You don’t have to be a Mexican restaurant to take part in the fun festivities of Cinco de Mayo. With a little creativity, you can turn your business into a lugar de moda (in English: hotspot) for Cinco de Mayo celebrations! Today we’re giving you five great ideas for driving sales with a Cinco de Mayo promotion. If you don’t speak Spanish, Cinco de Mayo translates to the fifth of may, which is right around the corner! So let’s dive right into our list of Cinco de Mayo promotions so you can emprenda (launch) your own promotion.
It’s not called Cinco de Drinko for nothing. Your Cinco de Mayo promotion should definitely include some sort of special cocktail/beer menu. The obvious choices are Mojitos and Margaritas in addition to some specialty cervesas (beer) and since it’s the holiday that falls on 5/5 – you may want to make your specialty cocktail menu a $5 menu. This is a great price point for customers because they don’t feel like they’re paying that much and if you make those margaritas delicious enough your customers will be inclined to have more than just one! Don’t forget the non-drinkers, there are plenty of virgin cocktails with latin flair that you can add to the menu for added promotion. Encourage your staff to discuss the special cocktail and beer menu as part of their opening welcome to their seated guests.
As we already told you, you don’t have to be a Mexican restaurant to incorporate some Cinco de Mayo promotions into your business. But this is the perfect time to add a couple latin-themed special menu items for those looking for the full experience. We encourage you to get creative with things you’re already prepairing and tweak them to meet the theme. BBQ Pulled pork already on the menu? Pulled pork tacos are an easy spin on a classic, and are great for both the dinner and appetizer menu. Do you already have chicken sandwhich on the menu? Add avocado or guacamole as a topping and season your chicken with cayenne to give it Spanish flair. Simple changes to your menu are a cost effective way to offer a Cinco de Mayo promotional menu.
El musica is key to any celebration and perfect for setting the atmosphere for your Cinco de Mayo promotions. If you can spring for it, everyone loves live music! You can find local Spanish musicians willing to play your venue or even hire a mariachi band to serenade guests. If live music isn’t viable, look into some curated Spanish music playlists. Streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes all have specialty playlists for this exact occasion.
Don’t limit yourself to one day, you’re doing all this work to create a menu around a holiday, why not celebrate it all week. Launch the promotion on Cinco de Mayo and then carry it throughout the rest of the week. Because Cinco de Mayo falls on a Thursday this year, you’ve got four busy days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) to really drive sales with drinks and special food items. You can even create a special promo for each day – think bottomless margaritas on Friday, tequila tasting on Saturday, etc. Get creative and have fun with it!
Reward your amigos! You’ve already got a following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, right? Reward them for being your loyal patrons with a special deal just for them and encourage them to share with their own friends and followers. You can be as simple or complex with your social media promotion. Try tweeting out a code word that followers can mention for 10% off their total bill, or offering a free drink for Facebook check-ins. Bottom line is these people are already your fans, reward them for being loyal and you’ll drive them to tell more people about your business.
There you have it, cinco ideas for driving more sales with a Cinco de Mayo promotion. Try one, try them all, but definitely don’t miss out on doing something for Cinco de Mayo!