As the Chinese New Year approaches, we celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with friends and family alike. Restaurant customer numbers skyrocket as everyone gathers with their colleagues, friends, and families to celebrate. With enjoying a good Chinese New Year spread, we wish for good health, long life, and abundant fortune.
As a restauranteur and a member of the Food Service industry, it’s also an excellent marketing opportunity to reel in the customers this festive season! To do this, we have some marketing ideas just for you – to help you understand your customer base, catch their attention and stand out from the sea of discounts!
Sometimes traditional methods never change because they’re already the best. As all the years have come, do the same and pass customers free Ang Pow packets after they dine at your restaurant.
As passing them are a symbol of good luck, be smart with the branding on the packaging.
When done right, don’t be surprised as there might be some customers who purposefully dine at your restaurant just to collect your Ang Pow design!
Take full advantage of the opportunity by including some exclusive discounts on these Ang Pow packets so customers can return to your restaurants and redeem them.
It’s definitely a smart move to welcome the new year with a special menu! Be it an entire course or just a few curated dishes, they will spice up the excitement of the year.
This is also the time to show off your creativity with naming and plating. Don’t be afraid to explore something out of your comfort zone, as that might be the way to outshine your competitors.
Chinese New Year dishes are heavy on symbolic significance, so don’t miss out on the auspicious ingredients to use for the festival too.
While designing or letting your team taste the limited-time menu, be sure to get your customers updated through social media!
Don’t crack your head for ideas, check our Chinese New Year food Malaysia menu for inspiration!
With everything symbolizing something lucky, even price tags can become a marketing tool to represent good luck.
Numbers that go: 288, 388, 688, and 888 symbolize good fortune – so have promotions that encourage customers to spend these amounts!
Reward customers when they spend up to those numbers with a free creative dish or voucher that symbolizes good fortune.
Need some extra push? Let your customers enjoy a free lucky snack or dessert when they write a recommendation for you on social media.
These genuine comments might attract even more customers to taste your food in the future!
What’s more trustworthy? A million-dollar ad or the word of friends and family?
With nicely plated food and well-thought interior decoration, customers would not be reluctant to take some instagrammable photos in your restaurant.
Encourage your customers to show off their meals on their social media and give them freebies or discounts in return.
If your budget allows, this will also be a good time to work with social media content creators or food bloggers to reach out to wider audiences.
This never fails to grab customers’ attention – run some contests or giveaways when your customer dine in with you. With this extra motivating factor, customers might choose you over your competitors.
Don’t let the fun stop there! You can also organize a simple social media contest to hype the campaign up. Need ideas? Here’s one: Write the best Chinese New Year greeting related to your festive menu.
Think out of the box to get the most out of it, You can let winners try out your full festive menu for free, giveaway a highly-sought after electronics, the list is endless!
Last but not least, share behind the scenes, and tell customers more about your celebrations!
Everyone likes authentic stories, be it through photos, stories, or videos.
Let customers take a peep at what went on while you curate the Chinese New Year menu, let them get to know your long-serving staff, and talk to them on social media like how you would talk to your friend.
In short, bond and share with your customers so they would feel connected to your brand and restaurant.
Love these? Stay tuned to our website as we provide more industry related tips and recipes!
Ajinomoto Food Biz Partner
