As we move into Q4, the festive season offers a prime opportunity for venues to capitalise on increased customer demand. To ensure your venue stands out during this busy time, a strategic digital marketing plan is essential. From optimising your winter menu to securing New Year's Eve bookings, these tips will help you maximise visibility and increase foot traffic. Whether you're focusing on SEO, Google Ads, social media, or email marketing, these tactics will ensure your venue thrives throughout the festive season and sets you up for success all year round.
Winter Menu Launch
Having a regular seasonal menu change is essential. Not only does it encourage repeat customers to return, but it also highlights your commitment to using seasonal, local ingredients.
What food and drink trends for 2024 should you utilise? Beef Wellington, a social media trend boosted by Gordon Ramsay’s content, is expected to gain traction. Vegan-friendly roasts are also becoming increasingly popular. Christmas cocktails, such as Winter Aperol Spritz, mulled wine, and whisky-based alternatives, can help you upsell before a bottle of wine is purchased or after beers. It’s crucial to include low and no-alcohol options, as searches for these continue to rise.
Now, how can you maximise the visibility of these menu additions?
SEO: It’s best practice to embed your menu as text on your webpage rather than in a separate PDF. Optimise these pages for long-tail keywords such as “best winter roast dinner” or “vegan winter menu” to help improve your ranking on Google and Maps, making it easier for diners to find your offerings when searching for seasonal meals. [Learn more about our SEO services here.]
Google Ads: For faster results, consider running Google Ads focused on seasonal dishes or events. Pay-per-click campaigns targeting keywords like “roast dinner near me” can help drive immediate traffic to your site.
Content Creation & Social Media: High-quality visuals are essential for engaging potential customers. Showcase dishes like roast dinners and alpine-inspired baked camembert boards on Instagram or Facebook. Use Instagram Stories or behind-the-scenes content to create excitement about your new offerings. [see what we've created for some other clients here]
Email Marketing: A well-timed email campaign can help drive repeat business. Feature appetising images of your new dishes and highlight the use of seasonal, local ingredients. Use limited-time offers or specials to create urgency and encourage bookings.
Winter-proof Your Garden
Does your venue have heating or partial cover in your outdoor areas? As the temperature drops, advertise these features to extend your outdoor dining season. Offering heated seating can boost foot traffic by up to 20% during colder months, and digital marketing can help showcase your cosy space as an inviting destination.
Content Creation: Capture high-quality photography and videography of your heated beer garden, showcasing the cosy atmosphere with blankets and alpine-inspired décor. These visuals can be used across social media, on your website, and in email campaigns to draw interest.
Facebook Ads: Leverage Facebook’s targeting capabilities to retarget past visitors. Create ads promoting your winter garden, featuring seasonal drinks like mulled wine and hot cocktails, and emphasise the inviting, warm setting. Unsure how to get started? Learn more here
Thanksgiving Meals
With searches for "Thanksgiving dinner" growing by over 40% in the UK each November, this holiday offers a great opportunity to attract international customers and boost pre-Christmas bookings.
Google Ads & Facebook Ads: Run geo-targeted campaigns to promote Thanksgiving dinners, especially focusing on areas with higher populations of expats and international travellers. Search terms like “Thanksgiving dinner London” will help you reach the right audience.
Email Marketing: Include your Thanksgiving events in email campaigns targeting your existing customer base.
Black Friday Email Marketing
Black Friday is one of the most important times for promotional email marketing. Offering exclusive deals, such as discounted Christmas gift vouchers, can help drive future bookings in quieter months. With email marketing delivering an average return of £42 for every £1 spent, Black Friday is an excellent opportunity to engage your audience and boost sales without affecting your value perception.
Christmas Bookings
By October, 48% of people have already started planning their holiday events. Make it easy for them by promoting your Christmas offerings and linking directly to a dedicated booking page.
SEO: Optimise your website with keywords like “Christmas private dining” and “Christmas party venue.” Well-optimised pages with strong calls-to-action will help you capture holiday-related search traffic early.
Google Ads: Start running Christmas-specific ads early to stay at the top of holiday searches. The more time Google has to understand your target audience, the more efficient your cost-per-booking will be. Consider creating a separate campaign to promote private dining for high-spend bookings.
Content Creation & Social Media: Use festive dining room videos and Christmas menu previews to generate excitement. Posting these on social media platforms can encourage early bookings and create buzz around your holiday events.
New Year’s Eve Bookings
New Year’s Eve is a major event for venues, and early marketing efforts can secure those highly sought-after bookings. Launching a dedicated NYE booking page by November will help get your guest list filled well ahead of time.
SEO & Google Ads: A combination of SEO and paid ads will ensure your New Year's Eve event ranks high when customers search for NYE dinners or parties. Keywords like “New Year’s Eve party near me” can drive traffic directly to your booking page.
Facebook Ads & Retargeting: Use Facebook Ads to retarget customers who’ve previously attended NYE events or engaged with your venue online. Ads showcasing your NYE menu, entertainment, and drink packages will help remind them to book with you again.
By integrating these digital marketing strategies into your seasonal campaign, your venue will not only increase bookings but also establish a strong online presence year-round. Through the effective use of SEO, Google Ads, social media, and email marketing, you can ensure your venue stays competitive and visible. Stay ahead of the competition by continually monitoring your competitors’ efforts and refining your approach to meet your audience's evolving needs.
Partner with SideDish Media to help you execute these initiatives and maximise your success this festive season. Contact us below here!
