By Shawn Mack, Contributor
We all know that the COVID-19 has amazingly altered how the world works and how restaurants run their business. Some temporary closures turned permanent and on-premise dining has been overtaken by delivery, drive-thru, and carryout. Unemployment are at highs we haven’t seen in decades, meaning there’s less consumer cash flowing to restaurants that are still open for business.
And while the cards aren’t stacked well for the restaurant industry, operators have continued to show their business brilliance and ingenuity through the pandemic. Restaurants that have continued to survive in the current landscape have made fantastic adaptions to their business – everything from their operations to their marketing efforts. And they’re efforts and ideas that we think would be good to continue during this new surge of COVID cases and well after this nightmare is over.
Teach Social Followers, Guests How to Cook Through Cooking Videos
Lockdown has got all of us stuck at home. From education to businesses, everything is happening through the internet, meaning the majority of people spend their time on social media applications like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc. That means that’s where your restaurant needs to be if you want to get eyes on your business.
The Kimchi Korea House of Toronto, for example, shares quick Korean food cooking tutorials through their Instagram starring Mamma Lee, one of the restaurant’s owners. Their Instagram, which has over 5,000 followers, has a slew of videos that are a mix of how-tos, behind-the-scenes, and life in their kitchen. Its fun and engaging content that gives the business a face and personality for follows to associate with.
Your restaurant can also tap into this same energy and marketing strategy by uploading videos on your social media platforms. And this is a trend we think would make for solid online marketing well after the COVID crisis is over.
People who love dining out at restaurants will definitely love if their favorite restaurants come up with videos on how they cook some of their special dishes. You can post complete cooking videos of your most popular dishes or, if you don’t want to give away your grand secrets, your favorite meals to make at-home or some basic cooking 101 theory and techniques.
These videos will not only help build interest in your restaurant but will keep people checking your accounts regularly, increasing the likelihood of seeing your other marketing campaigns and offers.
Sell ‘Take & Make’ Meal Kits
Another excellent and innovative restaurant marketing strategy that has come out of the pandemic is creating and selling meal kits to supplement restaurants already existing delivery options. These kits can vary in size and meals – everything from a single person to a multi-person family -- and include everything someone needs to make tasty home-cooked meals, including the ingredients, instructions on how to prep and cook each meal.
Meals in the kits can include home-versions of your signature dishes or just easy-to-make meals to help alleviating the stress of people staying home 24/7. The ingredients should include a wide range of locally sourced produce, meats, cheeses, edibles items, and other goods that will make for healthy and tasty meals.
Such Take & Make meal kits are beneficial for both restaurants and families. For restaurants, you save plenty of their time and wastage of cooked food. For families, they can enjoy a mesmerizing experience at the comfort of their home without having to stress about what they need to buy from the grocery store.
Introduce Exciting Bonus Offers & Loyalty Programs
Who does not love their favorite food at excellent discounts, especially during harsh economic times? At the same time, you don’t want to lose out on revenue by vastly underpricing your meals. You can split the difference by introducing loyalty programs. This way, your guests get sweet discounts and special offers, but only after providing your restaurant with a certain level of business.
For example: you can create rewards for special orders or orders above a specific price such as getting 20% off their bill and free delivery on all orders over $50. Or, you can offer discounts or free apps/sides after a guest orders from you X amount of times. There are myriad ways of going about this; it just takes some number crunching and some thought.
And while not exactly new or innovative, loyalty programs might be the key to making it through the pandemic by giving some relief to guests while providing you with repeat business.
Final Thoughts
Restaurants are all about making people feel amazing with tasty meals and great experiences. Even during this pandemic, the customers expect (and need) the same from their favorite restaurants. Nonetheless, the process of serving guests is different. However, the aim, target, and mission of your restaurant should remain the same.
About the Author
Shawn Mack is a content writer who offers ghostwriting, copy-writing, and blogging services. His educational background in business and technical field has given him a broad base from which to approach many topics. He is also fond of writing interesting blogs on technology & digital marketing related topics.