These past few months, a lot of restaurants have had to change the way they do business due to COVID-19. To survive the pandemic, many foodservice establishments needed adjust their hours, their menu, and how they service their customers. All of these changes can make advertising difficult – how do you know what to promote when the industry is constantly in flux?
Thankfully, online promoting offers the flexibility needed to address many of these issues:
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- Make sure customers know when you’re open and what services you are offering – You want your customers to know exactly what’s going on with you. Is your dining room open? Are you offering delivery? Do you have a website where people can order online? Having a business page on Google, Yelp, Bing, etc. allows you to communicate this information in a way that most customers will be able to easily find.
- Create a social media presence – Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are another great option for keeping your customers in the know. You can post daily updates that will keep your restaurant top of mind when customers are looking for somewhere to grab a bite – these updates are especially helpful if your hours or menu differs from day-to-day or week to week. You can also chat with customers who have questions about your establishment.
- Interact with your customer base using social media platforms – Posting on your own social media business page is helpful for your current customer base, since once someone interacts with your page, your posts are more likely to show up again. But, if you want to spread the word about your great pork tenderloin and nachos, you will have to take things one step further. If you can get customers to share your posts or tag your restaurant in a post of their own, their social media friends will learn about you too!
- Show off your delicious food with online promoting – Take pictures or videos of your food and share them! Show people exactly what they are missing by not coming to your establishment. The right picture can make your mouth water, which means customers will be stopping by or ordering online to see if your food tastes as good as it looks.
