How to Promote Your Business - With Donuts!
Simple Marketing Ideas You Can Use for National Donut Day
Thinking up new small business marketing ideas can seem like a challenge. With so many other tasks to get done, who has time to be creative? We’re here to help with some easy ways to spread the word on National Donut Day, which is the first Friday in June every year.
Donuts fit in with nearly any snack food, so if you don’t already sell them, adding them for just select days or as a permanent menu item isn’t difficult. Purchase a shallow fryer for quick cooking and you’re all set.
Use these ideas for Donut Day deals and beyond:
- Give away free donuts: Everyone loves a freebie! If you’re concerned about losing profits, there are several ways to do this. Besides just offering a free donut to anyone with no strings attached, you can instead create a deal where customers receive an extra donut at no charge when they purchase a dozen, or the free donut can be given with any purchase of other items in your shop.
- Offer specialty toppings: Gourmet goes a long way. Rather than just standard cake or glazed donuts, provide a variety of toppings for guests to choose from. They don’t have to be elaborately decorated, just fun and surprising. You could offer vanilla and chocolate frosted donuts with a selection of kids’ breakfast cereals on top, multicolored sprinkles, cotton candy, or even bacon crumbles.
- Set up a donut bar: Self-serve bars are becoming popular for all types of foods. They create an experience for the customer and are fun activities for people with kids. Use similar toppings to those mentioned above but set them out in bowls with spoons for people to customize their donuts to their liking.
- Discount-related items: Create limited-time combo deals when a customer pairs a donut with coffee, waffles, fudge, or other similar products.
- Bonus idea for ice cream shops: Concoct an outrageous “donut sundae” available while supplies last. Pile a donut (or more than one!) with a complementary flavor of your ice cream, and top with nuts, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and caramel.
- Bonus idea for gourmet popcorn shops: Combine your main product with donuts! Check out this recipe for delicious Glazed Donut Popcorn.
Spread the word about your promotion through posters, flyers, email, social media, and local radio and newspapers.
And if you’re not prepared to catch the official National Donut Day, don’t worry. People love donuts throughout the year, and you won’t have as much competition on other days, as people flock to Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts for free donuts.
You can even use humor to your advantage. Mention in your ads that National Donut Day was the first Friday in June, but oops – you missed it! Luckily for your customers, you’re offering your promotion now instead.
Simple marketing ideas like these are relatively easy to implement and can result in improved relationships and rapport with your customers. Keep them coming back to see what’s new with other promotions related to actual holidays and other fun national days.
For more inspiration, try our ideas for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and National Something on a Stick Day.