Creative Concepts For Restaurant Coupons: Moving Beyond Free Appetizers And 20% Off Your Check

Most restaurant coupons fall into a few different categories:

* The buy one entree, get the second free or half-off.
* The free appetizer with the purchase of an entree
* The x% off a check, food purchases only (no drinks)

These are common and they usually work. But, there may be other ways to increase both customers and margin.

Odd Hour Coupons: What about coupons for non-prime time meals to smooth your daily traffic and fill in the dead zones? Consider odd hour coupons for truly odd hours. Otherwise, this strategy may risk cannibalizing your prime time business, i.e., "Why buy at 1:45 when I can wait another 15 minutes for a big discount?"

Free Desserts: Instead of a free appetizer, why not offer a coupon for a free dessert? There's always a risk of customers "filling up on bread" and losing some of their appetite before the main act gets on stage. By putting the free offer at the end of the meal, you reduce the chance of making a smaller entree sale. Not only that, but you send customers away on a positive and overall fun note (assuming your desserts are great).

Special of the Day: Is your daily special a source of pride? Would you simply like to see the specials ordered more often, as they're even more impressive than your regular menu and will help bring customer back? Do you find yourself with excess leftover ingredients for daily specials? Consider a while-supplies-last coupon specifically for the daily special.

Diet Menu Coupons: Potential restaurant patrons may stay home for a number of reasons. Recently, it may be money concerns. But even on a good day, there are often diet concerns. When people eat at home, they can figure out how many calories they're consuming (if it's a frozen dinner, the number doesn't require any math). A basic CNN poll, highly unscientific no doubt, indicated that the majority of restaurant patrons "turn off" their diets when eating out. That is, they've already given up their battle before they walk through the door. How many times do prospective clients decide to not give into temptation, and stay home? Why not make it easier by offering coupons specifically for your menu's healthiest options?

More Adjectives: It's a simple idea, but it may be the best. Visuals, smells and words can all pique interest. It's probably not possible for you to include the first two in your coupon, but you can at least work with words. Which one sounds better, "50% off dessert" or "50% off any dessert, including our award-winning strawberry and white chocolate mousse"? You can use the coupon to tempt the appetite of future customers. If you're not limited by space, it's easy to take advantage of the power of colorful words.

With a slow, expected recovery in 2010, you may think that coupons are out of your 2010 marketing plan. If so, you may want to reconsider: People may finally have more disposable income, but will probably remain cautious. With fresh memories of leaner times, they'll almost certainly continue to seek out good values and be hesitant with spending. That said, there will probably also be "pent-up" consumer demand for fun, stuff and services. Businesses that provide more obvious and vocal good deals will be better positioned to win sales.