• Story polls to encourage customer interaction (ask for votes on returning dishes)
• Reels featuring plating, ingredients, or equipment 

5. Targeted email campaigns to regular customers

Email marketing stays undisputed as a strong marketing technique. It is one of the highest-ROI yielding restaurant marketing channels. Segmented emails can significantly increase revenue compared to generic messaging methods. 

You can use email marketing to target tasks such as announcing launch dates for seasonal dishes, sharing exclusive early access, and offering seasonal bundle promotions. For an extra touch, you can add a clear call-to-action (bookings, reservations, orders, and calling information) or use a visually captivating email header. 

6. Update your website

Most local diners will check a restaurant’s online webpage before ordering. If your website is laggy and not optimised for different screens, customers will be hesitant to place their faith in you. Similarly, if your seasonal menu is not visible, they may assume that nothing new is available. 

Every seasonal transition, you must add a seasonal banner to indicate offers on your homepage. In addition, you can upload professional quality pictures of the food alongside the updated menu. Put up short descriptions of each dish and ensure you include allergen and dietary notes to be transparent with those who have specific dietary requirements. 

FAQS

Here are some frequently asked questions about ways to promote seasonal dishes for your restaurant. 

1. How early should I start promoting a seasonal menu?

Seasonal promotion should start at least 2-3 weeks before launch to build buzz around the release of your seasonal dishes. You can use ready-made graphic templates to schedule and design multiple announcements and countdown posts in advance. 

2. What’s the best way to market seasonal food online?

Seasonal food is well-complimented with high quality images of your dishes, clean backgrounds, and strong but ambient lighting. Tools like the AI background remover and resize options can polish your images without the help of a professional. 

3. Can I promote a seasonal menu without a big budget?

You can focus on organic marketing through various social media platforms and email newsletters. Free or pocket-friendly tools like PosterMyWall can help you create professional-looking graphics with just a single click.