Fall social media holidays for your 2022 restaurant marketing strategy

As outdoor dining fades and pumpkin spice infiltrates coffee shops, restaurants across the country are gearing up for fall. Fall brings many reasons for restaurants to celebrate. With Halloween and Thanksgiving around the corner, diners are looking for holiday-specific experiences to get in the spirit of the season. Restaurants are using social media holidays to uniquely reach customers and give them even more reasons to celebrate autumn.

Hundreds of food holidays are celebrated on social media every year. Acknowledging a food holiday is a great way to highlight a certain menu item and offer discounts that will get customers craving what you’re celebrating. Did you know that October 1st is International Coffee Day? In 2021, Grubhub sales for cold brew coffee grew by 116%. Offering a cold brew discount on this micro holiday could encourage thirsty diners to purchase their favorite drink at your shop.

According to the National Restaurant Association, 35% of off-premise customers report they are more likely to choose a restaurant that offers a discount, and 36% are more likely to reorder takeout and delivery from a restaurant that offers a loyalty program. Crafting social media holiday campaigns could be key in getting potential diners to flock to your restaurant.

Here’s a look at social media holidays that you can use to get diners cozying up at your restaurant all fall.

What are micro holidays?

Micro holidays are those not-quite-real holidays that celebrate people, things, or moments on social media. Although you may not be able to buy a greeting card for micro holidays like #MiniGolfDay (September 21), #WorldSmileDay (October 7), and #CleanOutYourRefrigeratorDay (November 15), they can still be fun to observe and celebrate.

Micro holidays are also commonly known as “social media holidays” because of their popularity on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter. Acknowledging a micro holiday on social media by using the holiday’s hashtag can instantly make your restaurant relevant to a wider audience. 

In fact, 45% of US customers say they’ve tried out a new restaurant after seeing its posts on social media. Incorporating micro holidays into your social media strategy incentives hungry diners to check out your cuisine.

Why your restaurant should celebrate national food holidays

Everyone loves having something to celebrate, and restaurants can use food holidays to build excitement around certain cuisines they serve. Celebrating a national food holiday is also a great excuse to throw out a promotion around a menu item.

Diners are looking for specific cuisines on food holidays, and sharing that your restaurant is celebrating can get them through your door. When diners are craving pizza during National Pizza month in October, you want them to turn to your pizza joint to order Grubhub’s second most popular dinner item. 

In 2021, Grubhub delivery sales for strawberry shortcake sundaes grew by 378%. If you run a promotion on National Sundae Day (November 11), you can get those customers with a sweet tooth to dig into your sundae menu. Harnessing the power of social media to encourage diners to join you in your celebration can drive more orders directly to your restaurant.

When you sign up for Grubhub Direct, you also get access to diner data you can use to get customers to join in the celebration. With Grubhub Direct you can power your own branded email campaigns that drive customers to your free ordering website without dropping a dime on marketing fees. This gives you more dough to roll back into building your business.

Wonder what national food holidays your restaurant can celebrate this year? Download our Guide to National Food Holidays to get the dish on what diners are celebrating.

Elevate your marketing strategy with social media holidays this fall

Creative marketing promotions are one of the keys to attracting diners and making your restaurant stand out. If your restaurant engaged with summer social media holidays, it’s important to revamp your marketing strategy to reflect the holidays of the fall season. Celebrating micro holidays builds excitement around certain elements of your restaurant. Advertising food holidays will give your customers an excuse to celebrate food and gift themselves or others some delicious restaurant delivery.

Pick your promotions

Nothing incentives a diner to press ‘order now’ more than a discount. You can highlight the deals you are running for food holidays by creating fun graphics on social media to promote the holiday itself.

Here are some promotion ideas that can get diners drooling for your dishes:

  • Give a free item with purchase. Throw in a free cookie with every entre on #DessertDay (October 14)
  • Discount items. Offer 20% off taco orders for #NationalTacoDay (October 4)
  • Discount theme ingredients. Take 10% off any vegan menu item on #WorldVeganDay (November 1)
  • Discount dollar amounts. Run a promo for $1 off any sandwich on #NationalSandwhichDay (November 3)

Once you establish what social media holidays your restaurant is going to celebrate this fall, you need to decide what channels you are going to use to spread the word. Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are all popular social media channels for foodies. Use trending hashtags on your food holiday posts to reach a larger audience beyond your social media followers. You can check out these social media tips to see how you can boost your online presence.

Promoting national food holidays doesn’t need to stop on social media. You can also use these affordable marketing tools to further spread the word about your celebrations across a variety of channels.

Create a social media calendar

It’s easy for restaurant owners’ plates to pile up, leaving little time to strategize about marketing. That’s why developing a social media calendar is essential for planning out how you will roll out your promotions.

A social media calendar is a way to organize your upcoming social media posts and promotions by date. Planning posts in advance gives you time to lay out promotions, batch content, and solidify your menu to align with your offerings.

Check out these social media post ideas to get inspiration on creative ways your restaurant can join the conversation.

What social media holidays are coming up next?

Fall brings crisp weather, cozy evenings, back to school. Fall also signifies the start of football season, a major food delivery event. Incorporating non-food related micro holidays into your social media calendar on top of holidays that complement your menu can help your restaurant have an even wider reach.

Download our Guide to National Food Holidays to learn how to spearhead your promotional marketing and elevate your social media game. There are over 40 national food holidays this fall that celebrate everything from pumpkin to pulled pork.

Picking holidays to celebrate that are authentic with your restaurant’s brand and cuisine will help your restaurant stand out. Here are what social media holidays are coming up this fall:

September 2022 social media holidays

September signifies the end of summer and back to the regular pace of life. With school starting back up, delivery rates rise. This can be a great time to launch a seasonal menu and promote fall foods on social media with fun templates like these.

September is also National Chicken Month, and September 15th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month.

  • September 4: National Wildlife Day #NationalWildlifeDay
  • September 5: International Day of Charity #CharityDay
  • September 5: Labor Day #LaborDay
  • September 6: Read a Book Day #ReadyABookDay
  • September 8: International Literacy Day #LiteracyDay
  • September 9: Stand Up To Cancer Day #KissCancerGoodbye
  • September 11: National Day of Service and Remembrance #911Day
  • September 11: National Grandparents Day #NationalGrandparentsDay
  • September 12: National Day of Encouragement #DayOfEncouragements
  • September 15: First day of Hispanic Heritage Month #hispanicheritagemonth
  • September 18: Civic Day of Hacking #HackForChange
  • September 19: Talk Like a Pirate Day #TalkLikeAPirateDay
  • September 21: International Day of Peace #PeaceDay
  • September 21: Miniature Golf Day #MiniGolfDay
  • September 22: Car-Free Day #CarFreeDay
  • September 22: Hobbit Day #HobbitDay
  • September 22: First Day of Fall #FirstDayofFall
  • September 26: National Pancake Day #NationalPancakeDay
  • September 26: European Day of Languages #EDL2022
  • September 26: National Dumpling Day #DumplingDay
  • September 27: World Tourism Day #WTD2022
  • September 28: National Good Neighbor Day #GoodNeighborDay
  • September 30: International Podcast Day #InternationalPodcastDay

October 2022 social media holidays

Ghosts, goblins, and grub, oh my! October brings one of the top delivery days on Grubhub: Halloween. Get spooky on social media by creating a post with a Halloween theme.

October is a foodie’s delight with holidays like National Taco Day, Dessert Day, and Greasy Foods Day. October is also Eat Better Month, LGBT History Month, and National Pizza Month.

  • October 1: International Day of Older Persons #UNDOP 
  • October 1: International Coffee Day #InternationalCoffeeDay 
  • October 1: World Vegetarian Day #WorldVegetarianDay 
  • October 2: International Day of Nonviolence #InternationalDayOfNonviolence 
  • October 3: National Techies Day #TechiesDay 
  • October 3: World Habitat Day #WorldHabitatDay 
  • October 4: World Animal Day #WorldAnimalDay 
  • October 4: National Taco Day #NationalTacoDay 
  • October 5: World Teachers Day #WorldTeachersDay 
  • October 7: World Smile Day #WorldSmileDay 
  • October 10: World Mental Health Day #WorldMentalHeathDay 
  • October 11: National Sausage Pizza Day #SausagePizzaDay
  • October 11: International Day of the Girl #DayOfTheGirl 
  • October 14: National Dessert Day #DessertDay 
  • October 15: Global Handwashing Day #GlobalHandwashingDay 
  • October 16: World Food Day #FoodDay 
  • October 16: Bosses Day #BossesDay 
  • October 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty #EndPoverty 
  • October 21: Reptile Awareness Day #ReptileAwarenessDay 
  • October 20: Get to Know Your Customers Day #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay 
  • October 24: United Nations Day #UNDay 
  • October 25: Greasy Foods Day #GreasyFoodsDay 
  • October 30: National Publicist Day #NationalPublicistDay 
  • October 30: Checklist Day #ChecklistDay 
  • October 31: Halloween #Halloween

November 2022 social media holidays

November centers around one of the biggest food holidays in the country: Thanksgiving. Let diners know about your holiday offerings with a Thanksgiving-themed social media post. Before the turkey is cooked and the table is set, the day before Thanksgiving is one of the most popular Grubhub delivery days of the year.

The end of November brings Small Business Saturday where shoppers are encourage to #ShopSmall and bring business to their communities. This is a great opportunity for your restaurant to offer promotions, plug gift cards, and sell merchandise.

  • November 1: National Authors Day #NationalAuthorsDay 
  • November 1: World Vegan Day #WorldVeganDay 
  • November 1: National Cook For Your Pets Day #CookForYourPetsDay 
  • November 2: National Stress Awareness Day #StressAwarenessDay 
  • November 3: National Sandwich Day #NationalSandwichDay 
  • November 4: National Candy Day #NationalCandyDay 
  • November 6: Daylight Saving Time Ends #DaylightSavings 
  • November 8: National Cappuccino Day #CappuccinoDay 
  • November 8: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine (STEM) Day #STEMDay 
  • November 11: Veterans Day #VeteransDay
  • November 13: World Kindness Day #WKD 
  • November 14: World Diabetes Day #WDD 
  • November 15: Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day #CleanOutYourRefrigeratorDay 
  • November 15: America Recycles Day #BeRecycled 
  • November 16: International Day for Tolerance #ToleranceDay 
  • November 17: International Students Day #InternationalStudentsDay 
  • November 19: International Men’s Day #InternationalMensDay 
  • November 20: Universal Children’s Day #UNChildrensDay 
  • November 21: World Hello Day #WorldHelloDay 
  • November 24: Thanksgiving Day #Thanksgiving 
  • November 25: National Day of Listening #DayOfListening 
  • November 26: National Cake Day #NationalCakeDay 
  • November 26: Small Business Saturday #ShopSmall 
  • November 29: Electronic Greeting Card Day #ElectronicGreetingCardDay 
  • November 30: Computer Security Day #ComputerSecurityDay

Ready to get celebrating? Download the National Food Holiday Guide to start brainstorming a marketing strategy for the fall season. Crafting creative social media holiday promotions is a sure way to make your restaurant stand out.

For even more help, make sure you’re a part of the best and fastest-growing third-party delivery app to ensure your promotions and delicious menus are being seen by diners in your area. Sign up for Grubhub Marketplace today to see how you can build a competitive marketing and promotional strategy using our expertise and tools.

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