You plan a wine evening, Christmas menu or Mother's Day brunch. You post once on Instagram and hope for sign-ups. Halfway through the registration period places are still empty, and your team calls and emails manually to fill tables.
An arrangement is a separate product with a fixed price and limited capacity. It deserves a separate promotion plan: social media for reach, newsletter for your guest database, and one sign-up link everywhere. In this article you learn how to promote events and arrangements until they sell out, with Restotailor as the central hub.
Get sign-up right first
Promotion only works if signing up is smooth. Create your arrangement with a clear name, description, date, price per person, maximum places and registration period. It appears in your reservation widget once registration opens. Test the flow yourself before your campaign starts: sign up, confirmation email, reminder, optional deposit.
Read more about organisation in our article on organising arrangements and for holidays in Christmas menu and holidays. Promotion builds on that: you sell an event that is already set up technically.
Social media: reach and story
Start at least three to four weeks ahead for popular dates such as Christmas Eve or Mother's Day. Plan multiple touchpoints instead of one post:
Announcement: what, when, price, how many places. End with a clear call to action and link to sign up.
Behind the scenes: kitchen preparing the menu, wine selection, team setting up the room. That makes the event tangible.
Reels or stories: atmosphere from a previous edition, or dishes on the menu. Video reaches more on Instagram and TikTok than a flyer alone.
Use the same sign-up link everywhere: bio, story sticker, captions and highlights. More general social tips in our article on social media for restaurants.
Newsletter and CRM
Your existing guests are your warmest audience. Via newsletter and guest profiles send a targeted email: menu, date, price and a button to sign up. Filter on who attended an event before, who books regularly or who lives in your area.
Send a reminder one week before registration closes. Not everyone saw your first Instagram post. Combine with a second social touchpoint the same week so email and social reinforce each other. Grow your list via website pop-up and widget checkbox. More on email as a channel in newsletters for your restaurant, collecting subscribers and email marketing.
Offer function and consistent message
The biggest gap in event promotion? A beautiful Instagram post and a generic reservation page without the event. Via the offer function in your widget you show the same banner with text and image as in your campaign. The guest arriving via your story immediately sees the Christmas menu or wine evening you posted about.
Use the same image in social, email and widget. One visual story increases recognition and trust. Guests who hesitate see the same message everywhere and know they are signing up in the right place.
Urgency and final call
Limited capacity is your strongest marketing tool, if you stay honest. "8 places left" only works if it is true. Close registration automatically at maximum so you avoid disappointment. Plan a final call two to three days before registration closes: story, post and short email to those not yet signed up.
Consider early bird pricing for first sign-ups, or a small extra for those booking via your newsletter. That encourages quick decisions and rewards your most loyal guests.
Measuring what works
Afterwards you want to know which channel delivered sign-ups. In Analytics you see where reservations and sign-ups come from: website, widget, socials or other sources. Posted a terrace event on Instagram? You want to know if it brought sign-ups, not just likes.
Note per event: which posts were live, when the email went out, when the sign-up peak happened. That way you improve the next event with data instead of gut feeling. Sign-ups automatically land in your guest profiles so your next campaign can be more targeted.
Conclusion
Events and arrangements do not sell themselves with one Instagram post. They need a plan: sign-up in order, social for reach, email for your guest database, offer function for consistency and urgency when places are scarce. With Restotailor you manage sign-up, payment, emails and promotion in one place, alongside regular reservations. Start with one event, measure what worked and repeat that format. Everything included in €65 per month, with no commission on sign-ups.