Restaurant Marketing: What to Do 90 Days Before Your Slow Season

Every restaurant and F&B brand has a slow season, and it is almost never a surprise. January after the holidays, late summer when regulars are away — you can see it coming a year in advance. Yet most marketing for it starts two weeks before, when it is too late to build anything. Here is the 90-day timeline we run with hospitality brands.

Days 90 to 60: build the audience while times are good

Your busy season is when you collect the assets you will need later. Grow your email and SMS list at the table and at checkout. Capture content — the full room, the dishes, the team — while the energy is real. Encourage Google reviews while volume is high. None of this costs much, and all of it becomes fuel in month three.

Days 60 to 30: create the reason to visit

Slow seasons need a hook, not a discount. A limited seasonal menu, a ticketed event series, a collaboration with a neighbouring business, a weekday-only experience — something worth talking about. Discounting trains your regulars to wait for deals; a distinct event or menu gives them a story to tell. Plan it now so it can be photographed, listed and promoted properly.

Days 30 to 0: promote through owned channels first

Announce to your email list and social followers first — they are your warmest audience and cheapest reach. Then layer local paid media: geo-targeted Meta and Google ads within your delivery or driving radius, promoting the specific event or menu, not generic "visit us" creative. Keep your Google Business Profile updated with the new menu, photos and event posts; for local discovery it often outperforms your website.

The compounding effect

Run this cycle two or three times and the slow season stops being an emergency. Each pass grows the list, the review count and the content library, so every subsequent campaign starts from a stronger base. This is the approach behind our restaurant and F&B marketing work — building systems, not one-off promotions.