Ramadan is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in the world and it’s a coming together for the entire Muslim community while spreading a message of peace, harmony, and generosity across the globe. 

While Ramadan is known as a month of fasting and prayer, it is also a period where members of the community come together to eat–usually before or after fasting hours–with their families. 

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. As part of Islamic teachings, more than 2 billion people around the world fast every day. It's a time of prayer and celebration that's shared by everyone, you can feel it in the air! There's nothing better than sharing that joy with your friends and family (and even strangers!) over food after a long day of fasting.

–Wahid Farid, TableCheck Frontend Developer, who lives in Egypt, one of the countries that celebrate Ramadan every year

A family tradition

Ramadan is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in the world and it’s a coming together for the entire Muslim community while spreading a message of peace, harmony, and generosity across the globe. 

While Ramadan is known as a month of fasting and prayer, it is also a period where members of the community come together to eat–usually before or after fasting hours–with their families. 

Food is a massive part of any cultural festivity but it goes to the next level during Ramadan. While observing the practice of Ramadan, restaurant owners have a big opportunity every year to not only earn profits but also serve a wide customer base.

However, every year brings renewed challenges for restaurant and hotel owners in terms of promoting their brand and providing the best services to a wide range of customers. Marketing campaigns by restaurants become critical to their success and there are several ways in which dining establishments can blend the essence of Ramadan in their business.

Here are some marketing ideas and campaign strategies that can be implemented by restaurants during the month of Ramadan all the way to Eid al-Fitr to be successful.

1. Introduce special Ramadan discounts

The month of Ramadan sees a large number of customers visit restaurants for family outings or order food at home as well. An excellent promotion strategy for cafes, hotels, and restaurants to adopt during Ramadan is the introduction of special discounts on certain items specific to the festive period. Curation of a special menu for Ramadan and offering a discount on quantities or combinations can help make the restaurant extremely popular.

Anantara Eastern Mangroves Hotel based in Abu Dhabi, UAE has exclusive special offers during Ramadan including 'Iftar at Ingredients' and 'Suhoor at Ramadan Tent'.

2. Pickup and delivery at the right time

Ramadan sees a massive surge in dine-in restaurants but the last two years have resulted in a lot of people ordering food at home via mobile phone applications and websites. One way in which restaurants can market themselves to be ahead of the competition is by offering pickup and delivery to customers along with good quality food. Time sensitivity is paramount during Ramadan and people eat during a specific window, thereby requiring restaurants to deliver orders accurately and most conveniently while making sure that the food arrives at the time when people can break their fast.

TableCheck's Pickup and Delivery feature allows restaurants to add a new revenue stream while saving more than 20% commission.

3. Decorate with a Ramadan theme

Ramadan is a symbol of religion and the ethos of the Muslim community, bringing together millions across the globe through fasting, prayers, and celebration. In order to build trust among the existing customer base and grow it further, restaurants can decorate the restaurant with a Ramadan theme. For example, add symbols of Ramadan, such as the crescent moon, eight-pointed star, lanterns, and dates on the table setting or entrance. This invokes a sense of faith and reassurance in customers about the restaurant being attentive to their religious sensitivities.

4. Use social media to spread the Ramadan message

Restaurants can do a great service to customers and the Muslim community by spreading the message of Ramadan during the month. Be it prayer, fasting, or charity. Social media can be used to spread awareness about the celebrations in audio, video, or photographic manner.

When guests see a restaurant making a concerted effort to spread everything Ramadan stands for, they are likely to take a special liking towards such enterprises and appreciate the message. Not only this, the usage of social media gives a restaurant global publicity, which might not result in direct addition in sales but certainly helps to develop a positive name for itself as a brand is a huge boost in the long run. 

TableCheck has integrated with both Instagram and Facebook to help restaurants add a 'Reserve' button to their business page.

READ MORE: How to add a "Book Now" button on your Instagram and Facebook pages

READ MORE: How to add a "Book Now" button on your Instagram and Facebook pages

5. Keep a special menu for Iftar

Iftar, the meal eaten after breaking fast, is perhaps the most joyous aspect of Ramadan for members of the Muslim community, and thousands of people across the world who

host daily parties to celebrate while also feeding the poor, thereby following the tenets of the religion.

Restaurants can do wonders for their businesses by keeping a special and attractive Iftar menu to mark the occasion. Heavy promotion of a specially curated Iftar menu can prove to be a massive boost to both upcoming and popular restaurants. Also, it can help a restaurant receive bulk orders since many families host Iftar parties, which involve large gatherings and give dining establishments a chance to do catering as well. 

If you have a special Ramadan menu, make sure to add it to your reservation page. Try customizing your booking form with a Ramadan theme.

Caspar Jakarta, a Spanish restaurant in Indonesia, has whipped up special Iftar dishes like this Chicken Kofta below:

Another example is this this special menu from Japanese restaurant Furosato Izakaya in Indonesia:

6. Offer late-night delivery of food

Many families and members of the Muslim community are awake till late at night during Ramadan because of festivities and consuming their pre-dawn meal before fasting the entire day. Offering late-night delivery or dine-in services massively boosts the business of a restaurant because of the influx of customers in the particular time period. If pre-dawn meals eaten by families during ‘Suhur’ or 'Sehri' can be promoted, packaged, and delivered by restaurants at the right time, it can do wonders for business.

Ramadan is a special month in the world calendar and it is a beautiful confluence of religion, culture, festivities and communal harmony. Restaurants have a massive opportunity during this time period while catering to a large customer base, which is in a joyous and happy mood while fasting to follow one of the main pillars of Islam. Marketing is critical in its essence for both new and old dining establishments because it could be the difference between success and super success of any restaurant.