The holiday season is a time for family, friends, and festive meals — but for millions of Americans, it’s also a time to let someone else handle the cooking. As consumers juggle packed schedules and social commitments, many are choosing to dine out, order catering, or pick up ready-made meals instead of spending hours in the kitchen.
For restaurants and caterers, this shift toward convenience represents a significant revenue opportunity. But standing out in a crowded holiday marketplace requires more than just a tempting menu. To maximize sales before and during the holidays, food service businesses need to connect with customers where they are using a full-funnel, multichannel advertising strategy.
The Holiday Dining Boom
From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, holiday dining demand surges. According to the National Restaurant Association, 77% of consumers plan to dine out or order restaurant takeout during the holiday season, and nearly half of all hosts incorporate prepared or catered dishes into their celebrations.
The reasons are clear:
- Convenience: Consumers are busier than ever, balancing shopping, travel, and family events.
- Quality and variety: Professionally prepared meals elevate gatherings and remove the stress of cooking for a crowd.
- Experience: Dining out or ordering catering allows families to focus on connection instead of cleanup.
This spike in demand fuels a major seasonal revenue boost. In 2025, U.S. restaurant and catering spending between November and December surpassed $100 billion, with catering orders up nearly 18% year-over-year according to Toast’s Restaurant Trends Report. The pattern is expected to grow again this holiday season, especially as consumers prioritize time-saving solutions and memorable dining experiences.
The Challenge: Standing Out in a Crowded Market
With demand comes competition. Restaurants, caterers, and grocery-prepared meal providers all vie for attention during the same eight-week window.
Relying on a single marketing channel simply isn’t enough. Consumers interact with brands across multiple devices and mediums before making a purchase decision. A diner might:
- See a video ad while streaming a TV show.
- Click a paid social ad showcasing a restaurant’s holiday catering menu.
- Be served a digital ad with an offer that prompts them to order.
- Receive a postcard featuring limited-time ready-made family meals from a local grocer.
- Search online for “holiday dinner near me” and click a paid SEM ad.
Without an integrated multichannel strategy, restaurants, grocers, and caterers risk losing potential customers who move fluidly between marketing channels and stages of the buying journey.
Why Multichannel, Full-Funnel Marketing Works
A full-funnel strategy connects awareness, consideration, and conversion stages through complementary advertising tactics. For restaurants, grocers, and caterers, this means using a mix of digital and offline platforms that work together to build recognition, trust, and action.
Here’s how the most effective channels contribute to holiday success:
CTV & Pre-Roll Video: Building Awareness Through Storytelling
Connected TV (CTV) and pre-roll video advertising reach consumers as they stream premium video content. These visually engaging, non-skippable ads can showcase holiday spreads or emotional family moments, sparking desire and brand recall.
- Goal: Build awareness and emotional connection.
Paid Social: Inspiring and Engaging Audiences
Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram are prime spaces for consumers seeking holiday meal inspiration. Paid social campaigns can promote special menus, pre-order deadlines, and event meal packages with precision targeting based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and locations.
- Goal: Drive engagement and consideration.
Digital Display: Staying Top-of-Mind
Digital display ads reach consumers reading news content, browsing websites, or shopping online. By following users across mobile devices, holiday themed display ads that capture attention at the right time help maintain brand awareness and increase recall.
- Goal: Reinforce awareness with consistent messaging
Shared & Direct Mail: Making a Tangible Impression
Even in a digital-first world, mail remains one of the most trusted and visible advertising tools for restaurants and caterers. With mail staying in the home an average of 17 days, according to a Postanalytics 2025 report, a festive mailer that includes a QR code linking directly to your reservation or ordering page can cut through the digital noise and remind households to place their holiday orders soon.
- Goal: Drive action through visibility and credibility.
Mobile Precise & Mobile Moments: Reaching Customers On-the-Go
With consumers constantly on their phones during the holiday rush, mobile advertising ensures your message reaches them at decision-making moments. Mobile-friendly coupons and click-to-act options that are delivered in real-time based on location, transaction, and intent data help influence holiday dining decisions.
- Goal: Capture local, intent-driven customers.
DOOH (Digital Out-of-Home): Amplifying Awareness in High-Traffic Areas
Premium digital screens provide valuable visibility during the busiest shopping season of the year. DOOH ads placed in shopping centers, restaurants, gas stations, airports and more turn attention into action, especially with a QR code to quickly scan.
- Goal: Extend brand reach and awareness.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing): Capturing High-Intent Shoppers
When consumers are ready to take action, search is often their first stop. SEM ensures your business appears at the top when users look for terms like “holiday catering near me” or “holiday dinner takeout.”
- Goal: Drive immediate conversions.
Acquisition Email: Driving Direct Engagement
Email remains a high-conversion channel, especially when targeted to segmented audiences. Acquisition emails can deliver exclusive holiday offers or reminders that prompt action.
- Goal: Convert interested leads into customers.
A Sample Holiday Campaign in Action
Let’s imagine a regional restaurant brand, Seasons & Spice, that offers both dine-in and catering services. Their goal: increase holiday catering orders by 40% and boost restaurant reservations throughout December.
Phase 1: Awareness (November)
- Launch CTV and pre-roll ads showcasing beautifully plated meals and festive gatherings.
- Run DOOH placements near shopping centers and office districts with the tagline “Celebrate Without the Stress — Holiday Catering by Seasons & Spice.”
- Begin paid social campaigns targeting audiences based on specific demographics, location, and keywords.
Phase 2: Consideration (Mid-November to Mid-December)
- Use mobile ads to deliver limited-time messaging to customers using real-time Geo-Fencing, Geo-Retargeting, and Geo-Audience data.
- Utilize Impact Postcards to feature catering options and an early-order incentive.
- Deploy acquisition email campaigns to reach new audiences with festive imagery and act-soon offers.
Phase 3: Conversion (December)
- Ramp up SEM efforts to capture high-intent searches like “holiday meal pickup” or “Christmas dinner catering.”
- Continue paid social retargeting to remind interested users of deadlines to reserve or purchase.
- Send a final direct mail postcard: “There’s still time to make your holiday meal effortless — order today!”
By aligning creative messaging and timing across channels, Seasons & Spice maintains visibility and engagement from awareness to conversion — turning busy holiday planners into satisfied, loyal customers.
The Takeaway: Don’t Miss the Holiday Rush
The holidays present one of the most lucrative windows of the year for the restaurant and catering industry, but only those who prepare early and market strategically will reap the full rewards.
A multichannel, full-funnel advertising strategy ensures your brand appears consistently across digital, mobile, and physical spaces — connecting with time-strapped adults and families as they plan, shop, and celebrate.
By leveraging the combined strengths of channels including paid social, CTV/pre-roll, digital display, shared & direct mail, mobile, DOOH, SEM, and acquisition email, you can create a cohesive campaign that drives awareness, engagement, and sales — while ensuring your business stays at the center of every holiday celebration.
Consumers aren’t just hungry for good food during the holidays — they’re hungry for convenience, quality, and connection. And the brands that meet them there will find that the holidays can be more profitable (and more joyful) than ever.
Want to learn more about Mspark’s approach to reaching the right audience with a data-informed, multichannel strategy? Request to be contacted.