2020 Spins on Restaurant Marketing

Restaurants in California are still finding creative ways to serve their patrons, from patio dining to phone orders, drive thru to delivery.  As we enter into September still in the season of our “new normal” how do you market to customers when the in-person dining experience has been removed from the equation?

We asked ourselves the same question when strategizing for our QSR (Quick Serve Restaurant) client.  The lunch rush is king when it comes to QSR restaurants and with so many people working from home and not cruising down the street from their office to select a drive thru they want to sail through, the task became clear – keep drive thru traffic flowing.  But how?

Well with the new-found free time the masses have since gyms are closed, malls are closed, bars are closed, theatres are closed – pretty much everything is closed, where are they spending their free time?  Social media and home entertainment such as streaming services of course!  So go where the people are right?

Right! Ramping up advertising strategies on social and streaming platforms has proved fruitful for our client and their monthly sales.  Each month since the start of the pandemic they have had record-breaking sales at their locations.  So, while we know this trend will decrease when restaurant dining finally opens back up, studies are showing that a percentage of our “new” drive thru patrons will stay.

We also took a look at our content on their social channels and made sure it aligned with what was going on in our community.  We kept our strategy simple, fun and easy contests where the winner gets free food.  Building brand loyalty has been key during this season of uncertainty. Since the dining experience is not possible at this time, we focused on ways to replace that missing piece. Until we can resume life as we knew it, Marketing Plus will be here ready to tackle whatever curve balls 2020 keeps throwing our way.

Johnna Johnson

Accounts Director/Media Manager