With the holiday season coming right around the corner, your customer base will be in the holiday spirit, and will want a way to celebrate on a night out. How can you deliver this experience to them? A well-executed Christmas or Holiday promotion can set you apart from your competitors, and can be a very profitable time for your business. What can you do to make this holiday season special? Let’s dive into 5 different ways you can capitalize on the festive spirit and make it a memorable experience for you and your customers.
- Simple Decorations
You’ll want your customers to feel the spirit of the holiday season from the moment they walk in your doors. It doesn’t need to look like the Ghost of Christmas Present threw up all over the place, but you need to make it festive enough to make them feel the spirit of the North Pole. Things like Christmas lights around your bar, tinsel on the bar or walls, or even something as simple as a wreath on the door can be enough to get your customers excited and in the mood.
Themed Cocktails are a great way to spread the holiday spirit.
- Email Special Offers
Your customers might need a reason to come, and an email special offer does that. Something like a small discount in the name of the giving season, or a limited time only offer to create a sense of urgency in the customer. Not only will they come quickly to claim the offer, but it gives you an opportunity to keep them coming back before the season is over. This doubles as a marketing tool for you as well, as you can build an email database to continue to use in the future.
- Themed Cocktails
One of the more practical (and profit driving) ways to conjure up Christmas Cheer is the use of themed cocktails to use throughout the month of December. Something like a Holiday Mai Tai with a cinnamon stick and cranberries, a classic Eggnog cocktail, a well crafted Candy Cane Cocktail, or a refreshing Cranberry Mimosa are all crowd pleasers, and will instill the warmth of the holiday season the moment it hits your patrons lips. It adds some flair to your standard menu, and if they’re good enough, will spread via word of mouth and bring in new customers.
- Giving Season Promotions
The holidays are all about the season of giving, and what better way to celebrate than offering some freebies to your costumes. Nothing crazy of course, but enough that it will drive up a head count. Something like a free drink with purchase of food, a free appetizer during happy hour with the purchase of a themed cocktail, or even (in moderation) some Giving Season Comp Tickets to make your customers feel special and appreciated. It can be done at random, or with a certain criteria, but word will get out that you’re being a very generous “gift giver”, and will drive attention.
- The 12 Days of Christmas
Hosting a 12 Days of Christmas event though, is the most sure fire way to garner up excitement and holiday cheer amongst your customers. Throwing an event like this is all about creativity and working within your own boundaries and budget, but the possibilities are endless. Something as small as a giveaway on social media, a “Santa Hat” night, letting a customer choose a new themed cocktail to be served, an “Ugly Christmas Sweater” night, or a “Gingerbread Cookie” night. These are just a few but a 12 Days of Christmas event is not something you see everyday, so throwing one would conjure up a lot of excitement and keep people coming through your doors for the month, and make the holiday season that much sweeter.
The holidays are always the best time to capitalize on the excitement to celebrate, but you have to step it up a bit to really make the most of it. Doing nothing festive won’t bring any new customers to you, and it takes some planning. But if you execute well, your customers will be incredibly excited to visit your business, and will bring their friends along too. There’s quite a bit of money to be made, so do what you can to create a holiday buzz!
