With the season for giving quickly approaching, you need a way to monetise as much as possible from your restaurant, and fast. Gift voucher campaigns are an easy and cost-effective way to do this, bringing untapped revenue into your restaurant that you can rely on all year round.
With shoppers spending more this time of year and looking for gifting opportunities, there are also several ways you can make your gift vouchers work harder, and bring in more revenue.
Let’s review the top five ways to get more from your voucher campaigns during this year’s festive period:
1. Add an expiry date
Making your gift vouchers valid for a period of nine or ten months is a clever way of ensuring that you’re not giving away anything for free during your busy periods. It also provokes a feeling of urgency with the voucher holder, as they don’t want to miss out on the discounted meal or offer included on the voucher.
Therefore a gift voucher bought in December becomes incremental revenue the following September or October, when people otherwise might not be eating out as much in the lead up to Christmas. This creates additional footfall during your quieter periods and ensures that when tables are booking up fast for festive parties, you’re taking away 100% of the bill.
2. Build emotional connections
Promoting a meal at your restaurant as more than just dinner is a great way to get people talking about your business and returning time and time again. By forming an emotional connection between your diners and your restaurant, you make them more likely to consider you as a destination for special occasion dining going forward.
An easy way to do this? By using gift vouchers with personalised video messages attached.
These vouchers enable the buyer to add a special message to their voucher, giving their recipient more than a digital download or a piece of paper, but a real story behind why the gift was chosen for them, and something they’ll remember in years to come. This gets the dopamine flowing and creates a connection between that feeling and your restaurant, turning one-off customers into loyal regulars with a story.
3. Include a unique deal
Everyone loves a deal, so if a shopper thinks they’re saving money – even when they’re spending money – you’re onto a winner. This can be something as simple as a buy-one-get-one-free voucher, or a ‘get a £100 voucher for only £80’ offer.
The knock-on effect of these savings encourages shoppers to purchase more as they believe they’re getting a good deal. And – as it’s been proven that when diners are paying for their meal with a voucher, they’re likely to spend more in total than the amount the voucher is for – you’re making even more incremental revenue for your restaurant.
4. Create exclusivity
Another easy way to encourage someone to spend more, is to make an offer feel exclusive, like you’ve done something especially just for them. This might be a reward for your loyal customers, enabling them to unlock a unique discount that they’ve earned over the year, or a promotion for customers dining on a specific day, if you’re trying to increase your footfall during certain periods.
This helps your restaurant drive traffic when it needs it most and enhances loyalty amongst your existing customers, as they feel like they’re being rewarded for dining with you.
5. Leverage multiple channels
Finally, a way to reach more customers and make your gift vouchers work harder, is by promoting them across multiple different channels. This means investing in social media advertising, showcasing your offer in any local publications or even going big with a festive themed billboard.
The more your voucher deals and restaurant name is out there, the more people are going to find their way through your doors and spread the word about your food. So it’s worth the investment when you can immediately see the return.
Need help making your vouchers work harder?
Don’t worry – we understand that the festive period is busy enough as it is – so you don’t need added pressures like running a voucher campaign or staying on top of offers. That’s where the Giftpro team can help.
We support with campaigns, packaging and fulfilment, so you can focus on what matters most to you: your restaurant.
To find out more, speak to a member of our team today and we’ll ensure this festive period brings more money to your restaurant through gift vouchers than ever before.
