TAPPING INTO THE FATHER’S DAY MARKET

fathers day

Father’s Day – on Sunday, September 5 – is one such occasion, where people will be looking for ways to honour their dad.

Besides going the usual “jocks and socks” routine, many consumers are now also looking to celebrate with Dad in another way – via his stomach with a hearty meal.

The consumers – and their venue choices – may vary from grown-up kids wanting to give their parents a special treat or something “out of the box” to families trying to search for the best deal, catering for all members of their clan. It’s up to you what slice of the pie you want to try to capture!

How do we do this? Yes you guessed it – Internet. Very few people spend a day without researching one thing or another. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that web searches for consumer electronics and toys spike in the holiday months.

When hunting for a suitable present for a coming up celebration, many people will hop on the net to find the answer.

Here, BISTRO looks at the fast and effective ways you can market an upcoming Father’s Day event at your restaurant via the net…

1. List your special events and offers on high-ranking website hubs, such as Best Restaurants for example

This site not only lists restaurant specials, but also sends out a newsletter to subscribers about them. For example, its Father’s Day newsletter included a reference to Friend’s Restaurant in Perth having Aussie guitarist Ian Moss perform at its venue on Father’s Day.  Eatability as well as Menulog.com.au special offers page.  Menulog.com.au has a special listing for Father’s Day and is running a newsletter campaign to its members.

Besides promoting your venue on the web, all these sites offer slick marketing and a choice of services, such as online bookings tools, gift certificates (yes, you do not have to take your dad to dinner, if this isn’t preferable – you can just pay for it!), and newsletters reaching vast databases.

2. You can also post your Father’s Day menu or special offer on your own website, so it can be seen when diners are researching what’s on offer at their favourite venues online – or places they have always thought about heading to!

3. Ever thought about running a short and sharp seasonal ad campaign with Google AdWords? Using Google ads correctly will not cost you an arm and a leg. Did you know that such an ad can only be shown to people in certain geographical areas? This way you can show you ad only to the people, who can potensially travel to your restaurant.

If you do not know how to set such things up, as Google AdWords, there are a number of internet marketing companies, who could help do it for you. And, you could still be in control of how long the ad is running for, what the daily budget is, and even what time of the day the ad is showing. Such companies can also provide insider’s advice on customer behavior online.

Of course, whichever way you decide to go, the important thing to remember is that your endeavours can only help attract new people to your business – and, hopefully, new regular clientele.

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