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14 Romantic Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas to Woo & Win Guests
Stephanie Schalow
5 min read
Jan 7, 2025
Stephanie Schalow
5 min read
Jan 7, 2025
With 74% of consumers planning to order from or dine at a restaurant for Valentine’s Day, the holiday is poised to be one of your busiest days yet. And diners are willing to spend record amounts to say, “I love you.” Diner preferences are leaning toward non-traditional gifts like experiences and memorable get-togethers, which means it’s time for you to capture on- and off-premise revenue with unique Valentine’s Day promotions.
Below are 14 romantic Valentine’s Day marketing ideas to stand out from the crowd and draw in diners.
Let other retailers offer traditional gifts and gift cards. Couples tend to splurge on Valentine's Day, on the hunt for custom tasting menus and luxe cocktails. Guests are ready to spend more on this day, giving you an opportunity to create special experiences and unique menu additions to lure in lovebirds with creative extravagance.
For example, Gymkhana in London promoted a limited-edition Valentine’s menu for couples, which included a variety of mouth-watering plates such as Amritsari Lobster, Truffle Masala Bhaji and Tandoori Masala Lamb Chops.
Smoke & Mirrors in Hong Kong invited couples to raise a glass to love with special, handcrafted cocktails, delectable dishes and a live saxophone and magic performance.
If you’re offering delivery and pick up make sure your prix fixe menu items don’t just look festive, but also travel well. Soggy bread and lukewarm pasta can ruin the most romantic night of the year. But a great delivery or pick up experience? Such things do wonders for converting your off-premise guests into repeat customers (or orderers).
Let these special menu items speak for themselves. Include pictures of them in your marketing emails, digital ads and social media posts to promote reservations for Valentine’s Day.
Take what’s already on your menu and dress it up. Arrange an appetizer, entree or dessert into a heart shape on the plate. You could also place a “love”-themed chocolate or pipe caramel drizzle onto a dessert.
Get creative with your online ordering, too. Delight diners with custom to-go packaging, which you can easily do by adding a heart to your logo or offering pink and red containers to fit the theme.
You’ll need to think ahead to execute this marketing idea properly. Ask your chef to plate a dish with the heart theme in January so you can include a picture in your marketing promotions to guests.
Pictures aren’t the only way to dress up the ordinary. Play up the holiday with words that will bring a smile to the face of every guest who reads your menu.
We found one restaurant menu that renamed appetizers, first course, second course and dessert as the phases of a relationship: “courtship,” “first kiss,” “rapture,” and “sweet surrender.”
It also separated its dessert options into “7 deadly sins for two,” playing it up for guests dining with their significant others.
Pun opportunities for your Valentine’s Day menu are endless. Embrace all that is cheesy and corny with phrases like ‘Brie Mine Charcuterie’, ‘ I’m So Fondue of You’, ‘Tortellini in Love With You’, ’You’re the one pho me” and more.
Your diners will appreciate the extra special offerings and will remember your brand next time they’re looking for a place to share a romantic meal.
Make guests feel special with a gift that costs you less than the “surprise & delight” value it delivers to them. (Creating unforgettable experiences is what drives 60% of repeat visits.)
Some marketing ideas for Valentine’s Day gifts are:
Little Pearl in Sydney leverages two key restaurant promotion ideas on their Valentine’s Day special event page. The venue’s punny "Love at First Bite" romantic dinner offer invites guests to fall in love all over again with a set menu and a complimentary arrival cocktail.
This type of thoughtful delight doesn’t need to add to your operations budget. Making a simple tweak to something you already provide can feel just as special — like baking heart-shaped dinner rolls.
Whatever freebie you choose to offer, make sure you market it in advance. Advertise it on social media, email and direct booking links, taking special care to encourage pre-bookings so your team can order appropriately.
Little Pearl’s Instagram page is optimized for business, positioning itself as the place to be for special holiday meals. Not only does the restaurant have a collection of stories titled “Valentine’s Day,” but it also places a link in the bio that guides visitors to its direct SevenRooms’ booking widget.
Upgrades presented at the time of booking make it easier for you to capture additional revenue before guests even arrive on-site. It also allows guests to customize their romantic dinner ahead of time, which adds a layer of excitement and reduces the chance of a cancellation or no-show.
Jensens Restaurant uses the SevenRooms direct reservations widget to encourage updates during booking, allowing guests to kick off their Valentine's Day tasting menu experience with a signature cocktail or crisp glass of champagne.
At a time when guests are searching for ways to make the evening special, it’s worth showcasing how your venue can play a role.
Whether you call, email or upload email addresses to trigger an ad, your repeat and most valuable guests should be the first audience you invite to your Valentine’s Day dinner.
Here’s why: It’s seven times more expensive to acquire a new guest than it is to retain an existing one. Valentine’s Day is busy enough — you’ll waste more time trying to convince a new guest to try you out than you would reengaging a past guest.
Try a low-budget ad campaign using the email addresses of all guests who have dined with you in the past six months. Including “urgency” language that drives emotion in your ad, such as “Have dinner plans for Valentine’s Day?” will help generate more bookings.
Guests love a personalized email from a restaurant — especially when their inbox is flooded with lackluster Valentine’s Day “deals” from other businesses.
Stand out by segmenting your audience and sending a more targeted message that feels like it was written just for them.
Tell your loyal VIPs that there’s a seat saved “just for you.” Even better, address the guest by name. You could also target your take-out regulars with a special “Valentine’s Day meal to go” promotion.
Here’s an example of a personalized email from NYC-based restaurant group Altamarea:
Too often, restaurants send an email promoting a specific occasion, only to bring guests to today’s date on their reservation page. This confuses guests and could hurt your booking conversion rate.
With SevenRooms’ reservation widget, you can tweak the URL and add a custom parameter that tells the widget to set a new default date. Include this link in your emails and social media so your readers are taken directly to a booking slot for February 14.
SevenRooms customers can learn exactly what parameter to use here.
At the end of January, make it clear you’re open for Valentine’s Day by adding text on top of a Valentine’s Day-themed image to your reservation page.
Here’s an excellent example from Spago in Los Angeles:
Not only is this image a great place to share details like your address and phone number, but you can also use it as a banner advertisement for the events and happenings at your restaurant.
If you have the marketing resources to create a landing page for Valentine’s Day on your website, it might be worth spending the time to ensure your menu and online ordering and reservation links are in one place.
It makes the booking and ordering experience easier for your guests, too. See how Maple & Ash did it below.
This landing page works whether you’re running multiple properties or operating as an independent restaurant, as all the information your guests need to book is readily available.
Leverage all outlets available to you to attract new guests to your venue. You can get the word out to the masses in your specific city by becoming your own PR rep.
For example, a restaurant in New York City could reach out to outlets like Thrillist and Grubstreet to pitch their Valentine’s Day dinners for on-premise or to-go.
To find outlets that are more likely to promote restaurants on Valentine’s Day, google“[city name] reservations + Valentine’s Day + 2024” to see who covered what last year. You can bet they’re planning to do the same for 2025, so it’s worth reaching out.
Here’s an email template to use to advertise your Valentine’s Day promotion ideas:
Subject Line: Covering the best Valentine’s Day restaurants? Check out [My Restaurant]
Email Body:
Hi [first name],
I noticed you previously covered the best Valentine’s Day restaurants, and I wanted to reach out with the information below in case you’re currently working on a story for this year.
Who I am: [your relation to restaurant]
Why you should feature [restaurant name] in [location] in your 2025 V-Day round-up:
[Reason 1 – dish detail – describe what makes this dish seasonally appropriate/how it’s created]
[Reason 2 – cocktail detail – something fun and colorful that a guest can’t get anywhere else]
[Reason 3 – ambiance/vibe – what makes your location special/better than your competitor down the street]
Link to menu: [link]
Link to photos: [link]
Best for guests who are looking for: [romantic, menu type (e.g., vegetarian, seafood), seating types (e.g,. booth, views, etc.)]
How guests can book a reservation: [contact info or tracking URL]
How guests can order online: [online ordering URL]
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can provide additional details! I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Your Name
Get creative with your email! Here’s a unique and funny way to describe the “Best for guests who are looking for” at a restaurant called Annika in Brooklyn:
“If you’re a carnivore whose idea of romance is a butcher steak, but your better half is a vegan who prefers charred cauliflower”
Sometimes, the most effective marketing tools are the ones that cost the least and require little effort. For example, other restaurants might skip over creating a postcard you can use to thank diners for their business.
Use a free tool like Canva or Flipsnack to create bulk cards you can drop into your check presenters and takeaway bags. Personalize it by including a note from the owner. Don’t miss this opportunity to convert on-premise diners to off-premise, and vice versa, by advertising future events or takeout/delivery business.
Most people love candy, so why not partner with a local brand to make your guests feel more connected with you?
Studies show that we bond most closely with those we relate to. Giving guests who dine with you this Valentine’s Day chocolate from a brand tied to your city might help you remind them that you all have the same roots.
Brand loyalty is hard to come by in the restaurant world, so any chance to bond with your guests is worth the effort.
For those who prefer to make it a “cozy night in,” consider offering to-go menus they can prepare at home. Choose items that are particularly well-suited to travel or items where guests can add the finishing touch, like a chocolate dessert that just needs a quick 10 minutes in the oven.
You can also consider adding value-add items to make the meal a true experience. Check out this great example from Fortina, whose Valentine’s Day to-go meal included delicious food, a great bottle of wine, dessert and the extra special touch of a red-and-white checkered tablecloth to top it off!
No matter which of the above Valentine’s Day marketing ideas you choose to implement this year, remember to track them.
If you use SevenRooms, you can do this by adding a tracking parameter to your reservation URL. Grab these by logging in from a web browser and going to Marketing > Tracking Links.
Here are some examples of parameters for different social channels:
Today’s diners crave fresh, new takes on Valentine’s Day dinners. They want romantic atmospheres and unique dining experiences — and they’re willing to pay for it.
If you’re ready to play Cupid, let us help you drive more reservations. Schedule a free demo to learn more about how SevenRooms’ reservation software and marketing tools can help support your Valentine’s Day promotion ideas this year.
Your restaurant will likely serve more couples on Valentine’s Day than any other day of the year. Before February 14, remember to update your restaurant’s reservation floor plan to accommodate more two-top tables.
Don’t wait until February to send your emails. At SevenRooms, we’ve seen those who start promoting major holidays 2-3 months in advance, get a substantial head start on bookings!
Include “valentines day restaurant” + “[your city]” as the keyword in your URL, your page title, in at least one H1 headline, and as alt image tags for any images. This will increase your SEO for any guests in your city searching for Valentine’s Day restaurant reservations.
Print your cards on a nice thicker paper at a nearby FedEx or other printing location, and have the owner of your restaurant personally sign each card by hand.
