A UK Restaurant Marketing Agency Will Cook Up A Storm During And After COVID-19
It’s one of life’s great pleasures. Going out for a meal with friends, family and everyone in-between. Unfortunately, thanks to a whole host of reasons, it’s much more difficult to bring business through your restaurant’s doors than in previous years. The increased competition, squeeze on disposable income and the dreaded Coronavirus all mean that 2020 has hit the restaurant industry like a frying pan in the face. But. There’s still hope, the challenges facing the industry are by no means insurmountable. The team here at VerriBerri, a major UK restaurant marketing agency, wanted to explain ways in which you can endure, and subsequently thrive after the pandemic.
Riding The COVID-19 Wave
It’s very easy, given the current state of affairs, to have a fairly glib outlook on things. Businesses are closing left, right and centre, and this trend shows no real sign of slowing down. The mass uncertainty surrounding businesses in every sector has already led to an economic slowdown; and a recession is by no means off the cards. The first step in getting through this is accepting that you’re going to take at least a bit of a hit. It’s all too easy to make rash, kneejerk decisions in such unprecedented times, but in reality, this helps nobody. It certainly doesn’t help you or your business. A day or two to lick your wounds is understandable, but after that? Start taking proactive steps to ensure the future of your restaurant business. It’s much easier to take these steps with the help of a UK restaurant marketing agency.
So, how do you market yourself and your restaurant during these testing times? As a business that revolves around people coming through your doors, the absence of that means you need to focus on staying relevant. Ensuring strong brand exposure and awareness during this time is essential. This means a couple of things. Firstly, it means placing a stronger focus on growing your social media channels.
During the pandemic, people are going to be even more glued to their scrolling rectangles of blue light – that’s phones to you and me – than ever before. Spending more time engaging with followers, creating bespoke, personable content and offering valuable industry insights are all vital. A UK restaurant marketing agency will be able to use its in-house team of social media specialists to undertake these tasks.
Secondly, search engine optimisation (SEO). As a restaurant business, you’re going to have more time on your hands during the outbreak. Use this time wisely. Go into the back-end of your website and start optimising content. In this way, you’ll either climb or maintain a high position within SERPs. Optimisation includes using key phrases you want to rank for, compressing images, adding meta descriptions and removing any broken links. You don’t have to be a tech wizard to carry out simple SEO tasks; it’s often the simplest SEO activities that reap the biggest rewards in terms of your site’s SEO value. You may like to undertake a more comprehensive SEO audit and overhaul of you site, however. If so, then a UK restaurant marketing agency will be able to carry this out for you.
The Sun Always Shines After The Storm
This isn’t the first pandemic the world has seen, and nor will it be the last. If you can keep your business going through the Coronavirus scare, then you’ll be in a great position to bounce back even stronger. Post-pandemic, pick up on PR. Food & drink magazines will be itching to get their hands on articles once the trade starts to gather pace again. Securing coverage in leading publications is an integral part of rebuilding post-outbreak.
The anxiety and twitchiness that many people will develop during this period will be significant. There’s a good chance, therefore, that they may only trust the real industry heavy-hitters. A UK restaurant marketing agency have seasoned PR veterans working amongst their ranks. True stalwarts of the pitching game. Pitching to journalists is a fine art; they run to an incredibly tight schedule and don’t suffer fools gladly. This is by no means a slight on the media world, more a reflection of the kind of pressure that they work under. An in-house PR team is less likely to understand the communicative nuances required to make any headway with these journalists. A UK restaurant marketing agency will.
People are going to want to eat out more. As soon as the guidance, curfews and rules are lifted when the virus passes, people will rush to eateries in their droves. After potentially months indoors eating nothing but Mum’s overcooked chilli con carne, it doesn’t take a genius to work out where people are going to want to go. With that in mind, you’ll already have a head start on other sectors.
Which Marketing Methodology Suits Your Restaurant
Using the right marketing strategy for your restaurant or chain of restaurants is vital. Many UK restaurant marketing agencies make the mistake in thinking that if they throw enough money at paid advertising, your restaurant brand will start to get going. Pay-per-click advertising does have a place within many a marketing strategy, but in our view, it’s a more minimal one than perhaps it was in the past. Most restaurants will benefit from a more big-picture approach to their marketing strategies. Furrowing your efforts into multiple marketing avenues is a good way of ensuring success across all bases. Another happy coincidence of adopting this strategy, is that should one marketing area falter for any reason, then you’ve got backups in other areas.
Whatever the global situation, people will always need to eat. It’s one of those facts of life; people will be born; people will die and most of all, people will always crave a creamy carbonara with a side of garlic flatbread. So, if you’d like to find out more about VerriBerri, a top UK restaurant marketing agency, then click here to get in touch!