Restaurant Marketing Ideas For October

Short of restaurant marketing ideas for October? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Fall is upon us, and if you are looking for a few favorite dishes to promote, there are plenty of October restaurant marketing ideas to take advantage of. It’s great news if you are an Italian restaurant as October is National Pasta Month as well as National Pizza Month. It’s also National Seafood Month and National Dessert Month. There’s something for every restaurant to take advantage of.

Here’s how your restaurant can make the most of October.

What does October hold for restaurants?

There are a lot of food items celebrated throughout the month of October. For your reference, October is:

• American Cheese Month
• Eat Better, Eat Together Month
• National Apple Month
• National Applejack Month
• National Bake and Decorate Month
• National Caramel Month
• National Chili Month
• National Cookbook Month
• National Cookie Month
• National Dessert Month
• National Pasta Month
• National Pickled Peppers Month
• National Pizza Month
• National Popcorn Poppin’ Month
• National Pork Month
• National Pretzel Month
• National Sausage Month
• National Seafood Month
• Pear and Pineapple Month
• Spinach Lovers Month
• Vegetarian Month

There are also days dedicated to foods throughout October that restaurant owners should take note of:

October 1

• National Homemade Cookies Day
• World Vegetarian Day

October 2

• National Fried Scallops Day

October 3

• National Coffee with a Cop Day
• National Pumpkin Seed Day

October 4

• National Taco Day

October 5

• National Apple Betty Day

October 6

• National Noodle Day
• National Orange Wine Day

October 7

• National Frappe Day

October 8

• National Fluffernutter Day
• National Pierogi Day

October 9

• National Pro-Life Cupcake Day

October 10

• National Cake Decorating Day
• National Angel Food Cake Day

October 11

• National Sausage Pizza Day

October 12

• National Gumbo Day

October 13

• National Yorkshire Pudding Day

October 14

• National Dessert Day

October 15

• National Cheese Curd Day

October 16

• National Liqueur Day

October 17

• National Pasta Day
• National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day

October 18

• National Chocolate Cupcake Day
• Get to Know Your Customers Day

October 19

• National Seafood Bisque Day

October 20

• National Brandied Fruit Day
• National Brandied Fruit Day

October 21

• National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day

October 22

• National Nut Day

October 23

• National Boston Cream Pie Day

October 24

• National Bologna Day
• National Food Day

October 25

• National Greasy Foods Day

October 26

• National Mincemeat Day
• National Pumpkin Day

October 27

• National American Beer Day

October 28

• National Chocolate Day

October 29

• National Oatmeal Day

October 30

• National Candy Corn Day

October 31

• National Caramel Apple Day

3 Restaurant Marketing Ideas for October 2018

What dishes would it make sense for your restaurant to promote this October? What October restaurant marketing ideas do you plan to pursue? Here are three ideas to get you started…

National Pizza Month

We’ve already posted about what an amazing opportunity national pizza month is for pizzerias. In fact, it’s so good we are going to reiterate the point here. Seriously if you are a pizzeria or a restaurant that serves pizza, you need to make the most of National Pizza Month—after all, it only comes round once a year. Why not make a brand new pizza, go behind the scenes to see how your pizzas are created or bump up the rewards on your loyalty scheme?

National Pasta Month

It’s not just pizzerias that can get in on the Italian action in October. Italian restaurants that focus on pasta can also run events in October to promote their fare. Much of the same ideas can apply to pasta as they do to pizza. You could create a new pasta dish each week, have a Halloween-themed dish or run a competition to have your customers create a new meal that will stay on the menu for the entire year. Or how about this: why not combine the two Italian-themed months together. If you are a pizzeria, introduce pasta to your menu for this month only. If you only do pasta, introduce pizza for this month only.

National Cookbook Month

It’s National Cookbook Month and here’s an idea to generate some great PR for your restaurant: why not publish one or two of your favorite recipes. Customers always want to know how to cook their favorite meals at home so why not give them the tools to do so? They will never be able to make it as good as you do so you should even see an uptick in bookings and online orders as customers crave the real thing. Here’s another idea, why not publish your own cookbook and sell it for a profit. You could even partner with a charity to donate a portion of the proceedings to a good cause to do your part and generate even more PR.

Make the Most of October

Promoting your food options in conjunction with the calendar gives people a reason to visit your restaurant this October. Take advantage of the calendar to get the most out of your restaurant marketing.

How did you find September’s restaurant marketing ideas? Did you find any useful marketing ideas? Share this post and let us know what promotions worked for you!

Do you serve dishes that you can use the calendar to promote? Simply integrating your menu and specials with the calendar can serve as a reminder to your customers and bring more traffic through your door.

Your website and blog, and your social media accounts all offer an easy way to promote your menu items in conjunction with the calendar. Any professional food photography shots will go over well on social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram. Try working individual promotions into your restaurant marketing mix.