9 TIPSA DIGITAL MARKETING GUIDE

FOR RESTAURANTS AND CAFÈSTO HELP NAVIGATE C VID-19

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What’s your online marketing like currently? Are you starting from scratch with taking your restaurant online or have you already invested in digital channels?

Are you collecting subscribers using email marketing? If you’re not, this is your cue. Forget the “email marketing is dead” quotes. Email is the longest running marketing channel that continues to steadily show the highest ROI. It’s the only channel where you can nurture one-on-one customer relationships without depending on a third-party (like Facebook’s algorithm).

It’s advisable to be present on many different social media channels to expand your reach, but make sure to ultimately get people on your list. Hosting a give-away on social media? Ask people to subscribe to your list. Publishing content on YouTube? Ask people to sign up at the end of each video. Grab the readers’ attention via social and then maintain the relationship via email.

There are many best practices for running email marketing as a restaurant owner, but the most important one is to send valuable content. Each campaign should benefit the reader. Many companies have upped their email deliveries since COVID-19, causing frustration with customers as their inboxes slowly pile up, so ensure that your content is relevant. Plan your email strategy and use this time to connect and establish customer relationships, so you’ll have new loyal customers by the time you open your doors again.

Whatever measurements you’ve decided to implement to navigate your business through the effects of COVID-19, prioritise making it easy for customers to find this information online.

Update the homepage of your website and clearly display the announcement. A pop-up helps to catch the reader’s attention. Do this for social media and any other channel where your customers can find you as well.

If you have a Google My Business, a Zomato business account or Yelp profile, update your opening hours here too. Each business has their own way of handling COVID-19, so it’s beneficial when people can easily find how you’ve adapted.

Apart from communicating updates, you should also clearly state what action people need to take. Are you offering delivery? Add a button that says “Order online” or a bold text saying “Call 0900-1234 to order”. The same goes for social media-related CTAs. You might plan to be more active on social media with live videos. Announce this on your website and motivate people to find and follow you on these channels.

If you’re starting from scratch, get into it! Google some digital starter guides for the marketing channel you’d like to start with and start preparing. Alternatively, resources like Google Academy offer a range of analytics and advertising beginner courses to help you set up any online promotions effectively.

Homemade nut butter? Marmalade? Meal kits? Merchandise such as T-shirts or cooking aprons? Is there anything that’s on your menu that you could turn into a product to sell online? Look around in your kitchen and brainstorm ideas that are shippable.

Now is also an ideal time to invest in SEO. Are there keywords that you haven’t covered on your website that could give you more exposure? Craft blog articles around these keywords or optimize your website content. Things like engagement, how much your restaurant is loved locally and video are all important SEO factors. You can read more about the 2020 SEO trends in this article.

On the technical side, your site’s speed is also important for a better ranking. To get started, dive into these 34 ways to improve your SEO ranking.

If you currently have campaigns running, it’s important to evaluate this content. Are your ads up to date? Do they need to be paused or are they still relevant? Check the content of your email campaigns too. You might have automatic workflows activated or scheduled campaigns. See if you need to make adjustments or pause campaigns.

EVALUATE CURRENT ONLINE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

7 START OR STRENGTHEN YOUR EMAIL LIST

You might not be able to physically serve food, but what other ways are there to connect with your customers? In today’s day and age, the answer is many ways! You have your chef, you have your restaurant, so why not use these resources to be creative?

To gain a new audience, you can explore the art of video creation. Many businesses use this time to create online video content to post on their YouTube channel, Instagram stories, Facebook live or IG live.

You can host virtual cooking classes, seminars about wine, chocolate or coffee, or different series on how to prepare the best [insert food here]. This way, you’re bringing the food into people’s homes while also creating a very strong brand image. For inspiration, check out these chefs that host virtual cooking classes.

If you enjoy creating this content, you can even take it one step further by offering your videos as a course. We’re seeing spikes in the popularity of online courses, and rightfully so. Many people are learning new skills via platforms like Skillshare, Coursera and Udemy. Offering video courses through these platforms are a good way to monetize your online content.

The beauty of online video content is that you can attract a large audience. Surely not all viewers will be able to physically visit your restaurant when you reopen, but they can use word of mouth to promote your business, or buy from your online shop.

https://marketing4restaurants.com/133-the-coronavirus-covid-19-survival-guide-for-your-restaurant/

https://blogs.constantcontact.com/marketing-tips-for-restaurants-covid-19-crisis/

https://www.worldinnovators.com/blog/marketing-your-restaurant-during-covid-19

https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/restaurant-marketing-during-coronavirus/

https://planetmarketing.com/blog/marketing-for-restaurant-owners-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/

https://www.qsrweb.com/articles/is-your-restaurant-speaking-the-covid-19-era-customers-language/

https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/restaurant-marketing-in-the-coronavirus-era/

https://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/how-to-navigate-your-digital-marketing-presence-during-covid-19-02295826

https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/covid-19-consumer-behaviour-plus-b2b/

https://gdrgroup.com.au/evolve-business-and-digital-innovation-during-covid-19/

https://www.cmo.com.au/article/672262/brands-pull-together-assist-covid-19-pandemic/

https://www.afr.com/technology/techies-working-non-stop-to-help-restaurants-and-cafes-go-digital-20200319-p54bxj

https://www.livingonline.com.au/blog/ecommerce-direct-to-consumer-covid19-guide/

9 HOST ONLINE COOKING CLASSES

3 TURN YOUR MENU INTO GOODS

5 WRITE VALUABLE CONTENT TO RANK BETTER

CLEARLY ANNOUNCE UPDATES TO CUSTOMERS

8Many people keep going to the same bars and restaurants not solely because the food is so amazing, but also because of the atmosphere and experience. With social engagement, you can offer that experience online as well.

Social media is a great way to engage and connect. You can directly chat with customers, ask questions and use interactive tools to create fun content. You can host giveaways, cooking talent shows, quizzes, classes, interviews, behind the scenes content—you name it!

If you don’t know what to offer, ask your customers what they struggle with. It might be coming up with new recipes or cooking for a family at home. An Instagram story can easily become interactive with the question widget.

This is also the time to explore new social channels if you’ve already invested in the classic ones. To reach a younger audience, you could potentially explore booming platforms like TikTok. Your restaurant can even gain online fame if you do it right, like these Australian companies are doing. Ultimately your message needs to be relevant to the audience and the platform.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

With platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify or OpenCart you can set up an e-commerce and integrate it with your website. This makes it easy to process online orders, after which you only need to ship the products to customers.

4OFFER ONLINE GIFT CARDS

6RUN PAID ADS TO ATTRACT A NEW AUDIENCE

Your loyal customers will be more than happy to support you through these challenging times. By offering gift cards, people can make a purchase now and enjoy your food later.

It’s best to be flexible with the amounts or think of a strategy that works for your business beforehand. Smaller amount vouchers are a low-barrier purchase and make great gifts. Bigger amounts are attractive because you can work with freebies. For example, a $100 voucher might include a free dessert and a $200 voucher can come with two glasses of wine.

Make the gift vouchers easy to purchase online. There are many different apps that make this possible, such as Gift Up!, Timely, and most e-commerce platforms like Shopify.

Depending on what you offer, it could still make sense to invest in paid campaigns. If you’re selling online products or vouchers, you can boost website traffic with targeted paid ads. On both Google and social media you can locate specific audiences that will most likely be interested in your ads. This can be anything from location to gender, age and interests.

Each platform comes with its own best practices for paid campaigns, but when done right can attract new visitors easily and quickly.

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Like many restaurant and cafe owners are experiencing, we’ve entered an entirely new chapter of how we run our businesses. This time challenges us to rethink our strategies

and find innovative ways to cater to customer’s needs. You might not be able to physically serve your customers anymore, but there are ways to keep your business

going. Namely, through online marketing.

The online sphere might feel unknown to you, but now is the time to dive in and get creative. In this digital marketing guide for restaurants and cafes, we’ll show actionable

points to take your business online and help you successfully navigate COVID-19.