The pandemic changed everything for the restaurant industry, and brands quickly pivoted in response. From establishing a curbside program to launching a digital program, brands left no stone unturned to find success during COVID-19.
As restaurant brands evolved, so did guests. One of the most prominent consumer trends has been a shift towards localness as we all became more community conscious and supportive of the surrounding small businesses that dove into the unknown right along with us.
While guests became more local-minded, national restaurant brands faced an urgent question – How do we communicate our localness?
The answer lies in the question: communication. National brands must bring local-level communications into their interactions with guests. Tillster CMO Hope Neiman recently shared a few ways restaurants can do so with QSR Magazine. Here are some of her examples:
1. Express Your Localness: National chain restaurants are owned and operated by local franchisees facing the same challenges as small businesses. These chains should showcase these local faces and the workers on the front lines to humanize their brand and drive home the importance of visiting the restaurant.
2. Grow Your Customer List: It’s time to encourage customers to sign up for brand messaging – and quickly. Drive traffic by offering customers discounts or free items if they sign up for emails or download your app.
3. Communicate COVID-19 Adaptations: During the pandemic, customers want to feel rest-assured that the restaurant brands they’re interacting with have the appropriate precautions in place. Prioritize communicating what changes your brand has made in response to the pandemic to ensure guests feel safe.
4. Lean into Local Promotions: Show customers that you are in touch with their day-to-day lives by taking advantage of timely events and situations. A popular example is offering a special during a local sports game.
5. Establish and Highlight Local Partnerships: If your restaurant has established partnerships with other brands doing work in the community, celebrate it. This allows customers to view their support of your brand as a way of honoring their community as well.
6. Open Up Menu Options: As people leave their homes less and at varied times, it’s important that brands look at their menu and ensure they’re offering the right menu items at the appropriate times. For example, knowing that there has been a decline in breakfast visitors during the pandemic, some restaurants opted to offer breakfast food items all day.
Learn more about the importance of establishing a local presence and the best practices for doing so in Neiman’s full article at QSR Magazine, and for more information about Tillster’s solutions, contact our team.
