As worldwide COVID-19 warriors work round-the-clock to curb the spread of this virus and lower the mounting fear among people, restaurants have found themselves on the other side of this global lockdown.
As a restaurant owner, you need to prioritise the safety and health of your employees as well as the customers.
However, after creating a safer environment, you need to be both creative and proactive to keep your business afloat while observing social distancing as the new normal.
During this time of uncertainty, use the situation to your advantage and reinforce your relationship with the customers. After all, they are the ones who have been there from the very beginning and will ensure that your business is up and running when this pandemic comes to an end!
In this article, we have put together some promotional strategies that you can implement as a part of your restaurant marketing campaign to drive more revenue during the pandemic.
Focus More on Marketing Your Business
If you want to have a steady flow of foot traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic, come up with innovative marketing ideas that can grab the attention of your customers. Here’s what you can do:
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Endorse Holiday Events
Although diners might not come to your restaurant as frequently as they used to because of the social distancing norms, they could still meet for memorable events like Mother’s Day, Graduation celebrations, Easter, etc.
This makes it crucial for you to promote your restaurant as a hygienic environment. If you are able to assure your customers that you are a safe place, they will certainly visit you, though not for a dine-in at least for take-away.
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Create Appealing Social Media Campaigns
Use your social media accounts to keep your followers updated about the changes you are implementing to break the chain of this virus. Ensure that your existing customers know about the sanitisation efforts you are taking to create a safe place.
You can partner with a graphic design or creative marketing agency to come up with innovative and highly captivating social media campaigns to give a boost to your restaurant marketing efforts
Support Take-Away Dining & Home Delivery
It is not possible for every restaurant to be open during these uncertain times. However, you can open up a drive-through restaurant instead of offering your fine-dining services.
Prepare different versions of food and make them available for your customers through home delivery and takeaway dining.
Come Up with Innovative Ideas for Delivery & Promotions as a Part of Your Restaurant Marketing Campaign
As the odds of your restaurant experiencing reduced foot traffic is high, here we have mentioned some ideas that can help you drive more customers for takeaway dining, if not for dine-in.
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Create Weekly Prix Fixe
Work with local delivery businesses to create weekly prix fixe and offer them to your customers. You can get creative with these promotions – create mock passports and ask your consumers to get a stamp every time they order food from you. As of now, this is the only way they can enjoy the experience of travelling.
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Offer Special Work from Home Lunch
With the people in your locality experiencing cabin fever the entire day, you can transform the restaurant into a completely sanitised co-working space offering special work from home lunch for customers.
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Add a Drink to Your Take-Away Menu
At times, a burger is just not enough! Perhaps, you can offer an add-on drink like beer or any other beverage to go with it. Along with the drink, you can distribute promotional beer mats as they are an excellent way to improve your brand image and awareness among customers.
Find out more about custom beer mat printers and how they can help promote your business.
Offer Gift Vouchers As a Part of Restaurant Marketing
Provide your customers with gift vouchers every time they order food from you, as that will help them plan for future dinners. If you aren’t offering gift vouchers, you can sell gift cards for weekly prix fixe with a validity of 18 months.
All you have to do is, be creative and grab the attention of your loyal customers so that they can help you boost your business growth.
Create Personalised Promotional Strategies
Engaging with your regular customers is going to be quite a challenge during this pandemic.
These people are the ones who already believe that they belong to your community. Moreover, you have a detailed understanding of their preferences and can cater to their requirements in a better way.
Send across personalised emails, texts, letters, or calls to tell them that you’re open and have a safer environment. If they visit, offer customised service and customer experience.
The Bottom Line
We are going through an unprecedented global crisis. However, you need to use this situation as the best opportunity to reinforce your relationship with your customers. You are in the business of offering an exceptional experience – human connections that go beyond finance and food.
This is a period of uncertainty which deprives us all of one thing that can keep us going – each other. Your business can be that place that helps them bring back that sense of connection!
