Events and seasons
Christmas marketing ideas for pubs and restaurants
Practical Christmas marketing ideas for pubs and restaurants, from launching your party menu to filling the room on New Year's Eve. It includes a posting plan you can follow from autumn into January.
8 min read
The Christmas marketing ideas for restaurants and pubs that work best are simple. Launch your party menu early, keep one clear booking message pinned where people will see it, and plan your posts so December runs itself. This guide covers when to start, what to post about party menus, festive specials and gift cards, a posting plan from autumn to January, and how to handle Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. These Christmas restaurant marketing ideas work just as well for pubs, cafes and hotels.
If it is already autumn and you have not started, you have not missed it. Post your party menu today, then work through the plan below.
When to start promoting Christmas bookings
Start as soon as your party menu and prices are fixed, ideally in September or early October. Work parties and big family groups take time to organise: the organiser often has to compare a few places and get agreement before anyone books. The earlier your menu is in front of them, the better your chance of making their shortlist.
A simple order of work:
- Party menu and booking details. Your first and most important post.
- Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Announce them as soon as menus, times and deposit terms are settled.
- Festive specials and gift cards. From November, when people start thinking about treats and presents.
- Opening hours. Post your Christmas and New Year hours by early December and repeat them in Christmas week.
Tip
Before your first post, put your booking link in your Instagram bio or on a link-in-bio page, so every post can simply say "link in bio". Our guide to link in bio for venues explains the options.
Party menus, festive specials and gift cards
Your Christmas party menu post
Write it for the person organising the party. They want answers, not adjectives. Include:
- the dates and sittings you are taking bookings for
- the group sizes you can seat, and whether you have a private area
- what is included and the price per person
- deposit and pre-order deadlines
- vegetarian, vegan and other dietary options
- exactly how to book: a link, a phone number or both
Use real photos from a menu tasting rather than stock images. A carousel works well: a hero dish first, then the menu as a clear image, then the room set up for a party.
Then pin it. On Facebook, open the post's options menu (top right of the post) and choose Pin post; pinned posts sit in the Featured section at the top of your Page. In the Instagram app, open the post, tap the options menu in the top right and choose Pin to main grid. Instagram lets you pin up to three posts, which is enough for your party menu, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Save your party menu stories to a Highlight as well, so they stay on your profile after the story disappears.
Post about the party menu more than once, from different angles: a dish close-up, the team, the room dressed for Christmas, a short video of the kitchen plating up. Each one is another reminder that you are taking bookings.
Festive specials
Specials give you something fresh to post all season. Ideas that suit most venues:
- mulled wine alongside an alcohol-free mulled punch
- a festive sandwich, burger or pie on the lunch menu
- mince pies with coffee in the afternoon
- a festive Sunday roast
- Christmas afternoon tea for cafes and hotels
- winter cocktails, each with a low or no alcohol version
Keep drinks posts about flavour, warmth and company, never quantity, and avoid anything that could appeal to under-18s.
Gift cards and vouchers
Gift cards are an easy present to buy, and each one is a future visit. Give them their own posts rather than a line at the bottom of the menu:
- "for the person who has everything" and Secret Santa posts in November
- a post aimed at businesses buying gifts for staff or clients
- a last-minute reminder in Christmas week, if people can buy online
- a reminder in January to spend them
Say clearly how to buy them, what they can be used for and when they expire.
A festive posting plan
Adjust this to your own dates. Keep to a rhythm you can manage in your busiest weeks: your usual posts plus one or two for the season, with stories on busy days. If you do not have a planning routine yet, our social media content calendar guide shows how to set one up.
Tip
Write and schedule the next four weeks of posts in one sitting, then use stories for anything that happens on the day.
September to mid-October: launch
- Announce the party menu and pin it.
- Share behind-the-scenes shots from the menu tasting.
- Post a weekly reminder that party bookings are open, with a new photo each time.
Late October and November: build
- Announce Christmas Day and New Year's Eve if you have not already.
- Launch your festive specials and gift cards.
- Show the decorations going up and the team in Christmas jumpers.
- Create Facebook events for Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, and pin them to your Page. Our guide to promoting an event on Facebook and Instagram covers the details.
- Only say dates are filling up if they really are.
1 to 20 December: party season
- Share the atmosphere from parties, but ask guests before you post photos of them.
- Run an advent calendar of stories: one small thing each day, such as a dish, a drink, a team member or a local supplier.
- Post your Christmas and New Year opening hours.
- Keep gift cards in view for last-minute shoppers.
- Check your Facebook and Instagram messages every day, as party enquiries can arrive there as well as by phone and email.
Christmas week
- Pin your opening hours, and unpin the party menu once the parties are over.
- Schedule a Christmas Eve post and a Christmas Day greeting, so nobody has to post on the day.
- Thank your team, especially anyone working over Christmas.
Check the calendar before you write your hours post. In 2026, Christmas Day is a Friday and Boxing Day is a Saturday, so the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December across the UK. In Scotland, the 2 January holiday moves to Monday 4 January 2027. Both dates are from gov.uk, checked on 29 September 2026.
27 to 31 December: the days in between
- Post for people who are off work: a long lunch, a walk followed by a roast, board games by the fire.
- Push New Year's Eve: what is included, times, dress code and how to get tickets.
- Add Instagram's countdown sticker to your stories. People can set a reminder from the sticker, and everyone who does is notified when the countdown ends. If you cannot see a sticker, update the app, as not every sticker is available to everyone.
January: thank and fill
- Post a thank-you for the season.
- Remind people to spend their gift cards.
- Promote your January menu and your alcohol-free choices for anyone taking a break from drinking.
For the rest of the year, from Mother's Day to Bonfire Night, see our guide to seasonal marketing ideas.
Christmas Day and New Year's Eve
Christmas Day
Decide early and say it clearly: open or closed, sittings, menu, price, deposit and the pre-order deadline. Give families everything in one post they can share with relatives.
- Post the menu with real photos and answer questions in the comments.
- Mention children's and dietary options, because families will ask.
- If you are fully booked, say so and offer a waiting list or another date between Christmas and New Year.
- If you are closed, post a warm closing notice with the date you reopen.
New Year's Eve
Whether you are running a ticketed party or a set dinner, spell out the times, what the price includes, the entertainment, any dress code and how to book. Facebook's policies for Pages, groups and events say you must clearly show any costs of attending an event, including extra fees, so put the full price in the event.
- Post a short clip of the band or DJ. If you are adding live music or a DJ, check your music licence covers it: gov.uk explains the licence to play live or recorded music.
- Offer an alcohol-free option for the midnight toast.
- Remind guests to plan how they will get home.
- Plan a New Year's Day post too: brunch, a roast or simply your opening hours.
New Year's Eve 2026 is a Thursday, and New Year's Day 2027 is a Friday bank holiday across the UK, which makes a long weekend for anyone who is off work.
How Cheers helps
Cheers lets you plan the whole festive season in one place. Describe your party menu once and the AI writes Facebook and Instagram versions in your venue's voice, which you can review, edit, approve and schedule in the planner calendar. Christmas Day and New Year's Eve can go out as event posts with a date strip on the image and a matching feed post and story, while a weekly recurring post keeps party bookings in view through the autumn. Cheers publishes to your Facebook Page and Instagram automatically, checks each post before it goes and emails you if anything fails.