📌 September Marketing Strategies for Smarter Spending

Discover how to turn seasonal shifts into marketing wins with practical tactics for hospitality pros.

🌞 Welcome To This Week's VIP Newsletter

September reshapes guest choices. It changes how people make decisions. In summer, guests are more likely to act on impulse, booking a meal, visiting a venue, or attending an event without giving it much thought. In September, those same actions come with hesitation: Can I afford this? Do I have time? Is this worth it right now?

The bar for commitment is higher. This reflects both emotional fatigue after the summer and practical constraints, such as schedule, budget, and mental load. Corporate buyers feel it too. Many pause to reassess priorities and tighten spending.

At the same time, heatwaves keep guests away, and social feeds are saturated with high-budget autumn campaigns. Guests aren’t just choosing between you and the venue next door. They’re choosing between you and every brand on their screens.

But what if these challenges could work in your favour? What if tighter budgets, shifting routines, and heavier feeds were the perfect conditions to stand out? This strategic update is designed to help you outsmart the competition, not outspend them.

📄 On the Menu this week

• ⚠️ The September Slump Demands Your Focus

• ❌ Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

• 🎨 Creative Marketing on a Tight Budget

• 💷 7 Inexpensive Marketing Ideas for September

• 🍍 Platform Updates Affecting Your Marketing Strategy

• 💎 VIP Exclusive Marketing Insight

• 📌 Strategic Action Plan

• 🗓️ September 2025 Global Marketing Dates for Hospitality

Let’s Check In ☕

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⚠️ The September Slump Demands Your Focus

The September slump varies across regions, but the disruption is consistent. In the UK, guests become cost-conscious and revert to more frugal spending patterns. The UAE sees corporate bookings return as cooler temperatures make outdoor dining viable again. In the US, autumn signals loyalty reactivation and content built around the Fall season. In India, marketing shifts to reflect regional segmentation and early Diwali signals. Meanwhile, in Australia and New Zealand, spring resets the calendar entirely, bringing fresh weekday traffic and seasonal offers.

While weekday covers drop and families disappear from mid-afternoon slots, this period offers more than just calm. It’s a chance to refine offers, tighten operations, and test ideas before peak season hits. The guests who show up now are often more intentional, more local, and more influenced by relevance than by noise.

⭐️ Review your planned content and ask, would this post/campaign/creative make sense to someone juggling a school run, inbox backlog, and tighter spend?

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❌ Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

This month’s Marketing Mistake comes from drinks giant Pepsico. In April 2025, Lipton ran an ad that led people to believe their peach tea was being discontinued, even though it wasn’t.

The result? A backlash, an ASA ruling, and a reminder that misleading your audience, even as a joke, can cost you.

Lipton’s “Rest in Peach” campaign implied its popular peach tea was being discontinued. LINK

The ad was challenged after multiple consumers believed Lipton’s peach iced tea was being discontinued and felt misled when it turned out to be a joke.

The ASA investigated the complaint and contacted Lipton for a response. Lipton explained that the advert was intended as a playful April Fools’ campaign and pointed to social media comments from users who had recognised it as a joke.

However, the ASA concluded that the presentation, combined with the timing and tone, gave a misleading impression that the product was genuinely being discontinued. The ASA ruled that the ad breached CAP Code rule 3.1, which states that marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.

In response to the ruling, Lipton confirmed that future campaigns would be more clearly signposted as jokes and more carefully timed to avoid misleading consumers.

Even light-hearted ads must not create false urgency. Hospitality brands announcing “last ever” menus, chefs leaving, or “farewell” events should ensure the facts support the claim. If you’re joking, make it unmistakable. Avoid vague humour or burying clarifications in comments.

⭐️ Remember - trust is harder to win back than it is to break.

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🎨 Creative Marketing on a Tight Budget

In September, budgets are tighter, so your marketing has to work harder with less. This means clearer messages, quicker decisions, and being smarter about what truly matters to your guests. But the glass isn’t half empty because it's been proven by Harvard Business Review that constraints don’t hold you back; they force you to be sharper and more resourceful.

Being creative doesn’t mean producing more content. In fact, volume without purpose can dilute your message and exhaust your team. Today’s algorithms prioritise engagement and dwell time, not frequency. What matters is whether your content stops the scroll, earns a share, or triggers action.

One strong post that speaks directly to your guest’s current mindset will outperform a dozen generic ones.

Not every great idea comes from data. Some of the sharpest campaign moments start with a passing comment from your team, a question from a guest, or something your staff notice before anyone else does. The people you work with every day, from cleaners and receptionists to chefs and bar staff, notice the moments guests remember and the details they discuss. Ask them. What do guests talk about? What gets photographed? What’s asked for but not on the menu? Every role has a perspective, and every voice has value.

Here’s how to tap into those insights to create authentic, compelling campaigns that truly connect with your guests. 👇