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Is your restaurant speaking the COVID-19-era customer's language?

The seismic shift that COVID-19 has put on everything about restaurant "life as usual" demands an equally substantial shift in marketing and communication strategy. Here is what a few of the experts say restaurant operators can do now.

Restaurant customers have been changed by COVID-19. Is your brand still speaking their language? (photo: iStock)

March 20, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Restaurateurs nationwide scanning reports of plummeting sales might find it tough to believe, but some of the top marketing and digital communication minds say there still are some business opportunities to be had in our COVID-19-impaired world. Now is the time to build bonds with the community, position brands as solid advocates for the customers living and working around them, and above all, grow connections via website, app and other online channels to keep orders coming in and good vibes going out. 

The examples are everywhere you turn, regardless of brand size or operational model, as we told you about earlier this week, with initiatives to feed frontline medical personnel at one brand, or give free meals to kids that receive free lunch at now-closed schools.  

But that's just the beginning of what the marketing experts we talked with said should be the kinds of programs and activities all brands should be planning and doing even amidst pandemic restraints on business, in order to keep customers connected and buying, regardless of the way the food is delivered or retrieved. And the best route to  build those connections right now is via social media, according to Columbus, Ohio-based restaurant digital marketing company, Belle Communication, and its CEO Kate Finley. 

"Now, is the time for social listening and proactive engagement," Finley told this website when asked for her advice for brands. "Devote time to proactively connecting with consumers. Pay attention to what's important to your audience right now. Do you have something of value to offer them in that moment? This is your chance to jump in and offer a solution.

"This goes beyond your followers and answering comments you receive. Monitor conversations that aren't mentioning your brand and look for opportunities to make connections."

New York City-based Four Corners Communications President Drew Kerr also emphasized the invaluable nature of social media to brand strategy development at this time as a means to gauge consumer moods and needs before forming an action plan for your brand. 

Four Corners Communications President Drew Kerr (photo provided).

"Consumers are afraid to go out, so they are likely canvassing their social media much more than usual," he told this website. "They are looking for the familiar things that make them feel good inside before everything turned upside down. Dining out, ordering in and delivery are big parts of that, so you have to let everybody know that during these stressful times, everything is safe, delicious, fun, and that there are real people working to make them happy."

Initial data around social media use bears out what these two marketers are saying around increased use and even dependence on social media by consumers. Just look at these findings from a survey of consumers by social media content provider, Izea, which found that when consumers are confined to their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

• 76% of purchase decision-makers said they order restaurant food delivery online, .
• 64% of consumers expect their usage of YouTube to increase.
• 63% expect their usage of Facebook to increase.

Nostalgia, reliability key to brand strategy now

Yes, COVID-19 is a terrible virus that has sickened and killed many. And just as true as that sad fact is, is the other reality: We've all had to —  almost overnight — change everything about the way we live in the global effort to tame this virus's toll. That kind of sudden change is sending many consumers to seek assurance in any form they can get, that life will return to normal some day. But Finley and Kerr, advise special caution here in the way you talk to your customers. 

"Be sensitive to your consumers' headspace and appeal to how people are feeling," Finley said. "With routines severely disrupted, people want comfort, safety and nostalgia. Think about how this translates to what they are eating, and therefore, what you should be promoting. … Avoid being humorous or dismissive about the coronavirus. The risk is far greater than any potential reward. Many brands have gone this route with significant backlash."

Most of all, she stressed the importance of engaging with diners and potential diners, even if you can "reach out and touch them" these days physically. Do so "virtually" instead through all other online and additional means. But she said to be sure you also adjust what you do and say through your menu and communication to the mood of this very unpredictable moment.

"Humanize your brand," she advised. "People want community and connection more than ever. Lean into your community ties, whether or not you are locally owned. Utilize video — again, people want connection! 

"Don't limit yourself to self-promotion. What can you offer people who are at home? Can you challenge them to complete a list of activities? Livestream a pizza party? Host virtual lunchtime hangouts? … Think about yourself as a consumer — when you're at home scrolling, what do you want to see on social media? This will help you think like a content creator, not a QSR or restaurant brand."

At Addison, Texas-based restaurant company Champion Management, Senior Vice President of Media Relations Jami Sharp agreed that getting that COVID-19 consumer mindset can help brands — even in these difficult conditions — build a bond that has a very human voice that will last through quarantines. 

"Now is the time to actually ramp up communication to fans who are stuck at home and looking for ways to engage," Sharp told this website. "Brands that take this opportunity to tighten the bond will come out of quarantine with an expanded fan base and an even more loyal following. Social media and digital marketing are both great opportunities to differentiate. …

"The change in work and family dynamics is actually an opportunity for brands to emphasize their kid-friendly menu items. Why not create a special menu that is aimed at this new 'learning from home' environment?  Ask your fans to post photos of their new 'school lunch' program and create a fun hashtag like #NewSchoolLunch."

More than any other food-oriented business, restaurant brands reign supreme in the area of speaking through food and hospitality. That's why Finley urged brands to use that expertise to build or modify current menu offerings now to to meet the customers where they're at in both the need for comfort and something to do while locked at home. 

As an example, she called our attention to one Westerville, Ohio brand that although not a Belle Communication client, had a great idea for folks at home with kids that they posted on their Facebook account. 

Antonio's Pizza in Westerville, Ohio posted this offer on their Facebook page (via Facebook).

Other brands are also beginning this process, like Rave Restaurant Group's Pizza Inn, which has a huge following of customers for its pizza buffet under normal conditions. So the brand has morphed the buffet into something suited for carryout to meet their customers' needs now. 

"We're creatively rethinking how to bring that variety to our guests with a Buffet To Go option," said Rave Restaurant Group CEO Brandon Solano in a response to a question about the promotion from this website. "We're a 61-year-old brand, but we're reinventing how our guests can experience their favorite options in a new reality. Anyone can do carryout pizza, but we're offering our guests options, choice and variety in a completely new way.  

"Consumers are in a different mindset now, so we're focusing on messaging through digital and social channels to reach them where they are. We're a strong legacy brand, but we've become incredibly nimble to adapt to this new reality."

Similarly, at the 21-store Arizona chain, Fired Pie, the brand is building a whole "eat-at-home" promotion around that traditional Italian rolled recipe for rotilo. 

"With restaurants closing all around the country, Fired Pie wants to help those with lunch and dinner plans during the COVID-19 outbreak," the brand said in a media pitch for its new campaign. "Fired Pie is offering a special date night deal of their four-piece rotoli and two pizzas (or salads) for just $20 … for online ordering pickup only."

A sincere, compassionate voice

For companies like Belle Communication — with clients across the restaurant space, including Shake Shack, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream and others — many brand leaders are asking about their voice and persona in the current crisis, and how their brands should be speaking to that often-frightening monster known as the media, as well as concerned customers. 

"Our clients are coming to us for everything from short-term, scenario-based crisis planning to messaging support for internal and external communications and content recommendations for connecting with consumers during this period of uncertainty," Finley said, adding that some of her best advice may be to speak from the brand as you would want to be spoken to as one of its diners.

She said that idea can also guide the social media campaigns and even contests that brands might create in this period: In essence, you need to think about whether your campaigns pass the situational appropriateness test in the reality of COVID-19. She advised that even as the state of our world seems to be changing hourly in dramatic ways, brands need to continue to take a step back and ask, "Is my brand relevant right now?"

(Logo provided)

"In a crisis of this magnitude, your role is not to provide all the solutions, and no one expects you to do so," Finley said. "What they do expect is that you communicate transparently, use your resources responsibly and act in the best interest of the community."

In fact, a New York-based submarine sandwich chain's latest promotion serves as an example of this. The promotion, which launched Wednesday across the 44-store Rochester, New York-based DiBella's Sub, slices prices in half on orders for first responders, healthcare workers and active military, while donating half the proceeds of restaurant sales for other diners to food banks and waiving $15-plus order delivery fees, as many brands have done this week. 

"Our primary goals are to do all that we can right now for our communities, for our employees, and those who need us the most who are working hard to keep us all safe," said DiBella's Subs President Peter Fox. "We have to band together and take care of each other. We may not have profitable sales with these initiatives, but it will help us to continue to do as much as we can to employ our team so they can come to work every day and also have the satisfaction of helping others."

On that note, Four Corners' Drew Kerr also said that now may be an especially opportune time for brands to gain free media through the offering of sensitive stories about the many very human elements of the current pandemic situation. He advised "showing consumers who the people are on the front lines of takeout and delivery."

"Brands should pitch the media stories about the great team members who are running deliveries, what they are doing together to make it all work, and who they are as people. … If brands push out the human interest side of their business, the odds are very good you'll get the right kind of media coverage," he said. "Everybody makes corporate statements, and they're just one line in a news story, and not on the radars of customers. But if you pitch stories and use social media to let the public know exactly who is putting their food together at a really difficult time, it will appeal to everybody's emotional senses of pride and support."

More pandemic-related restaurant coverage 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.