12 steps to follow for a successful back-to-school season in your restaurant

The back-to-school period in September offers restaurateurs the opportunity toreinvent themselves, dust off their concept and adapt their establishment. It's like turning over a new leaf every year.

After the vacations, it's time to get together with family, friends or colleagues, after weeks without seeing each other. And what better way to do this than in a restaurant?

This time of year is an ideal opportunity to attract new customers and bring back regulars. To do this, you need to make sure your restaurant is ready to welcome them, and then do everything you can to attract them to your premises. 

In this article, we've put together 12 must-do steps to make sure your restaurant is ready for the back-to-school season. Follow them, and you'll be able to start the new school year with confidence, and boost your restaurant from the very first day!

THE checklist to follow to get your restaurant back on track 👇

Download the list of steps to follow!

1. Invigorate the atmosphere: renovate and rejuvenate your space

Back to school means a "fresh start". Take advantage of this opportunity to give your restaurant a makeover by revising or updating its decor. Simple touches can make all the difference: fresh new flowers, candles, chandeliers or even new signage. 

You can find inspiration on platforms like Pinterest by exploring DIY ideas to create your own original decor for the future. Make sure you also give your home a thorough cleaning, so you can start the new school year in impeccably clean surroundings.

2. Optimize your operational teams

It's time to rethink the layout and flow of your internal operations. Reshape operational flow by putting yourself in the shoes of your customers and staff. By simulating the customer experience and staff flow, you can rethink the layout of your restaurant for maximum fluidity. 

Perhaps your payment terminal could be better located, or the location of cutlery refills needs reconfiguring. Small adjustments can save your teams valuable time and improve the customer experience.

3. Offer a new menu adapted to the season and your customers' preferences

Introduce a new menu to usher in the new season, with creative dishes made with seasonal ingredients. But don't leave out the favorites of your loyal customers. It's essential to sort out your menu by eliminating less popular dishes and keeping the flagships. To assess the popularity of your dishes, analyze the proportion of sales, but also take into account your customers' opinions. Their feedback will guide you in making the necessary adjustments to recipes (bland, too salty, undercooked...), removing dishes from the menu or choosing ones that you absolutely must keep.

→ Find out how to decipher your customers' reviews and draw relevant insights from them, in our article over here!

4. Diversify your beverage offer to meet current trends

Expand your range of beverages by welcoming international wines to your menu ! Wines from Spain, Portugal or even the New World add a touch of originality to your selection, while giving wine lovers the chance to discover new grape varieties and winemaking methods. This approach can also be budget-friendly, as high-quality wines are often available at reasonable prices outside our borders. Tools such as Vivino and Vinatis can help you make the right choice.

What's more, it would be a shame not to join the growing trend towards alcohol-free drinks. Make sure you offer enough options to satisfy the many fans of these alternatives.

5. Optimize your costs and adjust your rates

With the New Year upon us, it's the perfect time to re-examine your recipes, ingredient choices and supplier partners. Start by assessing whether your current suppliers still meet your needs. Would it perhaps be more advantageous to centralize your purchasing or find suppliers closer to you?

Next, engage in discussions with your suppliers to negotiate fair and equitable rates for all parties. Finally, adjust your prices so as to satisfy your customers while ensuring your profitability. The aim is to avoid financial losses while maintaining your customer appeal.

6. Check your schedules anywhere online

After any closures or schedule changes during the summer vacations, take some time to check and update your restaurant's opening hours on all the online platforms where it exists. This is essential to provide accurate information to your customers and improve your local SEO. Even if you haven't changed your hours.

→ Find out HERE why and how to check your restaurant's online hours.

7. Make sure you've answered all your customer reviews.

Make sure you respond to all your customers' reviews throughout the year, without exception, and as quickly as possible. Take the time to check the past year's reviews to make sure you'll have an impeccable restaurant online for the new school year. Even if you find a review that hasn't been answered for a few months, take the time to respond with an apology for the oversight.

8. Tell us about your current openness to social media

Let your customers know you're back in business via social media. Even if your restaurant hasn't closed for the summer, it's likely that Internet users won't know. Create a clear post stating "We're open" and specify your opening hours in the caption. Share this information on your Google page as well.

9. Use social media to attract future customers

If you've got something new on the menu, new soft drinks, attractive decor and the like, leverage these elements to create content that you'll share on Instagram and Facebook. In this way, you'll arouse the curiosity of Internet users.

To kick off the new year and facilitate communication in the months to come, organize a professional photo shoot of your restaurant, your star dishes, your teams, the atmosphere of the place, and even the neighborhood. Although it's an investment, the content generated will serve you well for weeks to come.

→ If you'd like to take your own photos, discover our tips HERE for results worthy of professionals

10. Refresh Your Instagram Feed

What better time to redefine the visual consistency of your Instagram page than back-to-school? The restaurants that stand out on Instagram are the ones that show originality through their feed. Why shouldn't you?

Define the image you want to convey on your Instagram page and start applying this new direction in your next post. Here are a few ideas to inspire you: A feed with photos...

• Triptych

• In black and white

• Following a color gradient

• Minimalist style

• An anti-minimalist style

11. Take advantage of trendy music to boost your Reels videos

The choice of music plays a crucial role in driving your Reels and making them captivating. Not only does it accompany the rhythm of your video, it also keeps viewers' attention. As with everything, there are trends in music and audio on Instagram. And it's by following these that your content will engage viewers more, and see the number of reaches increase.

Wondering how to stay on top of the latest music trends? There are various ways, but above all: keeping an eye on Instagram. By following accounts like KafKaf and BonBouquet, who use viral music in each of their Reels. 

To save you time, here are THE must-have tunes and audios to use right now:

• Barbie World - Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice

• Speed Drive - Charli XCX

• Past Lives - BORN

• If We Ever Broke Up - Mae Stephens

• Makeba - Jains

• Fair Trade - Drake ft. Travis Scott

• Spring Flower - Hey Joon

• Say Yes To Heaven (Sped Up) - Lana Del Rey

• THIS YEAR (Blessings) [Speed Up] - Victor Thompson, Ehus 'D' Greatest

• Glamour x This Girls - carneyval

You can also find +100 of the hottest music on Instagram in this Spotify playlist.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6dSz0AWxkgBfhlNBFyzqFf

12. Optimize your online presence by exploring the new Instagram features unveiled throughout this summer

It's undeniable that Instagram places great importance on accounts that engage with its platform using the features it offers. Integrating these new options will not only enhance your visibility, but also strengthen the effectiveness of your page, the quality of your content, as well as the management of your interactions with your audience.

We've selected five of this summer's top features for you to use:

• Broadcast Channels: Maximize your reach by sharing live content with your subscribers, creating an immersive, authentic experience.

• Musical Carousels: liven up your feed by associating images with musical tracks, adding a new artistic dimension to your publications.

• Tripartite Collaboration: Take advantage of the ability to collaborate with up to three partners on a single post, boosting your creativity and expanding your audience.

• Improved Reactions in Private Messages: forge deeper links with your customers through more varied and engaging reactions within your private conversations.

• Limiting Spam in Private Messages: Save time and peace of mind by restricting unwanted messages, so you can concentrate on the interactions that really matter.

• The Arrival of Instagram's AI Chatbots: Experience the future of customer interactions by leveraging AI-powered chatbots to deliver instant, relevant responses to your customers.

By exploring these new features, you'll position your restaurant strategically for a successful back-to-school on Instagram. Seize the opportunity to captivate your audience with innovative content and richer interactions than ever before.