How to Market Your Business for Outdoor Dining

It seemed like a century passed since restaurant owners were able to open their doors for their customers. Instead, it’s only been a year now since the start of COVID-19's effects on businesses and especially restaurants who had to either close their doors altogether or limit how they serve others. But now that Cali has finally let restaurants open their doors for outside dining, it's time for you to bring out the "now serving" sign in the sunshine for all to see. But how exactly do you encourage customers to come to your business and dine out? From safety concerns to customer loyalty, you have to change many aspects of your marketing if you want your restaurant to survive as more businesses start to open for outdoor dining. Here is some advice that you can implement in marketing your brand to make sure you are not losing out on potential customers.

Improve your online presence and website

The first thing that you want to do is to reexamine your marketing and online presence. As more and more restaurants will open, you need to know that as many people see your brand as possible. This can only happen if your name is ranking at the top or near the top of the search engine. Go over every site that you have for your restaurant.

Make sure all the information is up to date. This could be the contact information or important social links that are included in your business profile. Also, if you haven't already, you should open a website for your restaurant. Websites are a great way to help your business's name come up more frequently in the search rankings and make it easy for people to contact your company to book a seat or look at the menu. LA restaurant Perch LA shows off its fantastic outdoor restaurant through their expert-looking website. Don't know how to start your site for your business? No problem. Next Level 24/7 can help you out by building you a personalized website that will best represent your brand, give you a professional edge, and grow your business during the pandemic.

Spotlight your loyal customer

Since the closing of indoor dining last year, it's probably been very hard for you to interact and engage with your past customers. Ultimately,

your business has been made to change drastically due to the pandemic, you may be concerned that you will lose your older customers who have now looked elsewhere for a dining experience.

While expanding your marketing to encourage new customers to come is crucial for getting your business through the pandemic, you also don't want to lose out on your past customers. But through your marketing, you can keep a hold of these regulars easily. All you have to do is create posts on your business's social media platforms that highlight these customers. Upload pictures before the pandemic to show the goods times you and your customers had.

You can also upload new photos and videos of loyal visitors returning to eat at your establishment despite the changed situation. King Road Coffee posted a picture of one of their loyal customers during the pandemic with a sweet caption thanking them for always coming back. Next Level 24/7 can help you create more of these perfect posts for your business's socials by planning your social media strategy and creating posts to grow your brand loyalty, which is essential to have around this time. By showing your appreciation for them during these challenging times, your business will be able to build an even better relationship with your past customers, encouraging them to keep coming back.

Reassure customers of their safety

The pandemic has been hard on many people. And with the understandable amount of concerns for not getting sick, your marketing should highlight these problems and solve them. When opening your restaurant to the public for outdoor dining, make sure that you include the safety protocols you and your employees are currently taking. This is important because, while many people are anticipating the feeling of eating out again, they are also less willing to risk their health and the health of their loved ones just to get a bite to eat. Now, customers want to see if your business is implementing the proper protocols. Advertise your safety measures and how your business is trying to prevent the virus's spread while also giving your customers some needed atmosphere. Cocktail bar, The Rooftop, advertises their safety with just one picture. Showing precisely what your business is doing this pandemic will reassure customers that you not only care about giving them the best dining experience but that you and your employees also care about their wellbeing. But suppose you need a little help with how to best showcase your business's health and safety changes. In that case, Next Level 24/7 also specializes in photography and commercials to help you create advertising that showcases how you put your customers' health at the forefront.

Conclusion

Even though not everything has gone back to normal for your restaurant since the beginning of the pandemic, being able to reopen for dining out is something that many businesses and people are excited about. It's a new chapter opening for businesses. Still, to get the most out of it, you must create a marketing strategy that reaches new customers while also keeping your older customers' loyalty. These are only some of the ways that you can reexamine your business marketing and advertising for the recent reopening. But with a little more help from our professional marketing team here at Next Level 24/7, you can create the ultimate marketing strategy for your brand just in time for the reopening.