What Halloween promotions work for a restaurant?

Halloween is a home holiday first. In the National Retail Federation’s survey this fall, the top plans were handing out candy, dressing up and decorating. Eating out was not on that list. In a Numerator survey reported by FSR magazine in 2022, 15 percent planned to go out for food or drinks.

Bars fare better than dining rooms. A survey by the research firm CGA, also reported by FSR, found one out of three planned to visit a bar or restaurant. Neighborhood bars, sports bars and nightclubs were the top picks. Full-service restaurants were not.

So do not plan Halloween like Valentine’s Day. Plan it as three offers. One fills your quiet weeknights. One gives people something to post. One feeds the parties you will never seat.

Plan for house parties on both Friday and Saturday. Plan for families out trick-or-treating on Saturday evening. That leaves the dining room light on the night itself. It does not leave the kitchen idle.

Takeout is the opening. Lightspeed, a point-of-sale company, studied sales at its North American restaurants. When Halloween fell on a Monday, takeout sales rose 11.37% over the Monday before. That held across fast casual, casual, upscale and fine dining.

It can, if it runs on the right nights. Costumes are common. In the National Retail Federation’s survey, 50% planned to dress up. A costume deal gives them one more place to wear one. It also puts costumes in your dining room, and costumes get photographed.

Price-minded guests are looking for deals this year. The National Retail Federation found 26% will look for coupons or sales if Halloween items cost more than expected. A costume deal speaks to them too.

Choose the deal with care. Restolabs, which sells online ordering, suggests 10% off for guests in costume. Compare that with a free dessert. The dessert costs you its food cost and no more. A discount off the check costs more as the check grows.

Add one item, not a whole menu. Build it from what your line already stocks. A black bun, an orange sauce or a pumpkin dessert can do it. Give it a name guests will say out loud.

If you serve alcohol, add a themed drink. Lightspeed’s bar data shows what sells that night. Spirit sales grew by 68% on Halloween night over the week before. Cocktails rose 34%, while wine fell 17%.

Price the item like a regular one, so staff do not have to explain it. Photograph it in daylight before you post anything. That one photo will carry your Google post, your ads and your receipts.

A bundle sells to the parties you will never seat. Make it one order that feeds a group. Price it as a set, so the host does not have to build an order from the menu.

Delivery apps help, but Halloween is not their peak. In DoorDash’s ranking of the 20 busiest holidays for delivery in 2024, Halloween came 18th. Preorders for pickup are easier to plan. You know the count before Saturday.

Post a week ahead. Halloween shoppers start early. In the National Retail Federation’s survey, 49% planned to start shopping in September or earlier. A host ordering on Saturday afternoon should know your bundle exists by Thursday.

Use the places guests already check. On Google, add each offer as an offer post on every location’s Business Profile. Google asks for a title, dates and a time. It then adds a View Offer button to the post.

Post again on Friday morning. Name the cutoff time for bundle preorders. A host who sees it at lunch can still order for that night. Pin the Instagram post to the top of each location’s profile for the week.

Yes, if it points at one offer at one location. Restaurant ads are cheap to click. LocaliQ’s benchmarks for Facebook traffic campaigns put Restaurants and Food at $0.45 a click. That was among the lowest of any industry.

Keep the ad small and local. Run it for the week before Halloween. Target the area around each location. Send clicks to the bundle’s order page, not your home page. Use your themed item’s photo, not a stock image. Set the budget per location, not per brand. A busy store and a quiet one need different amounts. When the week ends, compare bundle orders by store.

Yes, if the video can post before the weekend. Invite them now, for a visit early in Halloween week. Ask for the video by Thursday. A late post still helps, but it misses the party orders.

Keep the brief to one page. For the wording of the invitation, see inviting food influencers. For the trade itself, read pay or a free meal. The football season plan books its creator visits on a quiet weeknight too.

CreatoRain is a done-for-you creator video service for restaurant chains and franchises. Our team invites creators from our food-creator network to visit each location. We follow up until each video is posted. It costs $300 a video, the creator’s pay included.

Read the marketing section of your franchise agreement first. Some brands run a national Halloween item and let stores add local offers. Others want to approve any discount. Ask now, because approval takes time.

If discounts are off the table, keep the bundle and the creator visit. A bundle can use menu items at menu prices. A creator video of the national item is still local marketing for your store.

Count each offer on its own. Give every offer a register button, or a code online. Compare Halloween week with the same week last year, store by store. Note the weather and the weekday, since both move the numbers.

Keep the notes where you will find them next September. That is when next year’s Halloween plan should start.

Share the notes with your other locations, or with your franchisor. One store’s result is a guess. Several stores’ results start to show a pattern. Pick the offer that sold most at each location, and plan it first next year.