How to Build Your Mid-Week Business

By Traci, Destination Marketing Manager / Content Strategist | July 8, 2019

If you’re in the hospitality business – restaurant, hotel, attraction – the weekends are your bread and butter. Friday and Saturday are likely your busiest days, followed by Thursday and Sunday.

I’m no mathematician, but that leaves three other days of the week when you could be open – bringing in business or generating revenue!

Deals, discounts, and special offers

Obviously, discounts are incentives to purchase, and it’s common to see lower prices offered on meals, room rates, etc., during the week. But instead of just offering 10% off a purchase, encourage additional spending with a BOGO (buy one, get one) offer, a discount for providing an email address, or a punch card with a freebie after ten purchases.

As for special offers, think in terms of offering something that can only be experienced and enjoyed on one day of the week, like “Teacher Tuesday” happy hour specialty cocktails, or free admission for local residents on Wednesday. Or run a “flash sale” coupon on your social media channels that’s only good for the next 24 hours.

If you have a lodging business and have weekend guests booked, encourage them to stay longer with a sizeable discount for an extra day added on to the beginning or end.

And if you do put out a special offer, track it so you can see how well it did, and compare its success with other offers. This could be as easy and basic as just collecting and counting up coupons at the end of the day. 

Events Give You an Edge

There are two ways to go about this – produce your own events, or rent out your facilities for others to hold events there. Mid-week events should be geared toward adults who have free time in the evening, as opposed to families with kids who are busy with school and extracurriculars. Some ideas: book clubs, author readings and signings, art shows, movie screenings, trivia contests, paint and sip workshops, wine tastings, and cooking classes.

You have space. There are groups out there that need space in which to hold their own meetings and events. They may not even need food service, so you could offer space-only rental rates.

Work With What You Have

There are people who just won’t go out during the week. Don’t worry about converting them into mid-week customers. Focus on who is in your town during the week, and for what purpose. If there’s a convention in town, there are a lot of people staying during the week who need stuff to do after hours. Contact the event organizer to offer special rates to their attendees.

If you’re located downtown, and it clears out after 5:00, think beyond happy hour. Offer pre-cooked, carry out dinners for customers to run in and pick up on their way home.

Partner Up

Packages are a great way to entice people to spend more time and money on an experience, like a night out on the town. Approach local theaters, performing arts centers, museums, and galleries. Create mid-week-only packages that get people to eat in one place, then find entertainment in another place – all for one set price.  

Good Will = ROI

Look at your bookings for next month. Is there a Wednesday night when you have unsold guest rooms or empty event space that isn’t going to generate any revenue? How about giving it away in exchange for publicity, exposure, or local good will?  You could host a social media influencer, or offer it to a local charitable organization as a raffle prize. Ask to be mentioned in their newsletter, on their website, or in a social media post.

Your business has its own unique opportunities to bring in mid-week business. Need help figuring it out? Contact us at: SmartStrategies@bbggadv.com