Top 7 Tactics Restaurant Owners Use to Drive Traffic After Reopening
The world is reopening and even with only 50% or limited capacity in some states, restaurants need to fill seats. Here are 7 tips on how to drive that traffic and get customers comfortable with dining out, once again.
1. Table Tents
Promote your sanitizing and cleaning practices, as well as assure consumers of your staff’s health.
2. Bounce Back Coupons
Include in-restaurant dining coupons in all your takeaway packages. Have various date ranges for usage to ensure it maximizes quiet days and encourages dining sooner than later. Remember, this is a new world. Some consumers will target the slowest traditional restaurant days to go out. They will prefer to have limited exposure. Others, will be ready for the Friday night escape.
3. Geofencing
Using geofencing techniques will surely help place ads where they need to be. Target audiences at any location that would be considered elective and recreational. This will ensure you are reaching people already comfortable with the thought of returning to their everyday lives. You can use this as a great tactic to reach diners of other restaurants. Win new customers if the competition hasn’t reopened, yet.
4. Signage
It’s simple to say, but signage goes a long way. People have been bored and they have been driving around. Be sure to show off your open status with great signage. Promote more than just open on your signs. Give instructions on how the restaurant is working, hours, staffing levels, practices, etc.
5. Direct Mail
It may sound like a grand opening tactic, but it’s far more than that. With EDDM you can hit entire neighborhoods with direct mail at the lowest postage rate available. Be sure to get the word out. There will be several patrons displaced by restaurants that are either closed for good or simply not reopened. Capture new marketshare. And, don’t be shy about sending your loyalty program participants direct mail. The email box is blocked, filtered, overloaded… so direct mail wins the eyeballs.
6. Email & Social
Of course, email and social posts are still a great go to. If you’ve been successful at building your following, then you’re in great shape to win back your loyal customers. Get the word out, and don’t be shy about over communicating. Offers will only go so far in this environment, but they still move the needle a bit. Think about investing in winning back your loyal customers as if you were spending to win a new customer. Unfortunately, they’ll need that much attention. Pictures will go a long way to making customers feel welcome and seeing the safety practices.
7. Loyalty Program Activations
You should have a great loyalty program where you’ve been able to data mine more information on your customers. If you have this data - use it. This is the time to breakout segmented campaigns. Target an older at risk population for a designated dining night with low capacity. Let them know your seating practice for first use and perhaps only second use in an evening. This limited table usage will create comfort.
There are many more tactics to use. Our team is here to help. If you have questions, need help with graphics and creative work, or simply need to execute those print orders quickly - give us a call.
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