6 SMS Thanksgiving Ideas For Restaurants

Thanksgiving is a tricky time for restaurateurs to negotiate. Many establishments find that the most sensible thing is to simply close for the day, unwilling to compete with the flurry of home-cooked fare being prepared across the country. 

But even if you close for Thanksgiving that doesn’t mean you can’t capitalize on the holiday. 

1. Make Dessert

With so much food to prepare for the big day, the idea of outsourcing some of the culinary responsibility is very appealing. Use your expertise to sell desserts or side dishes to customers as a way of relieving the pressure? Take pre-orders so you know exactly how much you need to order, and ask customers to pick their dishes up on Wednesday before 2 p.m. so you can close early, safe in the knowledge you’ve made some extra cash.

2. Provide Supplies

In the same vein, you can make the most of your unused assets when closed for Thanksgiving. Offer chairs, tables and utensils at knock-down rental prices. Even if you throw in the washing up, your costs will be minimal. 

3. Offer a Seasonal Incentive

Take a holly leaf out of Christmas’ book and run a promotional schedule that counts down to the big day. Starting the Sunday before Thanksgiving, offer customers 20% off of wine one day, a half-off coupon for entrees the next, and so on up until you close. It’s a good way to generate more business through the Thanksgiving slump.
 

4. Christmas Meal Vouchers

With Christmas around the corner, why not tie in your Thanksgiving promotions to the upcoming holiday season? Unlike Thanksgiving, it’s not uncommon for people to eat out on Christmas Day, so offer a deal on the latter that only applies if they buy before the former. Use the opportunity to entice customers to sign up for text alerts – it’s one of the most effective mobile marketing tactics there is.

5. Takeout Deals the Night Before

Again, you are well-positioned to alleviate the pressure on Thanksgiving cooks by eliminating the need for them to make dinner the night before. Offer mobile coupons for takeout boxes the night before the holiday. Even if you don’t usually offer a takeout service, it can be a winning mobile marketing strategy and you can make a selling point of the service being a one-off, never-to-be-repeated deal.

6. Close for the Entire Weekend

Here’s an interesting one. It might seem counter-intuitive to close shop for the days following Thanksgiving, but it can work wonders for staff morale, bringing them back to the restaurant after the holiday with renewed energy. Remember, most people are thinking about retail - not restaurants - on Black Friday, and between shopping for deals they’re working their way through leftover turkey and cranberry sauce. Instead of risking a quiet couple of days, close on Friday and Saturday and return with a bang on Sunday for the start of the Christmas season.