Another week over & another week closer to re-opening, fingers crossed. Are you getting ready & taking your followers on the journey with you?
It’s the last week of my FREE ‘PBP Pow Wow’s, where you get to pick my brains on content ideas for your social media. These are primarily aimed at those of you that have physical venues such as bars, restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, cafe’s etc. I offer these on a Wednesday, so drop me a line or click here to book your slot.
So grab a cuppa or something stronger & ‘Happy Reading’!
‘USEFUL ARTICLES & INFO’
Here ‘s the round up of all the bits & pieces I have seen this last week that I thought might be of help to you…..
Maybe you’re not open for deliveries or take-outs at the moment, as you just can’t make it financially viable, but maybe you’d like to look at this option when you do re-open for added revenues when capacities are reduced. If so, I have already shared a number of articles giving advice on this subject, but ‘Big Hospitality’ have provided us with a great piece with ideas & examples, that is well worth a read: ‘Stand & Deliver – How restaurants have turned to take-away & delivery in order to survive.’
Also this article from ‘The Telegraph’ entitled: ‘Takeaway UK: How imaginative restaurants have adapted to cope with the new reality’ is well worth a look at.
A set of guidelines have been released for ‘Restaurants Offering Takeaway & Delivery’. More information can be seen in this ‘Morning Advertiser; article:’New guidelines for restaurants include rules on social distancing, signage, & hygiene’. If you haven’t seen this you may want to familiarise yourself with it’s contents sooner rather than later.
You may remember I was a guest on a podcast a few weeks ago hosted by Jon Butler. called ‘The Disruptive Restaurateur’? Well, Jon does these on a regular basis & they are all well worth a listen HERE. The topics & people interviewed vary & are from all aspects of the restaurant & food industry.
This interview with Tom Kerridge is inspiring. It is realistic but also very positive in terms of the way he is using the closure as an opportunity to look at his business & re-launch. He also supports the Hospitality Union’s #NationalTimeOut campaign, which I have mentioned previously. If you’ve not signed up to this yet, make sure you do here: #NATIONALTIMEOUT
Tom’s article in ‘The Morning Advertiser’ can be read here: ‘Use the closure period as an opportunity’. It is from the back end of April but it still hugely relevant.
‘Big Hospitality’ have started a 4 week video series discussing ‘The Future of Restaurants Post Lockdown’. The first poses questions to leading restaurateurs such as “What are the biggest concerns for the sector in a post lockdown world?”, “Can the hospitality industry survive with restrictive social distancing measure?”. A must watch if you are a hospitality owner or manager.
This episode of ‘Hospitality Talks’ is a really great insight into the practicalities of social distancing, with a walk round with Anthony Pender Co-Founder of Yummy Pubs. He discusses potential methods & implications with Kate Moses of KAM Media.
Finally, I’d be super grateful if you could take my really quick survey about social media. It will really help me to pull together the best free resources for those in hospitality & to see what needs there are, so I can get my packages & online courses just right for the market. It only takes a couple of mins. TAKE SURVEY HERE
Thanks so much!
‘PBP POST PICKS’
Here are my favourite hospitality ‘PBP Post Picks’ I found this week to give you inspo! (CLICK THE IMAGES TO BE TAKEN TO THE POSTS THEMSELVES ONLINE):
‘Matt Healy x The Foundry’ told us what they had been up to in the week including the meals they produced for the NHS, sell out Sunday Roasts & their ‘Greatest Hits’ menu. They then went on to share pics their followers had sent them of their Sunday Roasts at home! Perfect, takes us on the journey with them & also get’s their followers to sell their products for them!
In a similar vein, ‘Mad Fran’s’ in Leeds, told us what they’d been up to including how they will be refurbishing their café & take out area, what they WOULD have been up to if open & the fact that they were on National TV talking about the hospitality industry. Great publicity & again taking us on their journey:
Again, showing us what they are doing are ‘Grumpy’s’ in Farsley, who have been out & about creating a Farsley sticker trail:
More creative ideas from local hospitality businesses to diversify: ‘Salami & Co’ in Otley have put together boxes/platters for brunch, breakfast & charcuterie, another innovative way of keeping a hospitality business going during these tough times:
They’ve also got some great looking images of their take-out pastries & food that make your mouth water & sell the products well. Interestingly as we know people do well in posts. Proof of this is one particular post with a member of the team holding a coffee, compared to one with just a coffee, did so much better. Check out their page.
Another great example of diversifying are ‘Laynes Espresso’ in Leeds, who have put together ‘Cook at Home Laynes Breakfast Kits’ with recipes of some of their most popular dishes:
Notice that all the images above are really great, native looking, images but done to a high standard & arranged nicely. They are not sub standard but neither are they professional shots. These type of images always do better.
‘The Little Teahouse’ in Ilkley also produced a V.E. Day afternoon tea, which I forgot to share last week. They shared one of the pictures of the followers that had bought one. It’s great for followers to actually see people enjoying the food & drink that is being delivered so that they can be inspired to do the same themselves. A great none promotional way to sell.
I also love the fact that their innovative idea featured in the local paper which they obviously also shared on social. Again, great publicity & inspiration to followers to buy more from ‘The Little Tea House’, well done Claire!
A simple but effective post from ‘Grantley Hall’, showing their courtyard which they long to be filled with people enjoying themselves, & we long to be there! Great for creating emotion & feelings of nostalgia:
Same for ‘Tattu’ in Leeds, simple but inspires us to want to be there & go when all this is over:
I also loved this idea from ‘Tattu’ in Leeds. Some really creative thinking about how to get engagement & also keep it relevant to the brand. It’s a ‘Tattu’ body art competition:
‘Dakota’ in Leeds have put together the mother of all competitions, but cleverly they are thinking of building their database for when we are all back to a bit of normality, not just awareness & engagement on social:
There are lots of competitions out there with different aims, some to create awareness & business when they re-open & others for immediate promotion of take-outs & deliveries such as this competition on a smaller scale from Williams Den. Here they are promoting their pizza & home-made ice-cream take-outs, asking who they would share the feast with:
‘Culto’ Leeds show us them cutting up their pizzas for delivery which has made my stomach rumble just watching it!: CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.
‘Healing Manor’ are starting to think about ways they can start to instil trust & confidence for those thinking of returning. Great idea to highlight single access to rooms & virtual check-in & out to reduce contact.
Finally, I wanted to end on something that ‘Rockliffe Hall’ have done consistently throughout closure: Showcasing & putting their team at the forefront of their social media. This is crucial for instilling trust & confidence for customers to return & will stand them in very good stead for re-opening. If you look through their feed their team features heavily including the kindness that is obviously there behind the scenes. As a potential customer you can’t help feeling that this is also how you would be treated if you were to stay with them. Here is a great example of their Fitness Manager who has been pulling together well-being tips for the rest of the team, & him being acknowledged for this:
‘CONTENT IDEAS’
I’m sure you’ve been inspired loads already with those ‘PBP Post Picks’, but just in case you need more, head on over for the last few weeks ideas on my previous blog posts HERE. Here are some you could try based on the above & more:
- However small, start sharing with followers some of the ideas & actions you are planning or thinking of putting into place when you re-open. so you can start instilling that trust in your venue. Highlight certain benefits your venue has over others & how seriously you are taking their safety.
- Highlight & recognise any members of staff that have gone above & beyond during closure or have generally been super-helpful to other team members.
- Can you offer to give your opinions to a local paper about the future of hospitality to once again get your name out there & instil trust & public sympathy & support?
- Can you be super creative when pulling together a competition that is relevant to your venue? As well as creating awareness ensure they also gather data ready to use in the future.
- Use this time to test new dishes on the menu & get some really good pictures either professional or good standard, native looking images. Start to get followers interested in trying these when you re-open.
- National Days you could jump on this week include: 24th May Scavenger Hunt Day – Find 5 items & take a pic to be in with a chance of winning or do this live? 25th May National BBQ week – Ask your chef to show a couple of recipe ideas for BBQ food at home & post videos. 29th May – National Biscuit Day – Which biscuit do you dunk in your tea? Show video of few members of the team dunking their fave biscuits!
- Don’t forget Fathers Day is coming up soon. What can you do re this? Pull menu’s together, added value i.e. Free pint for Dads, take-out Fathers Day lunches, competitions for Dad’s to win etc
Remember above all else keep being heartfelt, honest, candid & yourselves. With lots of people pics & those that generate emotions.
We can do this peeps & come out fighting the other side!
Stay Safe. #keephospitalityalive and #keepsocialalive
