The Coronavirus has hit the Restaurant industry hard and fast. As people were ordered to stay home, they inherently stopped dining out. Still, restaurants have fixed costs. High overhead expenses can really destroy a local business without sufficient income. That’s why it’s important for restaurants to have a steady flow of customers.
By now, you’ve hopefully let your customers know you’re still open for delivery and pick-up. If not, you need to do it now. Announce it publicly on your online business listings like Google and Yelp, and your social media – even if you don’t have a massive following. This is the very least you can do in your fight to stay open.
In this post, we will be going over what you can do to increase your customer visibility offline and online. You’ll want to share this with any restaurant owners you know.
Coronavirus Marketing Strategies for Restaurants
Before we get into how to deliver your marketing messaging, we should talk about the actual strategies of marketing your restaurant during the Coronavirus pandemic. Now is the time to get creative to intice customers based on the essential needs of the current situation.
Contactless Everything
The term “no contact” is becoming a precursor to any message restaurants are putting out customers. People are nervous about COVID-19 germs and potentially coming in contact with them. That means the more you can reassure your customer of the precautions your restaurant is taking to keep them safe, the more comfortable they will be ordering food from you.
Promote “No Contact” delivery and curbside pick-up so that your customers know that you are limiting your interaction with them. You really shouldn’t be handling cash transactions at this time. Cash is already a known vehicle for germs, and is even more so now. Accept credit card payments over the phone. Yes, there will be nominal transaction fees, but you need to accept that as an essential cost of doing business in a COVID-19 climate.
