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New Year's Eve Promotions for Restaurant and Bars
New Year's Eve Promotions for Restaurant and Bars
December 31st can be a very profitable night so now is a great time to start exploring unique New Year’s Eve promotions for restaurants and bars to help you prepare for the party of the year. Whether you want to throw an extravagant party or just add a few exciting events to an otherwise regular evening, planning is going to play a very important role.
Before you start looking for NYE marketing ideas, there are two things that go well with almost every celebration – champagne and party decorations. Make sure you stock up on those, so you capture the true celebratory feeling of the big night. Offering a free glass to toast with at midnight may encourage guests to stay longer and providing free noisemakers and party hats will keep the atmosphere light and fun. This can be done very easily with convenient New Year’s Eve party kits. No matter how big or small you’re planning, there is a kit filled with confetti, noisemakers, party hats, streamers, and more that is built just for you. Make sure you get all the NYE party supplies without breaking the bank!
One thing to keep in mind when looking for restaurant and bar party ideas for New Year’s Eve is to remember not to stray too far from your everyday image and theme. By sticking true to yourself, you’ll attract your desired crowd and turn the right people into repeat customers.
8 Promotions to Help Your Restaurant or Bar Stand Out On NYE
- Host a throwback game night
Bring in all the old games you used to love when you were little – Operation, Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, Jenga, Uno – and create fun drink specials that go along with games like “brain freeze”, “pail of water in the knee”, or “Colonial Mustard in the Study with the Candlestick.” The nostalgia will keep people entertained all night.
- Ramp up the Catering Services
While New Year’s Eve is a popular holiday for people to go out on the town, it’s also a big night for staying in and throwing parties at home. This leaves you with the opportunity to push your catering services. Offer a really well thought-out menu that is heavy on the appetizers and finger foods that are good for late night munching. By offering special deals and unique menu options for at-home NYE celebrations, you can really stand out from the crowd. Just make sure you have all the catering supplies you need, so there is no last-minute scrambling.
- Offer a New Year's Eve celebration for the whole family
Are you looking for more family-friendly NYE celebration ideas for your restaurant? Plan a ball drop for the kids! Find a recording of a previous year or create your own video to make the countdown extra exciting. Make it drop at 8 or 9 o’clock and have plastic champagne glasses with sparkling cider to give away to the little guests (and maybe real champagne for the adults to toast with, too).
- Partner with other local businesses and get double the promotion this New Year’s Eve
Ideas for partnership include bakeries for fresh desserts, a cab company for rides home, other bars or restaurant to organize a bar crawl or a food crawl. Organizing a crawl not only shows your community involvement, but also makes it easier for you to predict crowds by selling tickets beforehand. And crawl t-shirts will promote your establishment even after the party is over!
- Promote free cab rides home after the party
Even if you do everything else normally at your bar or restaurant in terms of food and drink specials, providing guests with safe transportation can be a powerful incentive for them to come party with you over the hundreds of other options. If you can’t offer totally free rides, you can partner with a local cab company to offer discounts or check with the local public transportation to see what they have to offer.
- Host a creatively themed NYE Party
This is a night where people want to do something different than they would on a normal weekend, which leaves a lot of room to get creative and throw a themed party. There are thousands of New Year’s Eve party themes for restaurants and bars to consider so your creativity is the only limit here. Some great NYE themes to think about: glow in the dark party, around the world, casino night, Great Gatsby theme, costume/masquerade ball, black and white theme, a singles mixer or speed dating.
- Spice up the night with fun entertainment
When deciding who to hire for your New Year’s Eve promotion, there are many avenues you can take from a comedian, a band or DJ, or an illusionist. There is probably a lot of great local talent right outside your door, so you can bring in new entertainment and show that you're am involved member of the local community. If you are looking for a less expensive route, you can get a karaoke machine and let your guests be their own entertainment.
- Go for the post-celebration New Year's Day brunch
Don’t want to get caught up in the late night events of the holiday? You can opt to host a New Year’s Day brunch instead. You can help people wake up after a long night with bottomless mimosas, a brunch buffet, or a special menu crafted just for that day. If you want a laid back and extra cozy atmosphere, you can make it a pajama party and kick off the New Year in a relaxed and comfortable style.
Things to remember when planning a New Year's Eve party:
- Make sure you’re well stocked for the evening. Running out of liquor or food is not an option.
- Stock up on the cleaning and bathroom supplies. Increased crowds mean more mess, so you don’t want to be in the middle of the party and find you’re all out of toilet paper or dish soap.
- Double check inventories of glassware, dinnerware and cutlery to ensure you can handle the increased crowds. This will keep customers happy and will avoid accidents – including broken glass and cutlery being thrown away. Get even more tips for preparing your restaurant for NYE parties.
- Want a little help with planning how much food and drink you’ll need for your celebration? Encourage reservations for dinner by offering free dessert or glass of champagne with a reservation made ahead of time. Then you’ll know for sure how many restaurant guests to expect for the New Year’s Eve party and can better estimate staff and what inventory you’ll need to get more of.
- Make sure staff is well trained and prepared to handle increased workloads. It also may be a good time to practice upselling techniques as special holidays leave customers more likely to splurge.
- Advertise everywhere. These days this goes without saying, but it’s still important to advertise your events on social media, your website, flyers around town, on tables/receipt/in check book. Send your NYE party information to local newspapers and online event forums and you may be surprised at how far it’ll reach.
