Busy Tuesday nights in your restaurant – great marketing tips for more customers!

Tuesday night, unless you are next to a cinema, is the worst night of the week. You pay rent on your property 7 days a week, so you want each day that you are open to be as successful as possible.  If it isn’t busy each day and night you are open, you will struggle to maximize your yield Here are 7 great tips to drive more customers to your restaurant, café or take away on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

1. Cheap eats on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  Ok, so no one wants to be discounting, but if you have to, the quiet nights are the ones you want to do it on.  When discounting, always try to find something that is of high perceived value, but doesn’t cost you a lot.  Maybe it is a glass of wine, maybe a dessert.  Experiment each month and see which ones work best.
2. If there is enough foot traffic, maybe place someone out the front or on a major crossroad to suggest the restaurant, go through the specials and direct passers-by to the restaurant, can make a big difference on a quiet night.
3. Link up with local groups and offer them space, facilities and, of course, food. Is there a local book club, astronomy club, martial arts club.  Could they either hold their meetings in your restaurant or come in afterwards for a meal?  Maybe create a special discount for them.
4. Run theme nights – If you own a Chinese restaurant, maybe you could have a Mandarin Language night on the first night of each month.  Advertise it with the schools teaching the language and get your staff to speak Mandarin and take the orders in Mandarin, helping out where necessary, of course.
5. Try out a new menu – ever thought of a degustation menu in your restaurant?  What would it look like?  It takes a lot of time to get right.  Why not do that on a quiet night?  Facebook it, email it out.  Let the customers know that you are trying things out and who knows what will happen?  Some people will come along for the adventure.  Spanish restaurants have Tapas, Chinese restaurants have yum cha.  What would a tasting menu look like in your restaurant?

Coupon marketing – We have seen Spreets, Livingsocial and Groupon before, but if you have to use them, try to limit when they can be used to your off peak times.  It is when you aren’t busy anyway and you won’t run the risk of upsetting full fee paying customers.

Hopefully you will have found a couple of great ideas to help you make sure that Tuesday and Wednesday are no longer quiet days in your week.  If you can appear a little busy, there is a chance you will attract more walk-ins, because many people don’t like going into an empty restaurant.   Got a great idea you would like to share to help fill out those Tuesday nights?  Drop me an email about what you do to drive business during the quiet times in your restaurant.

---