Christmas Marketing for Restaurants and Pubs: A UK Planner
The best Christmas marketing for restaurants and pubs starts in October, not December. Get your festive menu, booking link and party offer in front of past guests early, follow up with reminders as dates fill, and use the busy weeks themselves to collect guest details you can market to in January.
This planner takes you through it week by week. It's written for UK venues, from independent cafés to multi-site groups.
Why October is the right time to start
Office party organisers and families start comparing venues well before December. If your festive menu isn't live and promoted by then, the big group bookings will already have gone to someone else. Starting early also spreads the work for your team, so December can be about service rather than last-minute promotion.
Step 1: Get your festive offer ready to sell
Before you promote anything, make sure there's something clear to book.
Finalise the festive menu and prices, including any deposit and cancellation terms for large groups.
Decide your key dates: Christmas party nights, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve, plus quieter dates you most want to fill.
Make booking easy. Every message should link straight to a booking or enquiry page. If your website makes this hard, now is the time to fix it. A simple restaurant website with the menu and a clear "book" button does a lot of the work for you.
Update your Google Business Profile with festive opening hours, photos and the menu, because that's where many people look first.
Step 2: Email past guests first
Your past guests already know and like you, so they're the easiest Christmas bookings you'll win. Send your first festive email in October to everyone who has agreed to hear from you.
A simple sequence works well:
Launch email (October): the festive menu, party packages and a booking link.
Reminder (early November): "dates are filling up", with the most popular nights highlighted.
Last call (late November): remaining availability and gift vouchers for people who can't make it.
Segment where you can. Regulars, people who've booked groups before and lapsed guests each need a slightly different message. If you collect visit data through guest Wi-Fi, you can build these segments automatically. Our guide to how Wi-Fi data improves customer segmentation explains how.
Step 3: Use SMS for the time-sensitive messages
Email is good for the full festive menu. SMS is better when timing matters: a cancelled party that frees up a table this Friday, a reminder to confirm numbers, or a last-minute Boxing Day slot. Keep texts short and include a single link. For more on this, see SMS marketing for hospitality.
Step 4: Ideas that fill the quieter festive dates
Not every December night sells itself. A few ideas for the gaps:
Early-week festive lunches for local businesses and retired groups.
Gift vouchers promoted from mid-November, which also bring visits in January.
"Twixmas" offers for the quiet days between Christmas and New Year.
Festive events such as a quiz, carol night or wreath-making workshop in a pub function room.
Small add-ons like a bottle of fizz on arrival for parties of eight or more, rather than blanket discounts.
Look at last year's footfall if you have it. Wi-Fi analytics show which days and times were busy and which were empty, so you know where to aim promotions. See how Wi-Fi analytics reveal peak hours for more.
Step 5: Capture guests during your busiest weeks
December brings in lots of people who have never visited you before, such as party guests, visiting family and shoppers. Most leave without you ever learning who they were. A branded guest Wi-Fi login lets you collect names and email addresses with their permission, so you can invite them back in the new year.
Keep it compliant:
Wi-Fi access must not depend on agreeing to marketing. Make the marketing opt-in a separate, unticked choice.
Only send marketing emails or texts to people who've opted in. The "soft opt-in" under PECR only covers people whose details you collected during a sale or negotiations for a sale, so it won't cover most Wi-Fi sign-ups.
Be clear about what people are signing up for and how often you'll be in touch.
This is general information, not legal advice. Speak to a professional if you're unsure about your own set-up.
Step 6: Plan January before December ends
January is quiet for most of hospitality, which is why the guests you capture in December matter so much. Before Christmas, draft a "thank you for visiting" email with a reason to come back in January, such as a new menu, a midweek offer or an event. Then send it to new festive guests in the first week of the new year.
Reviews matter here too. Festive guests who had a great time are often happy to leave a review if you ask them shortly after their visit.
Christmas marketing FAQs
When should restaurants start Christmas marketing?
Aim to have your festive menu and booking page live, and your first email sent, by October. Corporate party organisers often book early, and you want to be on their shortlist.
Can I email everyone who used our Wi-Fi about Christmas?
Only those who opted in to marketing. Using the Wi-Fi alone isn't consent, so keep marketing opt-ins separate and record them properly.
What's the best Christmas marketing idea for a pub?
Start with your regulars. A personal email or text inviting them to book their table or party before dates fill up usually works better than a broad advert. Then fill the quieter nights with events.
How B-Connect helps
B-Connect brings your Christmas marketing into one place. Branded guest Wi-Fi captures festive visitors with GDPR-compliant opt-ins. AI-powered email and SMS campaigns let you send festive menus, reminders and January win-back flows to the right segments. Wi-Fi analytics show which dates need a push, and review management helps you reply to every festive review across Google, TripAdvisor and more.
Ready to make this Christmas your best-planned yet? Book a demo and we'll show you how it works for your venue.
