Restaurants are one of the industries which took a big hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, restaurants can still make customers loyal by spreading awareness through emails. Here are the 5 emails restaurants should send during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New restaurant open and closing hours
All businesses have been affected by the sweeping pandemic. Some industries now operate longer hours, while some businesses have to cut down on open hours.
Businesses no longer operate like normal and this can often catch people off-guard. A lot of people feel frustrated when they still see on Google Maps, for example, that businesses are open when they are not, in reality.
If you want to avoid your customers being angry at your restaurant for being closed when they are already HANGRY, send your new open and close hours as an email newsletter.
This helps your restaurant stay relevant and your customers stay updated. If you offer delivery, don’t forget to inform some popular menu items in your email newsletter.
These menu highlights act as a call to action, too! Whatever the future of the pandemic may be, you should never run out of creativity when it comes to staying relevant.
Your restaurant’s current hygiene protocols
Before the pandemic hit, no restaurant business was as deeply concerned with hygiene. At least not to the point where they find it necessary to really show what’s behind the scenes.
And when you really think about it, the measures were different before and after the pandemic. Thanks to the pandemic, people have begun to become deeply concerned with hygiene and especially, how food ingredients are handled.
If you are a restaurant business that has been improving your hygiene game, why not turn the process into content?
You can record and journal (or simply announce) the new ways your kitchen is operated with next-level hygiene protocols. Your subscribers will be more than happy to receive news of such a nature.
In normal situations, the General Principal of Food Hygiene for food processing and manufacturers is followed. But after the advent of Covid-19 pandemic, more stringent adherence to this policy needs to be enforced.
A circular to the Food Businesses on the World Health Organization website, highlights the hygiene level necessary for food handlers, workers, transporters, and processors.
This also adds a layer of faith to their orders when purchasing delivery from your restaurant. Making this into email newsletter content helps you stay in touch with your customers as well.
Cooking tutorials or recipes for home cooks
Now that people’s movements are limited, it has become a new reality that people are confined to their homes. More and more people have been cooking and baking like never before.
Yeah, some call it stress-baking or stress-cooking. But the important thing is that people are cooking and baking to cope with the reality of the pandemic.
With that being said, what can you do to stay relevant even when people aren’t eating your restaurant’s food? Send them email newsletters that contain cooking tutorials, tips and recipes.
Fans of your restaurants will really appreciate that as new ideas are always welcome. And since they can’t connect to your business personally, then the best way to stay connected is through sharing your secret recipe.
Some customers will try to make it at home. Most will get something different from their favourite restaurant treat.
Per an article on the Word Stream website, eateries’ recipe enhance the connection with the restaurant, reminding the patronage that the delighting meals are still available even through eating in person is forbidden.
You can diversify as well by delivering two types of tutorials for those who are already familiar with cooking and those who are beginners.
Literally, there is no limit to how creatively you can create content during this pandemic era, so get buzzin’.
Meal kits at a discounted price
People go to restaurants to enjoy high-quality cuisine that may take forever to make at home. But now that eating out has become so restricted, this experience has become super diminished for a lot of people who enjoy quality dining.
If your restaurant is in the business of refined dining, you can try creating a special or seasonal offer of DIY meal kits.
Your customers who can cook at home or enjoy exploring their culinary skills will really appreciate this simple offering. Basically, you are selling them the experience of having your quality meals but in the comfort of their own homes.
This experience will never be exactly on par with the restaurant experience, but it’s close enough. This is also a way to maintain your image in the minds of your biggest fans.
To attract new customers into this new pandemic experience, offer bonuses or discounts for your meal kits.
Attractive offers or bonuses for delivery orders
Now that restaurant hours are curbed, and many businesses are only allowing curbside pickups, eating out is no longer a fun option for many people. The idea of going to a restaurant has always been about comfort and convenience.
You aren’t cooking at home, that’s why you eat out for the fastness and convenience of just receiving your meals as you sit and wait. But nowadays, thanks to the whole pandemic situation, that is not so much the case anymore.
People feel lazy to have to pick up their own foods whilst risking exposure to the virus. Meanwhile, eating out is not that convenient yet as restaurants operate restrictions on the number of people inside the restaurant.
This means that your outlet isn’t getting the level of patronage it used to have. Still, your business has to survive.
So how do you ensure you reach out further? Well, offer discounts on your meals, while also trying to capture the markets you didn’t consider essential pre-pandemic.
Per an article on the Touch Bistro website, expanding your social media presence is essential to attain this.
Delivery and eating comfortably at home become the next best viable option. To maintain your revenue, tell your customers that you’re offering delivery services.
Your customers would be happy to get bonuses or free delivery on this matter.
