For anyone who works in the restaurant industry, this past week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. You’ve gone from pressured, to panicked, to shocked, to letting reality sink in. And unfortunately, the reality of today’s current hospitality climate is that the restaurant industry is in BIG trouble.
The casual consumer may be sitting at home right now thinking, “Wow, these chains must be killing it in delivery right now.” The reality is, before coronavirus, most brands were lucky to average 11-19% in delivery and To Go ordering. With dining rooms completely closed, restaurants are not even coming close to closing the sales gap.
The casual consumer may be sitting at home thinking, “Well at least my favorite fast food restaurant is
safe.” The reality is, the initial numbers show they are hurting just as bad if not worse in some cases. This situation, unlike the virus, targets everyone without prejudice or precondition.
The casual consumer may be sitting at home thinking, “Once this is all over, restaurants will come back stronger than ever!” The reality is, no one knows. All we can do is look at the facts:
- Behind the U.S. government, the restaurant industry is the largest employer in the U.S.
- The U.S. has 600,000 unique restaurant brands – many will not survive this much longer.
- As soon as 3/17 major brands began to completely shut their doors.
- If this lasts much longer, most brands will close and completely lay off hourly and salaried employees.
As of today (3/23) we are down to 6 states without dine-in limits or closures.
The casual consumer may be sitting at home thinking, “At least I’m doing my part by supporting my local mom and pop restaurant.” The reality is, those shops are quickly going into debt. They have to look staff members in the eyes who have worked with them for decades and make a choice – do I close now or do I fight? Most are choosing to fight but that fight won’t last long without your help.
Time for some good news! There are brands that are not only surviving today’s crisis but thriving. Small box brands that have already trained guests to think of them for delivery over dine-in.
So how does your brand shift on a dime and learn from these delivery leaders?
By this point, you’ve pushed all your marketing and messaging to social and digital and that was the smart play.
However, if you’re not:
- Pushing a paid budget behind your social posts AND
- Targeting those who live near your restaurants (by location) AND
- Directly messaging to those most likely to order DELIVERY, ONLINE, or CARRYOUT
YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME
Find someone to help you target your posts during this crisis with pinpoint accuracy immediately.
Someone to build audiences that message directly to:
- Guests who have ordered online from your brand
- Guests who have ordered 3rd party from your brand
- Guests who have searched online for your brand
- Guests who are in your eclub
- Look-a-like audiences who are likely to order online from your brand
- Personalized messaging down to local store location pages
If this sounds like something you need help with, we’re here. Email howdy@norton-creative.com to find out how.
THE KITCHEN SINK 