Holidays create unique opportunities for your establishment because they can be incorporated into everything from your marketing strategy to your décor. This blog will be focusing on food holidays specifically and how you can make the most of them at your gaming establishment. For this list, we will be focusing mainly on foody holidays you may not have heard of while also briefly touching on common holidays associated with food. With all this in mind, let’s jump into how you can incorporate food holidays into your video gaming establishment.
Adding New Menu Options
Let’s start with the obvious benefit of food holidays for your business, they let you add new foods to your already existing menu. It’s always a good idea to add something new to your menu to change things up and keep up with ever-changing trends and the need to stand out amongst your competitors. Depending on your existing menu, food holidays could be the perfect opportunity to introduce a simple food that could turn into a big hit! Some simple additions to add to your establishment are pizza for National Pizza Day on February 9, Mac and Cheese for National Mac and Cheese Day on July 14, or any cookie you can bake for National Cookie Day on December 4.
Email Marketing
If you are introducing a new food to your menu in the upcoming month, you can let your patrons know ahead of time in your monthly newsletter. If you already offer the food needed for an upcoming food holiday, you can instead send out individual emails offering discounts for those specific holidays. Holidays you may want to incorporate into promotions or discounts are National Chicken Wing Day on July 29, National Pulled Pork Day on October 12, and International Nacho Day on October 21, or a fun new pastry for National Pumpkin Spice Day on October 1. Whatever option you choose, make sure you include the dates the foods or discounts will either debut or last until.
Social Media Marketing
Similarly to email marketing, social media offers an even more exciting opportunity to highlight holidays through the use of social graphics. This isn’t to say you can’t use graphics in your emails, but social media lets you see how your followers will react and respond to your decision to showcase various food holidays based on reactions and comments.
Have fun when you are creating these graphics. Using graphic design platforms like Canva can help your business stand out and create beautifully designed graphics to promote just about any food holiday such as National Bagel Day on January 15, National Smoothie Day on June 21, or National Taco Day on October 4. Of course, we can’t talk about food holiday social graphics without talking about what Accel offers. In additional to graphics promoting slot play or individual slot games, Accel also has various graphics that can be used to promote holidays that frequently offer food specials in the restaurant industry such as Thanksgiving, St Patrick’s Day, Cinco De Mayo, and so much more! The best part is all these graphics are FREE to all Accel Entertainment locations!
Contests
If you are looking for new ways to attract patrons to your establishment, why not try a fun food-related contest? The interesting aspect of a contest is that your patrons do the cooking. You can then judge the best dish and award a fitting prize. Some suggestions for the types of contests are National Pie Day on January 23, National Homemade Soup Day on February 4, or even National Guacamole Day on September 16.
Well, I don’t know about you, but after talking about all those tasty foods I’m ready to eat. What’s your favorite food holiday to celebrate at your establishment? Let us know in the comments section below!