Here we go again. Lockdown 4.0. Are you sitting and thinking, “How do I bring my business get through another lockdown? Or… I just don’t get enough orders that I need in my restaurant/cafe!”
Third-party ordering platforms such as UberEats and Menulog cost Australian food businesses arms and legs. Meanwhile, your online ordering website is just not working as hard as you are.
How can Australian food businesses survive with only takeaway and delivery orders during another lockdown?
The first thing you need to do is ask yourself this:
How active are you in getting your customers on your online ordering platform?
Many of our clients are in the same boat. We’ve received many similar queries from clients who have online ordering websites but have no idea how to get their customers to use them. Many have been around for a few years but barely get any online orders.
Whilst every restaurant is unique with its own workflow problems and so little time, some reports having different user demographics that aren’t adept to technology (older generation customers), or simply just not having enough time to invest in brand awareness.
And now, there’s more to think about when the government orders another lockdown and you’ve lost your dine-in service for a week!
Here are a few key takeaways when it comes to getting traffic to your website (and eventually getting purchases), even if you have already been around for a year or two years.
Create a traffic plan
Think about the multiple ways you can get people to go to your website. How am I going to attract people to my website? Maybe people don’t know my business yet.
Is your food business on social media?
If not, it should. Promoting on socials is a great step forward in getting brand awareness. Do you only market your food business on Facebook or Instagram? Are your followers the right potential customers for your food business?
Find as many sources of traffic to your website
For multiple reasons. If something happens to your Facebook or Instagram account, how are you going to connect or reach out to your customers? By having multiple ways to connect with your customers you can also drive new people to your online ordering website.
Check your Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free service and it gives you knowledge on where the traffic coming from and what page are your visitors looking at. Keep track of this data. If you haven’t done this before, create a spreadsheet and keep track of the days of the week. Have a look at when do you have the most traffic. When you post on social media or if you run ads, do you see more visitations on your online ordering website? If you send an email to your email list, do you get a spike in my traffic?
Know your customers
Target those people who are interested in your offer and make sure they go to the website to buy. Direct them on what to do. We want everyone who visits your website to purchase.
Utilise avenues that you already have. Slip a piece of paper with your UberEats delivery, letting your customers know that they can order online directly through your website.
When you do a traffic plan, consider planning around these three types of traffic:
Paid traffic includes any paid ads so that could be Instagram ads, Facebook ads or google ads (search results ads). There is also display ads, those little ads that follow you around the internet. It can also be paid partnership, so you pay influencers or paid collaborations with another content producer such as Time Out or Broadsheet.
Earned traffic is the traffic you get from your efforts over time. It could be a long period of time, perhaps it took a whole span of your food business. So earned, you’ve put in your work to get those customers through your online ordering website. One way of earned traffic is SEO, Search Engine Optimisation.
This is how your online ordering website ranks on search engines such as Google or Bing. Any keywords such as your food business name or type keywords that relates to your food business, will determine how your website appears on those search engines.
These organic searches, not paid, are earned traffic. If someone shares your website link to someone else, referral traffic, that’s also earned traffic.
Every traffic that has got to do with your brand awareness, that you don’t pay for, is earned. If your food business is featured in a magazine or website blogs, these are also earned. It takes time to build this kind of reputation and it doesn’t happen overnight.
Owned traffic is where you are controlling the traffic going to your website. Example is email lists, you’re directing your customers to go to your website or a particular page on your website to do something.
Perhaps to book a table, book an event, buy a particular food item, or claim a voucher. You have control over that traffic.
Social media could also fall under owned traffic because it directs your followers to your website. However these platforms are not exactly yours, they are owned by other companies such as Facebook and Instagram, so technically you’re borrowing their real estate.
Think about how many customers you want to visit your online ordering website and make purchases in a day.
Have a good hard look at the conversion rate on your Google Analytics and make a sound decision based on that. Have 100 customers visited your online ordering website and only 1 make a purchase?
Which page is the roadblock? Improve that page with a call to action that compels customers to buy.
Here are a few ideas to increase traffic to your online ordering website:
Use social media
Make sure that you show up on your social media on regular basis. Be consistent. If you’re committed to show up 3 days a week, do show up 3 days every single week without fail. Post something, or do a quick live behind-the-scenes video.
Consistency is the key here. It will then translates into momentum for your business. Talk about what you have to offer, the areas you cover for food deliveries (this helps with localities), or perhaps how you’ve helped people.
Bonus points if you can invest in a great photographer/videographer. Show your work behind the scenes, the work that your staff put in to create the food that you offer.
Create posts or Instagram stories. Stories are great for quick “impromptu” contents. If you show up consistently on your customer’s feed, you don’t need to direct people to go to your website in every post. Just make sure your website is prominently displayed on your profile.
Talk to the Let’s Order team and we can help you with valuable social media contents that work for your food business.
Utilise Google My Business
If your food business has a brick-and-mortar location, having your business listed on Google My Business is a must. It helps with localities search; for example, people searching for Persian restaurants in Mount Waverley. It is free to sign up and your restaurant may show up in Google Map.
Utilise your customer database. Invest in email marketing.
When you have a Let’s Order website, you own the database of your customers that have ordered from you.
By having an email marketing as your strategy, you can push your customers to order online again.
Make the offer specific, for example claim an offer or to try that limited edition dish.
If you have to close your front shop for a week during lockdown but you are still operating for takeaway and delivery, you can announce that through email and get your customers to order online.
Chances are these customers that have purchased from you will want to support your food business to stay open.
With the right headings and content, email marketing will get you sales.
Using email marketing, you can directly ask a particular group of your customers of your choosing to do something. In an Instagram broadcast, any announcement to your followers may not get into their newsfeed. You can’t choose the audience, Instagram’s algorithm choose them for you.
If you haven’t used email marketing for your food business, you need to make this a priority. There are many free email marketing platforms out there to start with.
Remember you can always talk to Let’s Order team if you need any help.
Get your walk-ins to sign up for your email newsletter. Make an offer that they can’t refuse.
So, if you’ve been thinking lately that why am I not getting any orders from my online ordering website, or it’s really quiet, I’m not getting sales, be honest to yourself and say what am I actively doing from a marketing perspective to get people on my ordering website.
People may not know that you have an online ordering service.
The market is saturated with restaurants with similar offers so you need to think about how to stand out and make yourself seen and heard.
Figure out how to connect to your customers and make them come back to your business.
Take consistent action on your strategies to keep those orders coming, even during Lockdown 4.0 in Victoria.
Let’s Order team is always available if you need a chat!
Have questions?
Call us on the number above or leave your contact details below and we'll be in touch within 24 hours.
LIMITED OFFER : FREE setup + 50% monthly fee*. Sign up now to claim.