The next two weeks are the busiest stretch of the year for a lot of Delhi restaurants. Office parties, Christmas lunches, family dinners when the kids are home from hostel, and then New Year’s Eve, which is either a full house or a very expensive empty one. Your restaurant Facebook page can help with all of it, but only if you plan the posts now instead of scrambling on the 30th.
Here is the plan we are using with our restaurant clients this season. Change the dates and dishes to suit your place. The idea is to give people a reason to book early, and then keep the page lively once they are already coming.
First, fix the basics on the page
Before you post anything festive, check the things people look for when they land on your page from a friend’s share:
- Phone number that is actually answered during service hours.
- Correct address with a landmark. “Opposite the metro pillar” helps more than a PIN code.
- Opening hours, including any special hours on 24, 25 and 31 December.
- A cover photo that shows the restaurant or the food, not a stock image of fireworks.
It sounds obvious. We still find at least one wrong phone number every season.
This week: get the bookings in
Post the New Year’s Eve offer early, and make it complete
People decide where to spend New Year’s Eve earlier than you think, especially groups. Post your offer this week with everything a person needs to decide: the price per couple or per head, what is included (set menu, unlimited drinks for a fixed time, DJ or live music), the timings, whether children are allowed, and how to book. If there is a cover charge that can be redeemed against food, say so clearly.
Leave out the vague line “for details call us”. Many people will not call. They will scroll to the next restaurant that told them the price.
Create a Facebook event for the night
An event page gives people something to click “Going” or “Maybe” on, and their friends see it. It also gives you one place to answer questions in the comments. Add the menu as a photo, not as a PDF link. Pin the event post to the top of your page so anyone who visits sees it first.
Talk to the office party crowd
December lunches and early dinners for office teams can fill weekday slots that are otherwise slow. A simple post works: a photo of a long table set for twelve, the set menu price per head, the private area if you have one, and a phone number for the person who handles group bookings. Post it on a weekday morning, when people are at their desks deciding where the team should go.
Around Christmas: show what is actually happening
Christmas in Delhi is less about religion for most diners and more about the feeling. Plum cake, roast chicken, a tree in the corner, a little bit of tinsel. If you are doing anything special, photograph it properly and post it.
Good Christmas week posts we have seen work for restaurants:
- The kitchen team making the Christmas special, shot in daylight near a window.
- The tree going up, with the staff who decorated it.
- A short video of the dessert being plated. Instagram now lets you post 15-second clips, and the same clip can go on your Facebook page.
- A post on the 25th itself thanking guests, with a photo of a full room if you have one.
Ask permission before you photograph guests and post them. Most people say yes. The ones who say no will remember that you asked.
The last few days before 31 December
This is when you either have seats left or you don’t. If you are full, say so. A post that says “We are fully booked for New Year’s Eve, thank you” tells people you are popular, and it stops your phone ringing with requests you can’t take. Then mention the 1 January brunch or the weekend after, so the interest has somewhere to go.
If you still have seats, be specific about what is left. “Six tables left for the 9 pm seating” is more convincing than “Hurry, limited seats”. Everybody says limited seats.
Should you pay to boost posts?
Many page owners have noticed that fewer of their fans seem to see each post lately. Facebook has been changing what appears in people’s news feeds, and pages are not seeing the reach they used to get for free. For a high-value night like New Year’s Eve, we think a small boost on the main offer post is worth it, targeted at people within a few kilometres of the restaurant and in the age group you actually serve. A few thousand rupees spread over a week is usually plenty to test. Watch the bookings, not just the likes.
A like on a New Year’s Eve post is nice. A phone call asking for a table for eight is the point.
During service, and the day after
Assign one person, not the manager who is running the floor, to take a few photos and post one or two on the night. Something warm: the band starting, the countdown, the dessert trolley. Don’t post twenty. One good photo is better than an album of blurry ones.
On 1 January, post a thank you with the best photo from the night. Then reply to every comment and every review, including the complaints. Busy nights produce slow service somewhere, and a calm, polite reply in public does more for your reputation than pretending it didn’t happen.
A simple calendar for the fortnight
- Around 17 December: New Year’s Eve offer post and event created. Office party post.
- Around 20 December: Christmas menu or special dish, with a proper photo.
- 23 or 24 December: Christmas preparation from the kitchen, plus timings for the 24th and 25th.
- 25 December: thank you post with a photo from the day.
- 27 to 29 December: seats left update, or fully booked post.
- 31 December: one or two photos during the night.
- 1 January: thank you post, replies to comments and reviews, a mention of the next weekend.
That is seven or eight posts in two weeks. Enough to stay visible, not so many that you annoy the people who follow you. Next year, start planning this in November.
