Restaurant Contest Giveaways

Updated September 24th, 2013

Contests and Giveaways are efficient ways to increase engagement with your customers

Setting up a contest or a giveaway for your customers represents more than just some fun activities related to your concept.  It can help your business in the following ways:

• Stay in touch with your customers and attract the attention from potential new ones.
• Build a database of customer information and market to them in the future more cost efficiently and effectively through direct, email or social media marketing tools.
• Reward regulars for their repeat business and encourage customers to return.
• Provide customers of all ages with entertainment and diversion while they wait.
• Provide content for the press to mention you.

 

Types of Contests

• Giveaways: You can give away a free trip, gift certificates, a plasma screen, a free stay at a fancy resort, a free menu item or anything else you can think of. This is a great way to reward your customers for their patronage.
• Raffles: The difference between a raffle and a giveaway is that customers can enter multiple raffle tickets and increase their chances of winning. Usually, customers pay or purchase something to be enrolled in the raffle. The more a customer purchases, the more times they will be entered in the raffle. Try giving customers a raffle “ticket” for every ten euros they spend at your restaurant. This is a great way to give your best customers an advantage. Or, you could offer only your most loyal customers a chance at the prize by requiring customers to accrue a certain number of points in your restaurant loyalty program before they are entered into the drawing. Moet-Chandon has created a Champagne Raffle board where the cork of your purchased bottle was stored on the board and there was a prize for the first one reaching 20 corks, a prize for the most purchased bottles and everyone reaching 20 participated in an auction of a unique bottle worth 5000 Euros.
• Competitions: Getting customers to compete with each other for prizes will provide them with entertainment and encourage them to bring their friends to your restaurant.
• Games: Bingo, trivia, monopoly and other games have been used by club like restaurants and also fast food chains. It is a little far reached for us and we will dedicate a separate chapter to this option.

 

Guidelines for Customer Contests & Giveaways

• Gather customer information by collecting their details for your marketing database. You will need their information anyway, in order to notify them of winners. You can collect contest entries and customer information through business card drop-boxes, online web forms, entry cards to leave at tables or simple applications on mobile devices.
• I recommend to choose prizes that help support your concept. Offer special products, event participation’s, destinations or other concept related highlights so that there is a connection to your business while it is promoted and puts you in a positive spotlight. Another option is obviously to keep a competition very secret which will clearly have a viral effect and cause the opposite.
• Here some in-house prize ideas. With prizes like these, the customers perceive a higher prize value than you actually pay for. These prizes will encourage them to bring new guests to your business or talk about your business:
  • Gift certificate to your restaurant
  • Free party room reservation
  • Free drinks or menu items
  • Free tasting dinner with the Chef in the kitchen
  • Free one day cooking lesson with the Chef
  • Free dinner party for six
  • Eat free once a month for six months

• Make the prizes accessible and preferably have several smaller prizes compared to one big one.
• Give repeat customers the advantage. It can be part of a loyalty program feature. But make them feel they are special and you value their loyalty.

 

Remember, giveaways and contests aim at building up your marketing database or solidify your relationship with your existing and loyal customers, create content for the press, basically anything that may encourage more immediate or future sales.

Written by Daniel Grossmann