Your restaurant or hotel marketing for next Christmas is probably the last thing on your mind, but now is a great time to be building up material to use for next year.
What better way to promote your Christmas parties than to show people having fun, and your hotel or restaurant in all its Christmas splendour?
Take photos of the bar, restaurant and reception while the decorations and Christmas tree are looking their best – don't leave it until half the needles have dropped off, or the light bulbs have gone out! Take shots from different angles of the restaurant laid up for dinner.
‘Snap shots' may be OK as small images for your website, but if want to use these as bigger images, or for printed material, use a professional photographer to take some quality pictures. And include some pictures of the food. Although this is easier to ‘stage' at a later date, if you can get some shots now, so much the better.
Get some video footage of parties – best when guests have just arrived, and had time to relax with their first drink, but don't leave it until the tables are strewn with empty glasses. Always check with guests that they are happy for you to record, and secondly for the footage to appear on your site. Ask people for testimonials that they would be happy for you to use in next year's marketing.
Keep an eye out for a clear, frosty morning and get outside with your camera to take some shots of a wintery scene.
Keep tabs on your costs throughout to ensure you have an accurate picture of your profit margins. This includes post costing for each event, to take account of wastage.
Take stock at the end of the season, and learn from your successes and failures to build on this for next year. Get feedback from your team, and involve them in the review process by asking for their ideas. Then make sure you record all this where you can find it easily when it comes to planning next year!
Here's to a very successful and profitable Christmas season.
Caroline Cooper is a business coach with over 25 years experience in business and management development, and founder of Zeal Coaching, specializing in working with hospitality businesses, and is author of the 'Hotel Success Handbook' www.zealcoaching.com