A grand opening is a great marketing strategy for creating buzz in the local community before you open a new restaurant. This event will serve as your first chance to invite customers to your establishment, showcase your menu offerings, and start building the necessary relationships for a repeat business. However, it may be difficult to come up with grand opening ideas to help your business stand out.
When planning a grand opening, you ‘re going to want the best restaurant grand opening ideas to make sure you draw a good crowd to create buzz. Attracting customers to your grand opening will kick off your future marketing strategies and start growing your customer base.
Create an Early Grand Opening Plan
- Choose a day for your event – Create an early grand opening planWhen choosing a day, be aware of upcoming events in the area to avoid competing with customers. Create a timeline for the soft opening events leading up to your grand opening day.
- Choose a time frame – How long are you going to host a grand opening? Decide if you want to have breakfast , lunch or dinner with the crowd, and for how many hours you ‘re prepared to stay open.
- Recruit volunteers or hire staff – Give yourself enough time to find and train staff for the grand opening. Or, gather volunteers willing to help.
- Choose entertainment – Decide if you want to offer entertainment for the grand opening event, and book your talent early. This could include bands, DJ’s, comedians, children’s clowns, local celebrities or sports mascots.
- Set up a budget – Create a budget early in the planning process to avoid over-expenditure on an extravagant affair. Most restaurants will allocate 20% of the first year’s marketing budget to the event.
- Decide on the service style – Start working on your menu for the big day. Will you offer a full or limited menu, sample dishes, or a buffet-style service?
Soft Opening
- Friends and Family – This is a free event for trusted people who understand that they are taking part in a test run and have agreed not to share details publicly.
- Suppliers – This is a way to thank the people who helped you get your restaurant running and give them a chance to see the final product of their work.
- Local owners of businesses – People who work in the neighborhood around your restaurant can become your best customers if they have a chance to become familiar with and feel connected to your business.
- Influents – Host an event for your local influencers, including politicians, police chiefs, journalists and bloggers, to help spread the word of mouth about your location just before the grand opening.
Grand Opening Promotions Offer
It’s important to offer your grand opening attendees something they’re going to really want to come to your event. On your grand opening menu, be sure to offer a taste of your signature dishes that best summarizes the restaurant’s offerings while you’re on the market to give guests a clear understanding of what they can expect when you open.
- What grand opening specials are you going to offer to customers? You could offer free samples of your specialty dishes.
- What are you going to do to encourage the repeat business of the patrons attending your grand opening? Consider offering loyalty cards, purchase-one deals, and coupons for free products on the next visit.
- How are you going to make sure that you encourage your target market to come to your restaurant? Try boosting your presence on the internet and community advertising.
Involve in community events
Before your official opening, start building a hype around your restaurant by getting involved with local events and going where your potential customers are going. Give the public a taste of your culinary or confectionary creations by setting up a stand at local farmers ‘ markets or neighborhood events to set up your business as part of the community.
Partner with a Local Charity
If you’re trying to spread the word about your business through local events, consider partnering with a well-known charity. By providing charitable donations, not only will it help debut your restaurant, but it will also show that you are passionate about a cause that may be close to the hearts of your customers.
Offering a Tasty Menu
A tasting menu is a serious dining experience in upscale restaurants. However, for a grand opening, you can simply offer smaller versions of your dishes so that customers can try more of the menu! Consider serving discounted tapas-style food so that visitors can try different items at your grand opening.
Advertise your Grand Opening
1. Use Social Media
Social media is a budget-friendly way to spread news about your event quickly.
- Offer deals and contests exclusively to followers
- Give free benefits to followers before your grand opening.
- Incorporate hashtags to your posts to make it easy for the patrons to find you
- Team up with forums or groups across the community
- Create Facebook events for potential RSVP customers online
- Post photos of your new space, menu items, and drum staff excitement. Post regularly to keep your audience interested and interacting with your site.
2. Flyers
Hanging flyers may be old school, but they are low-cost and can be effective. Print brightly colored flyers that share the date and time of the grand opening of your restaurant, its location, and other information such as specials, live entertainment, or charity with which you are partnering. Here’s what should be included in your flyers:
- Name and logo of your business
- Any discount or free coupons for the item
- Customized message to invite customers
- Date and location
- Images of the restaurant or of your specialty dishes
- Social Media Link. Phone number, especially when reservations are recommended
3. Create a Google My Business List
Boost your presence on the Internet by creating a Google My Business profile. By using a Gmail account and a picture of your location, you can create a free listing of your restaurant that will appear on the search page when someone searches for the name of your establishment.
This list will show your potential customers where to locate you, your business hours, your restaurant phone number, and any photos you ‘d like to add. You can even advertise your grand opening by adding an event post to your Google My Business list, which can help bring customers to your big day.
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4. Invite Family, Friends, Vendors
Finally, spread the word about the grand opening of your restaurant through the classic word of mouth. Invite your friends and families and ask them to spread the word. Ask the staff to do the same thing. Invite vendors or anyone who has helped to open your restaurant. This may include food suppliers, contractors or builders, and other suppliers.
5. Decorations
It’s common to decorate a grand opening with big signs or banners, balloons, and more. Set them up in advance, especially outside your business, to let passersby know that your restaurant will soon be hosting a grand opening! If you do hang a large banner announcing your grand opening, try to provide as much information as possible, especially on the date. Any promotions or specials on display will help to attract a larger crowd.
Tips for Opening a Grand Restaurant
- Budget – How much can you spend on the grand opening? How much are you expecting to make back? Be sure to budget for any discounts or freebies, as well as the decoration and advertising costs for grand opening.
- Inventory – Make sure you ‘re fully prepared to open your restaurant. Running low on supplies or menu items before the day is over will not look great and could lead to bad customer experiences.
- Staff – Make sure your staff is fully trained and prepared for the grand opening. Consider a soft opening first to give them a run of the trial. If you expect huge crowds, make sure your staff is aware of them and ready to deal with them.
- Return Offers – To keep the ball rolling after your grand opening, consider giving those who come back an offer. Coupons with future deals will get customers back and start creating a loyal customer base.
Once the grand opening of your restaurant is finally over, try to enjoy the big day! Opening a restaurant takes a lot of work, so enjoy the success while keeping everything running smoothly.
Final Thoughts
The success of your grand opening can make a name for your restaurant early and continue to build your community reputation. Your unique grand opening ideas will help you reach new customers who will spread the news to your friends and create a repeat business. Showing loyalty to your guests and patrons from the outset can benefit your business for years to come.
