Digital Marketing Archives

Communicate Your #Covid Christmas Plans

As the lifting of lockdown 2.0 looms, businesses around Ireland are asking themselves the same question: how and when can we reopen safely and successfully? Knowing the right time to reopen will depend largely on your industry and location, however, knowing and understanding your customers’ concerns can help inform your strategy. Communicating your solutions and strategies is key.

Marketing is all about knowing your customers, which is why it is crucial that you keep them in mind as you plan your reopening. Being authentic in your messaging will show customers how much you value them and their input. It’s inevitable that they will have plenty of questions right now, so here is how to address their concerns about the pandemic and the future of your business this Christmas.

What You Can Do Right Now

Maintaining consistent and relevant communication with customers while planning your reopening will be the key to maintaining their health, happiness and the profitability of your business. Until you have a clear date on which to reopen, your customers’ immediate needs should be at the forefront of your policy. Consider what would benefit them most right now, whether that’s a reduced service, discounts on essential products, or just regular updates.

Anything you can do to alleviate their concerns or meet their needs now, will help retain their loyalty for your eventual relaunch. A good way to get a handle on your customers’ needs is simply by listening. Ask your customers what they expect from your business in the coming weeks. Emails, surveys or a simple social media post can be used to gather ideas on what precautions your business can take upon reopening.

Prioritise Your Digital Communications

Once you understand what your customers need from you, you can plan towards a phased return. A return can look like a lot of things, ranging from increased deliveries to click and collect or to a fully reopened brick and mortar location. There is no one size fits all solution and you’ll need to form a plan that is unique to your situation, while also flexible enough to respond to changing guidelines. It’s important to remember that while some customers will be eager to ease up on social distancing practices others remain reluctant. Having a strong communication plan in place will help your business cater to all its customers.

People are more likely to engage with businesses they feel confident in, so by taking the time to empathetically address customers from all perspectives you can maximise business as you move towards reopening. Share exactly how they can safely do business with you right now, and the steps you will take towards ensuring their safety upon reopening. By sharing detailed information on social media, your website and through real-time communications, you can alleviate any uncertainty around the customer experience.

Stay Flexible

Reopening will be more than a restart; it will be a new era for your business. Businesses won’t immediately return to normal operations and what your customers may want from you going forward will not be the same as it was before the pandemic. Therefore, it is crucial that your operations, leaders and workforce remain flexible. Keep all social distancing options such as kerbside pick up, video calls, and deliveries operational for those who need it as you move towards a full reopening. Try to use this new opportunity to grow and evolve your business. Now is a great time to rethink and improve operations. Working on immediate challenges may even lead to better ways of doing business, the key is to embrace change and go where customer demand takes you.

On Reopening

Once it is time to reopen you should adopt a ‘people first’ plan of action. It is not enough to mitigate health and economic risks, you must also help customers and employees to feel emotionally secure about this next step. Start by detailing step-by-step what your new in-person customer experience looks like on social media, on your website, and on storefronts. This will help prepare customers and workers for the ‘new normal’.

Make a list of questions and concerns that you will need to address, communicate the answers online and brief employees on the correct in-person response. Announce your opening including a date, the updated hours, safety precautions and a contact number on all your communication channels. Lastly, do not forget to update your Google My Business profile.

For further advice on ways to let your customers know you’re reopening look to our other articles.

Get in Touch

The secret to a safe and successful reopening is putting your customers first. Practice clear communication and remain flexible to reinvention with the help of a professional marketing strategy. Please get in touch with BLCK BRND today for a creative and cost-effective marketing plan to boost your business recovery.

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Time To Up Your Takeaway/Delivery Service

At the moment, under COVID restrictions, many retail and restaurant companies are looking into food delivery either as their new primary or sole source of income. It makes sense, especially under social distancing restrictions and government lockdown, Version 2.0, Level Whatever.

However, there’s a few things you’ll need to consider if you’re going to find success in a very competitive market. In this article, we’ll outline a few of the things you’ll need to not just facilitate food deliveries, but to establish a customer-base among a captive audience and make a return on your investment.

Taking Orders

Processing a takeaway order isn’t as simple as it used to be. Gone are the days when you just needed a phone line, a pen, and some paper – companies like Just Eat and Deliveroo have normalised online booking, raising the standards and leaving telephone-only restaurants behind. Getting on Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats and so on is an obvious choice. Not only is this the preferred method of purchase for many customers, but it exposes you to new customers who might be browsing for a new experience, rather than looking for their already-established local.

However, taking orders through your website is another underused and undervalued option. Firstly, these third-party delivery apps can take a significant cut of your sale, anywhere from 20-30%. This is a significant cost, especially in an industry where margins are already fine. Taking orders directly means you can avoid these fees entirely. The benefits don’t stop there though.

Having an ordering system on your site also makes things as easy as possible for customers who might have Googled your business for more information or to see your menu, creating a smooth and effective sales funnel. There are a lot of options from third-party plugins to custom-coded solutions. Our web development team will listen to your exact needs and budget, and suggest a solution which is perfectly tailored for your business.

Getting the Word Out There

Whether you’re a new business or established and offering a new service, letting customers know you’re delivering is vital to success. Luckily, there are lots of effective ways to do so:

Print

Although the internet has changed the food delivery industry, print still has a fundamental place. Printing off menus and posting them through the doors of every home in your service area remains effective. Plus, because of the way print prices scale, getting 5000 menus or leaflets doesn’t cost much more than getting 100!

Social Media

As with all modern business, social media will play a fundamental role in your marketing plan. Through targeted advertising, you can make sure you pop up on the newsfeeds of everyone in your service area, without wasting money on those outside of it. Furthermore, once you’ve built an audience of established customers and would-be customers, you can post pictures of all your most tempting dishes and deals to make sure there’s only one place they are going for their Friday night meal. Social media for restaurants and takeaways is more simple than most industries in terms of getting attractive content, but it’s also incredibly competitive. Make sure your campaign is in the right hands to ensure a return on investment and speak to our digital marketing team today.

Email

Email marketing is only an effective option for established companies who have built up an email database, but if you’re a new company it’s something you should start working on straight away. Getting an email into the inbox of a customer at the right time will make sure you’re the chosen destination for their weekend order – especially if you attach an offer they can’t refuse!

Brand Your Niche

If you live in a fairly urban area and search for nearby takeaways, you’re going to find countless options. Another issue is that a customer will typically find one that they can rely on and stop trying elsewhere. The question is, how do you make sure they pick you? It’s all about finding your niche. Of course, you may be providing a type of food that doesn’t have a lot of direct like-for-like competition, but you’re still just one place in a sea of other restaurants and food providers.

Other than word-of-mouth, branding is the only thing that will set you apart from competitors. Let’s face it, the majority of takeaway branding hasn’t changed since the 1980s, and it’s a great time to be offering a modernised, sleek, and up-to-date option for customers looking for something that bit more special. Your logo, design, printed materials, website, social media content, and anything else with your name on it is what will set you apart from the competition – our designers have helped a number of food and drink brands, from producers to the service industry, to stand out. Speak to us today about how we can help your restaurant to shine.

There Has Never Been a Better Time!

The vast majority of businesses have suffered severely during recent disruption, but takeaway and food delivery services have thrived. Now is the time to invest in marketing to make sure your business doesn’t just survive, but thrives during lockdown. It’s up to you to organise your kitchen and drivers for a smooth service, but BLCK BRND will take care of the marketing giving you one less thing to worry about. Get in touch and let’s have a chat – there are enough customers out there, and we’ll make sure they find you.

Think Link(edIn)

In 2020 LinkedIn has over 660 million members and 675 million monthly users. These statistics are impressive, but what is more impressive is that LinkedIn Ireland redirects almost four times more users to companies’ homepages than any other social network.

It is a B2B goldmine and yet still many businesses do not use it to their advantage. Here is why BLCK BRND is embracing the platform as we emerge from lockdown and why you should be using it to achieve your digital marketing goals.

LinkedIn Explained

LinkedIn has been established as a popular B2B networking channel for some time. It attracts B2B marketers because of its professional focus and tailored audience. It is unrivalled when it comes to industry connections, which is why it is the perfect asset for any business. LinkedIn’s true value lies in its ability to give businesses the option to join specific groups with certain characteristics so that they can connect with prospective clients or customers. Through a simple search, businesses can gather a list of possible groups and leads to connect with. In essence LinkedIn enables businesses to connect with the people that matter without having to sift through hundreds of connections. It can help your business reach its goals, whatever they may be.

Grow Your Reach

Success and growth for any business relies on a loyal customer base and a potential customer base. Luckily LinkedIn can help with both. Businesses can raise and develop their brand awareness through content, customer interaction and company updates while utilising the advanced search feature to identify their target audience. To be successful on LinkedIn you need a consistent output of high quality content and an efficient sales pipeline. It is important to note however that posting on LinkedIn is not the same as it is on all other social media. Native LinkedIn content should be shorter and easier to understand than blogs but longer and more specific than that of Facebook or Twitter. ‘Microblogs’ are a great way of attracting your target audience while providing value and insight to your existing connections. A social marketing agency can help you find the tone of voice that is right for your business. At BLCK BRND we build and shape the brand’s social media presence in line with their ambitions. Our talented team of designers, developers and marketers can deliver content to help position your company and connect with your audience.

Promote Your Business

LinkedIn has numerous features to help businesses find their ideal customers. With references, targeted searches, network suggestions, sales alerts and chatbots readily available (and new features being added every day) everything you need to grow and refine your audience is at your fingertips. A company page can be your greatest marketing tool, use it to promote your brand’s core values, improve the visibility of job opportunities, nurture leads and celebrate your customers. It is the community that you build on LinkedIn that will be the key to your success. Business owners, employees, customers and job candidates make up your community, so engage with them. Drive growth through meaningful conversations and appropriate hashtags. Interact with customers and other industry professionals for quicker growth and reach.

Become a ‘Thought Leader’

Creating and publishing rich content that is of value to your customers and industry will help you become a ‘thought leader.’ Sharing the knowledge you have gained over the years can lend credibility to your brand, help with brand recall and drive people to your website. LinkedIn doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it should play a part of a wider digital marketing approach, so take inspiration from your website, blogs and daily life to curate posts that educate, inspire or influence your audience. Everything you do on social media contributes towards a perception. If you know what you want to be known for, you can use this strength to your advantage- shaping your actions and communications to point towards the desired interpretation.

Talk To BLCK BRND

As social media experts we can help you influence what your customers think, feel and talk about and they’ll act and respond to your business. We offer a wide range of social media services tailored to your unique business requirements. For help growing or refining your social media presence get in touch today.

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