Amid the struggle of covid19 many restaurants have been battling with having to close their doors and rethink their business models to stay afloat. Plant-based leader Impossible Foods has come up with some tips including how to engage with customers online, boost awareness around your takeout and delivery offerings, and keep your business going strong during this challenging time.

THE BASICS

Shout your new offers from the rooftops! Make sure your customers know that you’re open for takeout and delivery on social media, through email, newsletters and on your website. Check out Gott’s Roadside for some good examples of communications around COVID-19 as well as these videos and resources from Restaurant Playbooks for tips on offering safe takeout and delivery service.

You can even put a sign on your door and call out the delivery apps you are partnered with so people know where to look for you. Share everything from your hours, opened locations, special offerings and discounts, delivery platforms, safety measures and most importantly; your new menu! Check out this post from Bareburger for an example.

Customers are now looking for ways to support their favorite restaurants. You can encourage them to buy gift cards to use themselves or to donate to delivery workers and local hospitals. Here’s a great example of a website devoted entirely to supporting local restaurants using gift cards. Or you can ask your delivery platforms is they are already offering free delivery. Adding this on your website as a perk may attract more customers.

YOUR MENU

Give the people what they want! Research the most searched for dishes in your area to make sure you’re offering the best. Check out the Grub Hub “Year in Food” Report to see what’s popular in your area. This could also be through meal-kits or larger family meals. Consumers may actually just want to cook at home, and thats okay too! You can double as a supermarket and offer staple products like oil or sauces. You could even offer your products to be cooked at home.

Impossible burger are doing this themselves! You can now stock your new general store with Impossible Burger. On March 26, the US Food and Drug Administration issued temporary guidance to allow you to more easily sell your food inventory directly to consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak. That means you can sell Impossible Burger patties directly to your consumers – just print out and give them a copy of this PDF when you sell the product.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Offer a behind the scenes sneak peak of your product with Instagram lives. Its a way to connect with your customers by showing them how the magic happens. Follow Impossible Foods on Instagram and Facebook to catch their weekly live cooking shows for example.

You can even have your consumers featured on your social media by sharing their cooking content. This will allow you to build a community. Here’s an example from Crossroads Kitchen. Building a community is a great way of encouraging more orders; try hosting social media sweepstakes or sharing recipes from your menu.

Here are some trending social media hashtags to get you started:

• #SaveRestaurants
• #OpenforDelivery
• #DoYourPartChallenge
• #SupportSmallBusiness

Find the full list of tips @ImpossibleFoods