No matter the industry you work in, events are a great way to add a human connection to your brand and build relationships. The same goes for restaurants and businesses in the food industry. Hosting an event is a great way to attract more customers by offering them new experiences and an opportunity to connect with other people.
Over three-quarters of Millennials like to spend more on experiences and chance to build great memories over material things. With the current pandemic, people need something exciting to make up for the time spent in quarantine. This is an excellent opportunity for you to capitalize on and host an event for people that they will love to be a part of.
8 Amazing Event Ideas for Restaurants to Get More Customers
Are you looking for profitable and fun event ideas for your restaurant? Instead of having the same events every year, let’s shake things up and get creative this year. Here are our top eight event ideas for your restaurant to boost customers and profits.
1. Charity Event
When it comes to charity events, there are multiple options for restaurant businesses. You can host a charity auction, a charity night, or even an offsite charity marathon. For example, you can host a charity event for a particular cause like breast cancer awareness. In this event, you can have pink-colored drinks and cupcakes with pink ribbons to reflect the cause’s pink ribbon.
Similarly, a charity event for the cause of global warming can have polar bear pop-sickles and similar themed food and beverages. Let your creativity flow!
2. Themed Events
Do you know what people love more than food? – Dressing up! If you want to attract the majority of the local community, then a themed event is the best option for your restaurant. Decade nights and themed events are a fantastic way to target customers of different age groups and create a sense of nostalgia.
You can host a big themed party near Halloween or St Patricks. You can also host an 80s themed event and give your customers a chance to dress up and relive the past. Instead of keeping it real, you can also tap into current TikTok trends and fantasy worlds like Unicorns, Mermaids, etc. make sure to customize food and beverages according to the theme.
3. Local Sports Event
Another great way to get customers is to support a local sports team. This is great not only to sponsor the team and attract fans but also to create fun and amazing dishes that your customers will love to post on Instagram, getting you more exposure on social media. This is a great way to get out there in the local community as your logo will be displayed everywhere in the stadium, team dinners, etc.
These types of events yield maximum results and are best for your business growth, but are extremely challenging when it comes to planning and execution. Therefore, consider consulting experiential event agency Dubai, to host a successful local sports event.
4. Celebrity Meet-and-Greet
Do you want to do something exciting and big this year? If yes, then get in touch with a local celebrity for a meet-and-greet event at your restaurant. It will not only draw a large crowd but also increase your sales. Celebrities will be more than willing to come to your restaurant if they are promoting their latest movie or album.
But for this to be a huge success, you need to coordinate everything – from decorations to food. For example, if you are inviting a Marvel character, then make sure to introduce special menu items and themed decorations for the event venue.
5. Wine Tastings
Another way to boost business and get people to your restaurant is by hosting a wine tasting event. You can either close the restaurant and hold this event entirely or simply advertise wines and offer discounts on the weekends. To make it special, consider holding an offsite wine tasting event inviting celebrities and influential people at the event to make it more entertaining. You can also offer customers special discounts on bottles to increase sales.
6. Open Mic Nights
If you haven’t hosted an event in long, then start small and host an open mic event to increase exposure and get people to play at your restaurant. This way, you can not only attract customers but also increase engagement at your restaurant. It can be poetry, music, or comedy that your customers will love to be a part of.
7. Cooking Classes and Guest Chefs
If people love eating your food, it doesn’t mean they can come every night at your restaurant for dinner. But, you can host cooking classes by inviting guest chefs and teach people how to make delicious food. When you plan cooking classes, do give your customers cookbooks to take home. This way, your restaurant will be on their minds.
8. Book Club
If you are thinking about targeting customers of all ages with one event, then Book clubs are the best option for you. By hosting a book club event at your restaurant or offsite, you can appeal to all ages: kids, young adults, and even elderly. If you want to host a big offsite event, you can team up with local clubs for a special event.
You can also introduce themed corners for fans of Harry Potter, Khaled Hosseini, or any other bestselling novels. Make sure to offer your customers special drinks and finger food/ nibbles. You can also customize food and drinks according to the event theme. Do consider hiring an experiential event agency in Dubai to host a magical event for your book-loving customers.
Shake Things Up & Get Customers!
These are some of the fantastic restaurant event ideas to shake things up at your restaurant and find more tables filled each night. These are some of the ways to give back to your customers and make them feel special. Events are a great way to introduce your restaurant to a broad range of customers and the public and encourage old customers to keep coming. Events don’t only help with brand awareness but also promote customer loyalty.
Make sure to build an events calendar for your restaurant and make every night filled with enjoyment and laughter for your customers.