How would you market a restaurant post lockdown? Which restaurant marketing strategies would you adopt? Being part of an industry brutally impacted by Covid-19, restaurants are unlikely to get respite or recover anytime soon.
Restaurants thrive on social gatherings. and since the only way to flatten the curve is social distancing, it brought the F&B industry to its knees to say the least.
April, 2020, The Economic Times CIO
If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that I believe the right restaurant marketing strategies can help at least kickstart their revival.
As a marketer, I look forward to daunting challenges to test my marketing chops. In my previous article, I had shared strategies useful for marketing during Covid-19. They were meant for businesses in general. Now, for this article, let me temporarily join Team Restaurateurs to help figure out doable and (as far as possible) affordable restaurant marketing strategies during coronavirus.
If I Were Marketing @ A Restaurant…
Let’s begin with some background.
The restaurant industry is the 2nd largest employer of human capital in India, after agriculture. It contributes to about 2% of the GDP.
April 2020, India Today
It is filled with a variety of formats such as Dine-in, Quick Service (QSR), fine dining, fast food, takeaway, hotel restaurants, small local players, large franchised chains, lounges, bars, cloud kitchens. All of them have got affected by the coronavirus- induced lockdown.
Many restaurant chains are now mulling to shut 20-30% of their branches as they are forced to reassess business strategies………..the restaurant industry is staring at losses to the tune of about Rs 1 lakh crore during the lockdown…….As the government has released guidelines……restaurants expect an increase in hygiene and sanitation costs.
May, 2020, Financial Express
Because many people are still ordering food at home, largely through Food Service Apps (FSA) such as Zomato or Swiggy, impact on takeaway and delivery based restaurants has been comparatively less harsh than on the dine-in/ fine dining restaurants.
In the Capital, to continue making some revenue and in a bid keep customer engagement, hotel chains like the Hyatt and Hilton are offering customers the opportunity of home delivery. Both Hyatt and Hilton have partnered with Zomato and Swiggy and share their menus on WhatsApp.
April, 2020, Times Of India
After the lockdown, as the surviving restaurants reopen, they will have to keep 3 distinct expectations in mind. Even though health is another newfound interest of customers, it is not the primary expectation from a restaurant.
To create a Restaurant Marketing Playbook satisfying these 3 expectations, let’s first revisit the basics of this business.
Why do people turn to a restaurant, in the first place?
In no particular order:
- To celebrate
- For the experience
- For the ambience
- To avoid cooking at home
- For the love of food
- To catch up with friends/ family
- To break the monotonous routine
- To entertain business associates/ guests
Thus, restaurant marketing strategies and ideas given ahead are most likely to be adopted by places where people pay a decent amount for the meal, ambiance, experience i.e. the whole package. This includes fine dining places, large restaurant chains, large standalone restaurants, restaurants within hotels, etc.
Based on this background, let’s dive in.
Marketing Objective:
To create strategies that assure customers of hygiene, ensure social distancing while maintaining business goals of profit, revenue and growth.
Before we get into the unusual restaurant marketing strategies, here are some basic practices/ tactics that will be de rigueur for any restaurant, irrespective of format or size.
Standard Restaurant Marketing Strategies
- Wearing a mask- Every person on staff may have to wear a mask throughout the shift.
- Hand hygiene- Every employee may be expected to practice hand hygiene, especially before and after touching food + serving + using the washroom + coming from outside.
- Temperature checks- You may have to check the temperature of every employee at the start of the work day to ensure no one is unwell.
- Sanitization and disinfection- Restaurant premises and high touch surfaces such as door handles, tabletops, chairs, cutlery, taps, washrooms, soap/napkin dispensers, menu cards and similar others may have to be cleaned with soap AND also disinfected with approved disinfectants multiple times a day.
- Placement of sanitizers- Customers may expect a bottle of sanitizer or sanitizer dispenser at each table and common areas such as hostess stand.
- No waiting area- It may be better to remove the waiting area to prevent overcrowding.
Once these essential practices are addressed, you may move onto the unusual yet doable strategies given below to market your restaurant.
16 Unusual, Doable Restaurant Marketing Strategies and Ideas
The strategies that make up The Restaurant Marketing Playbook can be divided thus:
- Trust Building Strategies- These strategies will primarily address customer’s hygiene expectations without adversely impacting business expectations of revenue/ profits. Using these strategies will help build trust for your brand.
- Safety Enhancing Strategies- These strategies will mainly address customer’s hygiene expectations and Government’s social distancing guidelines. They will enhance the safety perception of customers.
- Revenue- Per- Customer Strategies- These strategies will focus on fulfilling Government’s social distancing guidelines without compromising on revenue per customer for the restaurant.
1. Trust Building Strategies
1. See- through kitchen
Customers will be wary and words will not suffice. They will want proof of hygiene, especially in the kitchen. Make your kitchen see- through, with a glass partition perhaps. This is more likely to make them believe your establishment’s hygiene claims.
2. More live counters
Usually, 5 star hotels have live counters in their restaurants where people can see specific dishes being made such as dosas, pastas, chaat, etc. If you cannot make your kitchen see-through, atleast try this. It is another way to reassure guests of your hygiene standards and earn their trust. Try this especially for your cold menu items such as falafels, salads, mocktails and the likes. Most people are now aware that to avoid infections, when eating out, it is better to have hot cooked food instead of cold/ raw food. So, if you cannot change your menu, at least prepare the cold food in front of the guest, proving it is safe.
3. Disposable Table Cover
Tables are one of the most touched surfaces in a restaurant. Along with cleaning and disinfecting them multiple times a day, cover them with a disposable table cover. It can be made from eco-friendly material like bamboo and it should stretch end to end. As soon as previous guests leave the table, remove the table cover and once the new guests have taken a seat, place the fresh cover on the table. This gives them visible tangible proof of hygiene consciousness.
4. Disposable cutlery or cutlery on sale
Another hygiene expectation from guests is going to be around cutlery. Most guests will be iffy about using cutlery some unknown person too used, even after it is washed. To address this hesitation, offer these guests the option of disposable cutlery or branded cutlery for purchase (spoon, knife, fork). This is akin to giving every guest the option of mineral water or regular water. Those who are particular about health and hygiene will not mind spending a little extra.
5. Spoon sleeves
An alternative to the above option, give people the option of a sleeve to hold serving spoons and other cutlery. So that even if they have unintentionally been touched by an unwell server or waiter while being carried from the kitchen, the guest is still protected. Like placing tissue boxes at tables, place a set of spoon sleeves too. Whoever wants to use, can use. Even those who are not so finicky, will appreciate the eye for detail and hygiene displayed by your restaurant.
6. Tray sleeves
For self service or quick service restaurants and food courts, supply disposable sleeves to hold trays. Usually trays are not cleaned as often because the paper mats take all spills and crumbs with them when discarded. Even if the base of the tray is comparatively clean, what about the tray handles? Hundreds would have touched them soiling them with germs/ infections. To circumvent this, along with the ordered items, place two disposable tray sleeves. Customers will be glad to not touch the handles directly.
7. Personal butler
A butler for each table. As soon as guests are seated, the butler sanitizes his hands. For the duration of the meal, the butler should not go anywhere else, not touch anything else. So guests can rest assured of his hygiene. The waiter should bring hot food from the kitchen and hand it over to the butler. The butler can use food-grade disinfectant wipes to wipe the serving spoons, bowls etc before serving, ensuring total hygiene.
8. ID card scanner for dispensing soap/sanitizer
This idea is tech intensive and perhaps expensive to implement but if done correctly, could work wonders for building trust and reputation. To prove to the guests that every person on staff unerringly maintains hand hygiene, place a digital display at a prominent place showing the percentage of your staff that sanitized/ washed their hands.
At the entrance to the kitchen, place a sanitizer dispenser that dispenses sanitizer only when ID card is scanned. So if there are 20 people working in the kitchen, if all 20 have sanitized their hand before entering the kitchen, then the digital display will state ‘100% Sanitized’. Same for anyone leaving the kitchen.
2. Safety Enhancing Strategies
9. Home catering
The extended lockdown has put people in the habit of home cooked food. You are now going to compete against this instead of other restaurants. As listed above, two of the popular reasons people go to a restaurant are for its food and to avoid cooking at home. To solve this, you could go to their home, cook your specialties in their kitchen for their small gathering of friends. This will meet all 3 expectations well. This is far better than ordering food in. The food experience will be as fresh as that at your restaurant, albeit in an environment the guest finds safe.
10. Society catering
An extension of the previous idea, offer patrons the food they crave with the safety they seek. Approach Housing Societies and gated communities to set up a restaurant night in their club house or poolside or other common area. People can pay for the chance to eat their favorite dishes from your menu, with their friends and family; all from the comfort and safety of their society.
11. DIY Kits
A popular eatery which has branches in Delhi and Mumbai, along with other Indian cities, is now delivering DIY (Do it yourself) kits at homes for their popular dishes. The kit contains pre-made items such as sauces and dips, and cut vegetables and other necessary ingredients for the dish.
May, 2020, Financial Express
Some restaurants have already started doing this. People can order these kits and have fun family time preparing the restaurant’s food themselves.
12. Digital menu cards
Replace physical menu cards with virtual ones. People can scan a QR code placed on the table to access the menu card on their phone. Menu cards are one of the most touched surfaces in a restaurant and hence, likely to carry all sorts of germs and nasties. Might as well avoid them and give the patrons peace of mind. Also saves printing, reprinting and binding costs. Gives you the freedom to update the menu as often as you want, basis local food supplies, also saving costs.
3. Revenue-per-Customer Strategies
13. Dine-in subscription plans
Offer patrons subscription plans for dining at your restaurant. But these will have a hygiene twist. Each subscription plan offers different levels of hygiene when you visit the restaurant. For instance, Plan 1 entitles you to a new, packed set of cutlery every time you go there. Plan 2 entitles you to a new, packed set of cutlery + new serving spoons + new table cover. Plan 3 offers everything in Plan 2 + personal butler + fresh chair covers + sterilizer at the table.
You can, of course, create any number of plans as per your comfort. If you own a truly high end restaurant, one of your subscription plans could offer robot waiters instead of human waiters OR a reservation within a special section of your restaurant that is serviced by conveyor belt (fewer human hands touching the fresh hot food).
14. Subscription box
Start a subscription box service. Every week, subscribers get 1 recipe box from your menu with the all ingredients and a recipe card. They also get an option to chat with the chef if they get stuck or have doubts. So every week, they enjoy restaurant type food from the safety of their home.
15. Elevated tables
As per Government guidelines on social distancing, restaurants may have to reduce the number of tables so as to space them out. An alternate solution could be placing alternate tables on a platform, thus elevating it and indirectly increasing the distance between adjacent tables.
16. Virtual entertainment package
For many restaurants such as Craft Bar in Mumbai, the biggest draw is their live entertainment night. Usually, live entertainment nights are so popular that there is standing room only. In the AC Era (After Coronavirus), try transforming these live entertainment nights to packages.
Whoever missed out on table reservations, can purchase the entertainment package by paying online. You Whatsapp the menu to them. Home deliver the ordered dishes before the entertainment begins. Give a password for tuning into live entertainment. They can tune into the entertainment while enjoying your delivered meal. They can also send requests for songs during the live virtual show. This can be as close to the real experience as possible while meeting social distancing, hygiene and business expectations.
That’s it, folks! On a rating scale, which do they think will be the most successful versus least successful?
To get a handy list of the strategies mentioned above, head here.