Many restaurants see a spike in customers on Christmas and Valentine's Day, but savvy restaurateurs look for seasonal opportunities every month. And one that really needs to be part of every restaurant calendar is Mother's Day.

Children, teenagers, singletons, parents and grandparents, and people from all age groups come together to celebrate Mother’s Day in different ways, right from sending greeting cards to gifts, from staycations to celebrations, and from hosting a special evening to going out for a meal. 

As with every special occasion, Mother’s Day presents a great opportunity for restaurants to promote themselves and boost their sales. Promotions, marketing strategies, and branding initiatives can take a restaurant to the next level. While there are some obvious but effective strategies that a restaurant can use, dining establishments also have to think out of the box. 

Here are some promotional strategies that a restaurant can use during Mother’s Day week to improve business:

Learn more: The ultimate restaurant marketing calendar 2024 by TableCheck

1. Mother's Day: Make it a family affair

Families come together for Mother's Day to celebrate and honor their extraordinary moms. Restaurants can take advantage of this occasion to target families by offering enticing Mother's Day menus and extras that the whole family can enjoy. While moms get the spotlight of the day, restaurants should ensure that each family member will also get a memorable dining experience. Decorating the venue with festive Mother's Day decor can surely put families in the mood to celebrate with mom.

Learn more: Building community through food – A guide to family-style restaurant dining

2. Celebrate mom in style with exclusive Mother's Day Prix Fixe menu

Restaurants should offer Mother's Day prix fixe menus to elevate the dining experience for moms and their families. Showcasing the restaurant's culinary expertise while also pricing the set menu accordingly can help attract more celebrants to the restaurant. Prix fixe menu allows guests to make quick decisions but also helps restaurants streamline food operations and service. Restaurants can also go beyond the traditional route and pair mains with a curated drink or other special ingredients that are seasonal.

3. Offer delightful Mother's Day-themed desserts

Mothers form the bedrock of society and civilization, thereby thanking them for their contribution and work is imperative on Mother’s Day. Restaurants can provide free dessert or sweets for all mothers who order or dine in with them. While it might seem like a "give-away", offering free dessert or sweets to mothers makes a restaurant popular and as a result of it, increases sales as well.

4. Treat mom and guests like VIPs with special discounts on drinks

Mothers of all ages will come and visit a restaurant and while a lot of them will come with kids, many young mothers can be given a special treat. Having a special discount on drinks, tugged in large quantities, can be a great way to entice new customers to the restaurant and also, heighten the ambiance during Mother’s Day week.

Learn more: The power of VIPs and gourmet foodies

5. Host an event or evening to honor mothers

There is a large percentage of female customers that visit restaurants and chances are high that a significant number of them will be mothers. Keeping that in mind, hosting a mothers-only event or special evening can set a restaurant, café, or hotel apart during Mother’s Day week. Not only will it lend an extra edge to the restaurant, but it also gives mothers of all ages a chance to come together, dine and exchange thoughts, and celebrate their special day.

6. Get celebratory: Add themed decorations and curate music

To make guests get into that celebratory mood, restaurants should create a cozy and inviting ambiance with Mother's Day-themed decorations. Tables should also be set with flowers as a centerpiece while soft and pastel colors can be used for table settings, with additional hints of spring inspiration. Restaurants can also hold special live entertainment sessions where moms can be serenaded. If the venue has limited space, having uplifting and relaxing music can do the trick!

Learn more: 7 easy design ideas to give your restaurant a new lease on life

7. Get interactive with mothers on social media

Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok are game-changers these days for brand activity and promotions. During Mother’s Day promotions, restaurants and cafes can go big on a social media campaign for their customers who are mothers, asking them to share videos or messages, which would improve engagement and interaction. Not only will this make the restaurant more popular on social media, but it directly affects sales.

TableCheck has integrated with both Instagram and Facebook. Find out how to add a "Book Button" on your Instagram and Facebook pages

8. Launch a Mother's Day email campaign

Creating targeted email campaigns is crucial to boost restaurant promotions like Mother's Day. Restaurants can target mothers and families based on age, preferences, or purchase history and promote their brunch, lunch, or dinner offerings separately.

Restaurants can also offer their repeat clients a special discount or offer.

TableCheck EDM helps restaurants to run successful EDM marketing campaigns. Restaurants can automate sending emails to moms and other family members on a certain day and time.

Extra special treats and activities for Mother's Day

Organize a charity drive

While sales of a restaurant will naturally skyrocket during a week that includes Mother’s Day, a great way to be different is by going for a charity drive. Be it associating with a charity organization or providing food for the needy, it can be a great way to market a restaurant. Organizing a charity event where mothers meet kids from orphanages can be a great way to promote harmony in society and also make a dining establishment popular.

Staff in Happy Mother’s Day T-shirts

Saying things out loud can be massively helpful if you’re a brand looking to improve its visibility or make a name in the market. When a customer comes to dine in at a restaurant, the staff’s clothing is something they notice immediately. Mothers of kids walking into a restaurant looking at "Happy Mother’s Day" worn by members of the staff will certainly make them happier, thereby enhancing their experience.

Special delivery menu

Many mothers, be it those who are single or those who are of old age, might not be able to come out for a dining experience at a restaurant. For mothers who fall into that category, restaurants can curate an exclusive delivery menu that contains items that ordinarily will be only served in a dine-in menu.

Special cooking class for mothers

Mother’s Day is a great way for restaurants to engage with customers on a higher level than usual ways. Organizing a cooking class for customers that is hosted by a ‘mother chef’ or one that shows mothers how to learn more effective culinary skills can be a great hit for a restaurant. Collaborations with local chefs or even a celebrity can do wonders for a restaurant brand. 

There is no end to the number of ways in which a customer’s experience can be enhanced on Mother’s Day by a restaurant but any establishment needs to be clever while implementing any such ideas because in trying to do too much, sometimes there is a lack of direction. However, if things are done right and restaurants can apply the right ideas, Mother’s Day is a great way to make a dining establishment popular and improve its brand value.

TablecCheck can help restaurants manage their online reservations, optimize restaurant operations, and automate their marketing campaigns through the TableCheck EDM feature. TableCheck is used by top hospitality operators around the world to offer their guests award-winning experiences.

This article was first published on April 27, 2022 and updated on May 2024.