By Ido Levanon, CEO, Dragontail Systems
As COVID-19 cases reached new highs last month, evolving dine-in restrictions and staffing limitations presented daunting obstacles for restaurants struggling to survive. According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the restaurant industry currently has an unemployment rate of 13.8%, with nearly 17,400 jobs in restaurants and bars lost in November. In addition to this, newly reimposed stay-at-home orders in states across the country have shut down indoor dining, and customers have no choice but to turn to delivery and takeout options.
Yet while many facets of the dining experience may look and feel different, restaurants can still cater to the customer journey by utilizing key ingredients in the marketing mix, ranging from social media advertising to optimization ordering platforms and technologies. These types of investments work to strengthen customer loyalty and satisfaction, which is a driving force in keeping restaurants afloat during these trivial times.
The customer’s online journey impacts expectations and growth
The pandemic is pushing us towards a more digitized world, so the online customer journey needs to be at the forefront of restaurants’ survival strategies. The physical ambiance of a restaurant dining room, as well as the human interactions that come along with it, must now be translated to the screen. In navigating this shift, it is important for customers to feel their needs and expectations are being met by restaurant efforts.
There are many simple, yet effective, measures that restaurants can deploy to achieve this goal. When evaluating their websites or mobile applications, restaurant owners can add elements like visual menus, personalized user accounts, promotional codes/coupons and feedback opportunities, to provide new or returning customers with an experience that prioritizes their individual needs. These types of efforts can not only streamline the customer’s online journey, but also establish customer loyalty.
What marketing tactics foster customer engagement?
Certain marketing tactics can specifically promote customer engagement efforts. One popular tactic is to install customer trackers within restaurant websites or mobile applications, which allows them to check the exact status of their orders from start to finish. This is an interactive tool that allows restaurants to foster two-way communication between both the kitchen and the customer.
Another way to inspire customer engagement is through social media platforms. By creating a social media presence, restaurant owners can use specific tools unique to each platform, such as demographic filters to promote local advertising and remarketing techniques using cookies and tracking tools to find repeating customers. Additionally, a blog is another type of social platform that encourages engagement while boosting a restaurant’s website SEO, allowing customers to see and share insights on their overall experience and giving restaurants an opportunity to produce engaging content around timely deals, menu changes, announcements and more.
How technologies like machine learning and AI help restaurants achieve optimized results
As human interactions continue to take a backseat because of the pandemic, advanced technologies like machine learning and AI can dramatically influence restaurant survival efforts. Since every restaurant has a distinctive staff, location and customer base, these technologies are built to create optimization patterns and decisions that are right for each environment. As the technology becomes familiar with customer choices and spending patterns, they can impose techniques such as cross selling and upselling to get the customer to interact even more, ultimately leading to higher sales and increased loyalty.
While the state of the restaurant industry remains in flux, there is no telling what the future might hold. However, marketing strategies and optimized technologies can pave the way for restaurants to work through current obstacles, impacting their overall growth and survival potential amidst the evolving pandemic.
Ido Levanon is CEO for Dragontail Systems. Levanon has 20+ years’ experience and a proven track record in successful management and turnaround of various international companies. He was CEO and a seed investor in several technology start-ups and a Financial Planning Manager for Fujitsu USA. He has been part of DT Israel since its inception in 2013 as one of the founding investors.
