Categories
Restaurant Marketing Communications

4 Tips For a Successful Restaurant Reopening

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According to Datassential, more than 10% of restaurants in the United States have closed permanently since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020. But suppose you’re one of the fortunate restaurants who were able to pause or adapt and are now ready to reopen. In that case, it’s important to prepare with updated safety standards, unified messaging, incentives to drive traffic and to keep in touch with your guests about their experience.

SAFETY FIRST

Waitress cleaning tables with disinfectant and wearing protective face mask in a cafe

The health and safety of your team and guests should always come first. So if you haven’t updated your policies, now is the time to consider adopting new hygiene practices, stocking up on sanitizer, investing in PPE for your team, implementing social distancing procedures and creating clear signage to help guide your team and guests.

To avoid overcrowding, be sure your restaurant layout for indoor and outdoor spaces is in compliance with local guidelines. You should also consider maintaining experiences that customers are accustomed to since the pandemic, such as contactless payment experiences and sealed to-go packaging for off-premise orders.

GET UP TO DATE

Coffee shop owner working on laptop

Your customers have spent the last year or longer being reliant on the internet for almost everything. It’s still the go to place for research and entertainment. So having a unified message is essential for reaching your customers and potential guests:

  • Update your website with reopening plans and hours.
  • If one doesn’t already exist, develop an FAQ to for customer support or reopening details.
  • Update your store on Google My Business and make sure your updated hours, dine-in and delivery options are clearly shown and up to date.
  • Develop a series of posts leading up to the reopening date that gives a behind-the-curtain look to emphasize the safety of your team and future guests.
  • Reach out to existing customers with any email, CRM or SMS you already have in place.

CREATE INCENTIVES

sign with discount for Happy Hours cocktail

Getting creative with your reopening date can help bring guests back in. For example, celebrate the occasion as a grand re-opening with dine-in exclusive giveaways. Introduce a limited-time menu. Or, bring back a beloved recipe to your menu.

You could even reach out to nearby businesses and leverage partnerships to create experiences for your guests such as dinner and discounts at a nearby movie theater or a discounted shopping experience. Any combination of incentives can help drive traffic to your reopening.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Young waitress taking order on touchpad while communicating with female customer.

To minimize any uncertainty about the state of your restaurant, be sure to keep in touch with your guests, answer questions and evolve your original reopening plan as your unique circumstances change. This may include retraining and preparing your staff with answers to questions customers may ask about safety, seating or menu items. Or, incentivizing your guests to leave feedback or take a survey about their experience. The more you and your team know about your guests’ experiences, the better you can create opportunities to keep them coming back.

Whatever the extent of your reopening plans, communications experts agree that it’s important to be timely, relevant, empathetic and considerate of your customers’ current needs. In addition, communication between your team and your guests will be essential to ensuring your reopening goes as smoothly as possible.

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Categories
Retail Digital Media

Bringing Customers Back to your Store — Gen X vs Millennials

With different life experiences, it’s no surprise that each generation has it’s own unique set of shopping habits. So when the majority of spending power comes from two different generations, it’s important to tailor your marketing efforts to each group. Here, we’ll look at the differences in communicating with Gen-Xers and Millennials, especially when using digital media to get customers back to your store. 

How Gen X Shops

three gen x women eating ice cream

Gen X was born between 1965 and 1980 and are currently ages 41 – 56, with many entering the prime earning potential of their careers. They represent consumers who are familiar with with both modern and traditional marketing, so that nuance should be kept in mind when crafting a digital marketing strategy. 

As noted in an eMarketer study, Gen X is extreme in their brand loyalty relative to those in other generations. As a retailer, you can tap into that brand affinity by building trust with this audience through honest messaging and reliable products. In return, they’ll reward you with a willingness to a pay a premium for the products they love. 

This group is also savers. They look for deals on line and actively use coupons and promo codes. Keep this in mind for your digital marketing efforts and use either in your advertising to drive them to purchase. 

Finally, while Gen X is active on social media, more than 80% of them report that email is their preferred means of using brand messages. When trying to target this audience, make sure you have a robust email marketing strategy in place and use email to share product news or promos. 

How Millennials Shop

four Millennials shopping

Millennials are typically defined as being born between 1981 and 1996, with most coming of age during the information age. So while all ages are increasingly swayed by social media, when it comes to purchases, it’s no surprise that it has more of an outsized impact on this generation. According to Synchrony Financial, 68% of Millennials admit to being strongly influenced by social media posts while 84% say user-generated content has at least some effect on what they buy. When targeting this audience, it’s critical to have an engaging social media strategy in place. Influencer marketing is also huge with this demographic and could be beneficial to your brand or store if it’s the right fit for you. 

Seeing shopping as a social event is another trait that strongly characterizes the Millennial market and sets it apart from older generations. Can your store offer an experience beyond just the product or service you sell? Making your store inviting, exciting and Instagram-worthy can go a long way to bring this generation of shoppers in-store. And be sure your online presence matches your carefully curated in-store presence to create a cohesive brand experience. 

What’s Important to Both Generations

close up of a Millennials and gen x holding cell phones

Social causes are increasingly popular with consumers and making your customers know that you care about the same issues that they do can boost their brand affinity and loyalty. Authenticity is key here—make sure there is follow-through on the part of your brand versus just empty messaging.

Regardless of which generation you’re speaking to, honesty and reliability appeal to shoppers of all ages. Truthful product usage messaging and customer reviews resonate with both Gen X and Millennials. For all audiences, straightforward, relatable language should be used across your marketing touchpoints, from social media to digital ads to email newsletters, to create a lasting connection with your customers, no matter their age. 

Categories
Branding Education

5 Post-COVID Branding Trends For Universities

Discover what universities are doing to bring students back to the classroom. 

The impact of COVID-19 can be felt on virtually every industry, with higher education being no exception. According to recent data, undergraduate enrollment is currently in its steepest decline so far since the pandemic began, down 5.9% compared to this time last year. Community college enrollment fell by double digits, with enrollment down 11.3%.

With the burdens of going to college clearly mounting for many, it’s vital that schools learn to brand themselves in a way that shows value more than ever. Here are five branding trends for universities that you can use to help catch the attention of potential students and boost enrollment

Share Your Value 

Male College Student Meeting With Campus Counselor

Know your strengths and highlight those. Does your school offer an an outstanding support system? A faculty made up of experts in their field? Experiences outside the classroom that your students are seeking out? Hone in on what makes your school and its story unique, and highlight those to help your university stand out from the competition. Be sure to highlight the things that are truly unique to your institution. But be careful not to cast your net too wide—be sure to only emphasize what is true to what the school is now, not what you hope it will be or what it has potential to become. 

Appeal to Your Ideal Student 

Young afro american woman sitting at table with books and laptop

Know your target audience and approach your branding with those people in mind. If you try to appeal to every possible student looking to go to college, you might not be speaking as directly as you could be to those students who would be the perfect match for your school and who are more likely to enroll if you’re able to connect with them in the right way. 

Highlight Connection 

Group of happy students surfing the net on laptop

Universities offer a unique experience that people may be craving in a post-COVID world—being a part of a community with shared interests and experiences. Being a brand that focuses on these shared experiences is more valuable than ever. Appeal to this desire for connection by using language and imagery that is honest, authentic and genuine while underscoring the camaraderie students will find at your school that’s hard to replicate anywhere else. 

Have a Clear Voice 

students raising fists high above heads

More and more, students see increased value in a university that provides active and vocal support for social causes. While there’s always the risk of polarization, silence from a university could be considered a red flag to some. Be thoughtful about your messaging, stay true to your values as a school and don’t be afraid to be vocal about issues that your prospective students care about. 

Stay Active on Social Media

young man using a mobile phone in a corridor on campus

Finally, don’t neglect your always-on channels of communication with prospective students, like social media. A big part of staying relevant with a younger audience is getting in front of them where they are with compelling and interesting content. Putting out thoughtful, creative posts and actively updating your channels is a valuable way to show students you care about reaching them in a way that really resonates. 

We hope you’re able to apply some of these branding trends for colleges to help boost your enrollment for upcoming semesters. For more on how Push can help with your university marketing efforts, contact us here or call 407-841-2299.

Categories
Restaurant Advice

Bringing Diners Back To Your Tables

As diner confidence continues to grow across the country, it is imperative that restaurants turn their focus to recreating the wonderful benefits only an authentic dine-in experience can offer. Diners are hungry for restaurants with safe, approachable, and efficient operations. So here are a few ways you can get their attention and gain their trust in a post-pandemic world. 

KEEP IT CLEAN

Since the beginning of the pandemic, diners have become increasingly aware of cleanliness. In fact, according to a Medallia study, 79% of consumers say that going forward, they will seek out the health and safety standards that businesses have in place before visiting.  With this in mind, it’s important to communicate and clearly show your sanitation measures so that customers trust in the care you are taking to keep them safe—especially the protocols that have already become routine, from wiping down seating areas between guests to spacing out your waiting areas, and making masks and gloves part of your team’s attire. As we’ve covered in the past, keeping visual cues around for your guests can help put them at ease to better enjoy the in-restaurant experience.

CONVENIENCE IS KEY

man paying at restaurant with mobile phone

Making diners feel welcome by making their experience as seamless as possible can help your restaurant stand out. According to a Vixxo survey on what diners value most about their favorite restaurants prior to the pandemic, 38% said that it’s the overall experience of an establishment—including atmosphere, employees and convenience. Consider conveniences like an online waitlist, an option to pre-order, and contactless payment options that can help increase the chances of even the most cautious customers choosing you.

KEEP THE FAVORITES & KEEP THEM FRESH

chicken sandwich

The pandemic may have forced you to re-evaluate your menu. And it appears that those adjustments may be a good idea to maintain as your restaurant returns to 100% dine-in capacity. In fact, according to Mintel’s research on US restaurant marketing strategies, removing foods that are not takeout-friendly or those that are low margin will continue to serve restaurants well even after the pandemic. But still, history shows that diners enjoy and appreciate menu innovation, so don’t be afraid to keep menu items on that continue to perform while trying seasonal, monthly, or limited-time menu recipes. 

SPEEDY DOES IT

two people eating mussels at a restaurant

Just as restaurants were quick to turn into pop-up grocery stores and set up curbside pickup operations seemingly overnight, staying flexible and in touch with the needs of your diners will be critical for your restaurant’s long-term success. As Medallia put it, since the pandemic, “customers expect more from brands today and they expect it faster.” Sending your diners short, quick feedback via SMS  or asking for open-ended feedback tied to a bounce-back offer may help you better navigate what makes or breaks a memorable dine-in experience and what your diners expect at the moment.

Ultimately, diners will return to the restaurants that they believe provide them with the best value and experience. While the capacities and seating arrangements may change, food quality, consistency, conveniences, and cleanliness will continue to be the defining factors for welcoming your diners back for more.

 

Categories
Restaurant Marketing Communications Advice

The Diner Spending Surge

With  half of all US adults fully vaccinated as of June 2021, the restaurant industry is seeing encouraging signs that customers are ready to spend their money on the  meaningful culinary experiences  they’ve missed over the last year. In fact, according to a  MasterCard  press release, spending at US restaurants is even up from pre-pandemic levels, increasing 6 percent over 2019. And as restaurants begin to transition back to full capacity, here are four ways you can make the most of the diner spending surge.

CREATE EXCLUSIVE DINE-IN EXPERIENCES

A May 2020 Rewards Network Survey found that 60% of diners are eager to dine out once they feel safe doing so. And welcoming them back with experiences that can’t be replicated at home may bring even more to dine in. This could include exclusive menu items that don’t travel well, to-go being prioritized on the menu, table-side menu item experiences that bring the cooks to the table, live entertainment or even rewarding your most loyal guests who supported your restaurant during the pandemic with a free app or dessert for dining in.

REVISIT YOUR DINE-IN MENU

As we’ve covered in the past about streamlining menus for to-go orders, now is a great time to re-evaluate your menu for in-restaurant dining. This doesn’t necessarily mean investing in new hardcopy menus either, as customers have grown accustom to viewing menus on their phone with apps like The Paperless Menu.  But it does mean focusing on menu items that are best enjoyed fresh from the kitchen, such as old favorites removed during the pandemic, re-evaluating or introducing high-margin menu items that didn’t travel well as to-go orders, or even introducing new comfort food recipes that have been trending since the pandemic. 

GET THE TABLES READY

According to restaurant.org, restaurants in almost all US states will be returning to full capacity by mid-June (if they haven’t already). Which means it’s also a great time to reevaluate your seating arrangement. This could mean introducing larger tables for group seating as diners are eager to get out to eat with those they’ve missed, or changing up the layout of your restaurant with more tables spaced closer than 6 feet apart. And if you’re one of the many restaurants with an outdoor seating space, don’t forget to make adjustments for capacity there as well.

KEEP TAKE OUT ON THE MENU

According to The Wall Street Journal, the pandemic has rapidly accelerated the growth for food delivery companies like DoorDash, UberEats and GrubHub. But it’s not just delivery. According to the same LendingTree survey, spending on food away from home, including at restaurants and on takeout, increased by 23.1% between April 2020 and January 2021. And that’s outpaced even the rise consumers are spending on groceries. With to-go and delivery here to stay for many consumers, now is a great time to evaluate how your restaurant handles orders for efficiency. Whether that means a dedicated to-go menu, a streamlined mobile ordering and pick up experience, a separate to-go kitchen, dedicated to-go only parking or creating a drive through for your restaurant. 

Categories
Restaurant Marketing Communications Advice

The Struggle to Hire is Real. Here’s What You Can Do About it.

As vaccines continue to roll out and the country opens back up, restaurants are struggling to do the same. Sticking to take-out and curbside nowadays has less to do with safety and much more to do with the lack of staff. In fact, this time last year the industry had laid off or furloughed roughly 5.5 million workers nationally. And bringing them back has become a challenge. 

One of the main reasons experts believe it’s become so hard to hire is the $300-a-week boost to unemployment benefits from the new $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Economists calculate that roughly half of unemployed Americans are temporarily making more from unemployment than they did from their jobs. Still, this boost is only for a short time (through September) and with health concerns lowering, we expect to see a large increase in available workers through the summer and fall. As a restaurant owner, here are a few things you can do to attract new employees. 

START WITH REFERRALS

From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, referral programs are a major way corporate America hires. The foodservice industry should be doing the same. Owners and GMs shouldn’t just encourage, but reward employees who bring in new hires. These rewards can be anything from straightforward cash bonuses to paid time off for hourly workers to tickets to sporting events, etc. Owners can tier their incentives by offering higher rewards for harder-to-fill positions and even greater rewards if the new hire stays with the store for 6 months or a year. Using your current workforce to bring in new hires is one of the most effective ways a restaurant can recruit. 

RECRUIT LOCALLY

Most restaurants serve a community, and most communities have a pool to pull from. Local universities and community colleges should be large recruiting grounds for nearby restaurants. A recent Snagajob survey showed that flexible hours and scheduling were in the top three benefits a job can offer at 89% of responses. This benefit directly impacts students who need to schedule around classes, tests and breaks. Owners and GMs should be reaching out to campus recruiters with job openings. Additionally, finding employees who live close by is crucial. Studies show that restaurant workers who live within 10 miles of their job are 50% more likely to stay past six months. Finally, once you get a foot in the door with students at a university, it should make the referral program mentioned above a breeze. 

REWARD THE EFFORT

Employee discounts have always been a major way to attract and retain employees. That same Snagajob survey also listed discounts in its top three benefits at 76% of responses. Still, there are scales to these discounts and ways to out-offer your competitors. Some restaurants only offer employee discounts during shifts, while others offer discounts at any time. To know that your employers value you when you’re not on the clock is huge for potential new workers. GMs and owners also know that for employees who rely on tips, not every shift is built equally. Offering free shift meals, even with a limited menu, shows employees that their time and effort are valued. Even on the slowest days, workers still leave feeling full.

WORK HERE, WORK ANYWHERE

As hard as restaurants try to retain their employees, we know sometimes people have to leave. Whether it’s because a spouse was offered a job elsewhere or a student is heading home for the summer, churn is inevitable. Yet, there is the potential that your restaurant chain has another location where that employee is relocating. Creating a relocation program with open communication between corporate and local restaurants will help employees on the move find new jobs wherever they’re settling. Larger corporations like Yum! Brands, who own several different restaurant chains such as KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, can help relocate employees between their different brands. You’ve spent the time and effort to train quality staff—this is one of the more effective ways to keep them in your system. 

While the struggle to hire restaurant workers is ongoing, we know it won’t last. As more vaccines roll out and unemployment benefits dwindle, experts expect a large wave of available workers in the near future. Following the steps we laid out will put any restaurant ahead of the pack when it comes to recruiting the best talent.

Categories
Social Branding Advice

Six Ways to Succeed with Community Management

Even though social media algorithms are constantly changing, the overall purpose of social has remained the same—to make connections and share your authentic self, as a person or as a brand. Planning, creating and sharing content is a large piece of social media development, but community management is just as important. It helps to foster relationships with your followers and lets you connect with them one-to-one. It also lets them know you’re listening and that their voice matters as you respond to both positive and negative feedback. Here are six community management tips that can help grow your engagement and further your success on social. 

  1. Don’t just be a brand on social. Have a voice and a personality that makes you stand out from the rest. Create a persona and imagine you are responding to followers in person vs from behind a screen.
  1. Use captions on content that encourages engagement. Ask people to tag friends, caption posts for the brand, respond to favorites with emojis, choose between different options via comment responses and more. There are so many fun, interactive and creative ways to pull your followers in and make them want to stop scrolling and start paying attention to your content.
  1. Develop content that people want to save and come back to later, share with their friends or ask questions about it. Cooking recipes, fun experiments, interactive quizzes, children’s activities and how-to’s are all perfect for this type of content development.
  1. Acknowledge positive interactions when your followers engage with your posts. Responding to and liking comments is a great way to connect with others. Keep in mind that many social media users feel the ultimate compliment is for a brand is to share their content to the brand’s page. This is called user-generated content (or UGC for short). Brands can go even further by re-sharing Instagram Stories that others have tagged them into their own Stories.
  1. Try to address any negative feedback as quickly as possible. Imagine the customer is face-to-face vs. online. Each person on your social media team is part of the brand’s customer service team. If someone was standing right in front of you, you’d want to respond as quickly and calmly as possible. The same goes for interacting on social media. Don’t let the comment or negative feedback linger for too long. Always apologize first and foremost, then provide a solution in a polite, even-keeled and kind tone.
  1. Respond to negative feedback or concerns publicly and then move the conversation private. If you don’t respond to negative comments and feedback, it makes the brand look unresponsive. Analyze the problem via a private message to determine how to solve the issue. Keep in mind, freebies aren’t always the answer as this can encourage more negative responses. Sometimes, customers just want to be heard and acknowledged.

Overall, don’t overanalyze your interactions. Just remember to be a brand steward and keep the conversation lighthearted and fun as often as possible. There is a reason your followers are engaging with your brand or a reason they’ve reached out. The worst thing you can do is not be responsive at all. Keep the conversation going, stay friendly and at the end of the day, have fun with it!

Categories
COVID Restaurant Marketing Communications Advice

Is 100% Capacity Right for Your Restaurant?

As states begin to loosen COVID-19 restrictions, some restaurants are cautiously considering the same move. In Florida, which allowed restaurants to return to total capacity in September 2020, several chain owners reported a bump in sales. However, according to OpenTable, statewide restaurant reservations remain 20% lower than last year. So while local restrictions ease, the demand may take time to catch up. If you’re still deciding whether or not reopening to total capacity is right for your restaurant, here are a few important things to consider.

SLOW & STEADY

Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that counties that allowed on-site restaurant dining had a rise in COVID-19 cases in the weeks afterward. Federal officials have also warned against removing coronavirus-related precautions too quickly as virus variants continue to circulate. If you see a similar trend in your area and local mandates currently allow 100% capacity, it may be wise to consider a few alternatives to attract diners safely.

INDOOR VS. OUTDOOR

With vaccinations on the rise throughout the U.S., diners are growing more comfortable with dining out—especially outdoors. According to an April 2021 Morning Consult survey, as much as much 68% of respondents said they feel safe sitting for a meal outside. Which is good news if you’re one of the many restaurant owners who’ve invested in an outdoor dining area. Utilizing this space as allowed by local mandates is a great place to start—especially during spring and summer. If your restaurant is limited to indoor dining, consumer comfortability continues to look promising. According to the same survey, 60% of respondents reported feeling comfortable dining out as of April 2021, and 73% of respondents said they think they’ll be comfortable dining out within six months.

ASK YOUR LOYAL GUESTS

Go straight to the source—it’s the easiest way to know for sure how many of your customers would consider dining with your restaurant again. We’ve covered the importance of loyalty programs in the past, and now is a perfect time to ask how many would consider an indoor dining experience. A simple survey and dine-in offer is a great way to gauge how many of your guests want to be in the dining room. Not only will this help you plan for seating arrangements and ideal capacity, but it can also inform how much you’ll need to order from your suppliers.

OFF-PREMISE & TO-GO REMAIN PROMISING

According to the Morning Consult survey, takeout continues to be the most popular dining option with 42% of respondents reporting ordering takeout at least once a week. If your restaurant has adjusted well to off-premise dining, consider sticking with the trend by offering menu items that travel well, along with a few others. Curbside pickup boomed during the beginning of the pandemic and demand continues to show no signs of slowing down.

MAINTAIN NEW REVENUE STREAMS

Over the last year, many restaurants found success in setting up and promoting new revenue streams. And even as restrictions ease, it’s still a good idea to maintain the ones that worked best for your restaurants, from the ever-popular family bundles around holidays and special occasions to extra helpings of heat-and-eat meals.

REMAIN FLEXIBLE

Few industries have felt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic more than the restaurant industry. And while many are anxious to return to normal, no one knows for sure what that new normal will look like. In the meantime, it’s important to listen to your guests and staff, plan ahead and make adjustments day by day to gauge when returning to 100% capacity is right for your restaurant. 

Categories
Branding Advice Fun

5 Photoshop Tips for Beginners to 
Not Look So…Beginnerish

By Jim Brothers, Studio Manager, Push.

Have you been playing around getting comfortable in Adobe Photoshop and you’re ready to up your game? Maybe even make some cheddar on the side doing freelance graphic design? Forget Fiverr—here are five things to know in Adobe Photoshop CC that will set you apart from the amateurs.

Set up your file correctly from the start.

The first thing you need to know is whether the file is for print or digital. When starting a new document, there are presets along the top of the dialog box to get you going as far as units of measure and color profile. But really what’s important here is starting at the correct resolution. If the file is for print, the resolution needs to be at 300 dpi. It’s always better to size a file down than up. 

If you have to size a file up, make sure to check Resample and select Preserve Detail 2.0 from the dropdown next to it in the Image Resize window.

Use artboards instead of multiple files.

Gone are the days of needing 10 Photoshop files for 10 different size web banners. Now you can have them all in one file using artboards. There’s a checkbox for this in the New File dialog box or you can get there from the Layer menu. You can set options for your artboards in the Properties panel and move, duplicate and resize your artboards using the Artboards Tool.

Generate Image Assets.

You may have noticed that Save for Web doesn’t work so well now that we’re using artboards. No worries. Properly naming your layers is not just good practice for efficiency and organization, but now you can set up your file to export jpgs, pngs and gifs…(pause for effect)…automatically.

The first thing you need to do is add .jpg, .png, or .gif to the end of your layer names or artboard names. (i.e. Web_Banner_300x250.jpg). Next, click File>Generate>Image Assets. That’s it! Go to where your .psd is saved and you’ll see that a new assets folder has been created, and inside that folder are all the files you’re exporting. Any changes you make in the file now will be updated automatically in that folder. And this is just scratching the surface. Click here to see how to save multiple sizes from one layer, change the export quality and more.

Be smart. Use smart objects.

Using smart objects allow us to work nondestructively. This is key. There’s nothing you can do once you’ve flattened all your layers or rasterized vector graphics if you need to make changes or enlarge the image. Smart objects don’t get chopped off if the image is cropped. Also, adding filters to a smart object, such as Gaussian Blur, create smart filters that allow us to go back and tweak it until it’s right or change it later.

Keep in mind that if you’re duplicating smart objects within your file, you’re creating instances of the original smart object. This means, if you replace or make changes to one of the smart objects, they will all change. If you want to duplicate a smart object that is not an instance of the rest, right-click the layer and select New Smart Object via Copy.

Master the Pen Tool.

The Pen Tool is mightier than the…er…Sword Tool. 

Ok, there’s no Sword Tool, but it’s definitely mightier than the Lasso Tool when we’re clipping out images. Stop wasting your time trying to clean up the edges of a selection using the Lasso or quick select tools. This is what the pros call a dirty selection. Grab your Pen Tool and start tracing what you want to clip just inside the edge of the object. Click to make points, click and drag in the direction you’re tracing to make the curves. It takes some practice, but this is how you get to the next level.

After your path is complete, you can either use a selection of your path to mask and fine-tune the edges of your object or, using the Path Selection Tool, cut your path from the Paths panel and paste it directly on your layer to create a vector mask. You can even take it a step further and feather the edges of your mask just a hair in the Layer Mask properties to help it blend nicer into its new background.

Look at you lookin’ like a pro! And these are just a few features. For instance, did you know you can do math in the transform controls, select the sky with a single click and easily straighten an object in perspective or visa versa? Check back to learn more about useful tools like these. And as soon as Adobe creates the Sword Tool, we’ll master that one too.

Categories
COVID Restaurant Digital Media Advice

How to Plus Up Your Restaurant’s Online Presence

Having a robust online presence has been crucial for restaurants. Still, this past year we’ve seen people spend even more time online and make it routine to turn to the Internet to search for and order from restaurants. The following tips are always best practices to keep in mind, but they may be more important than ever during this year and looking ahead. 

Strong Website Design

This first tip is just as important as it ever was. When thinking of web design, first and foremost, focus on functionality. Ensure your website is clean and easy to navigate so customers can easily find locations, your hours of operation, how to place an online order and more. Mobile design should be a priority as that’s where people are spending more and more time. It’s also, of course, important to make sure the website reflects your brand identity and that your design is helping to drive a state of crave. High-quality photos and branded videos will go a long way to entice your customers to visit or order online. 

Optimize for Search

Never underestimate the power of SEO. It’s crucial that when people search keywords related to your business that your restaurant appears in their search results. Google Analytics and other tools can help you identify the keywords best for you brand. If the budget is there, utilizing paid search ads can certainly be beneficial. Also, make sure your Google My Business page is up to date and get more tips in our previous guide. You want to make sure that people are getting the most accurate and recent information when they pull up a Google search result for your restaurant. 

Engage with Reviews

As many customers use third-party review sites to inform their dining out decision, it’s important to be aware of your presence on those sites and what your customers are saying. Responding to positive reviews and thoughtfully replying to the negative ones in your brand’s voice shows that you respect and value your customers. You should also gently encourage your guests to leave reviews to help grow your restaurant’s presence on those platforms since many people make decisions based on the number of positive reviews.

Amp Up Your Social Presence

And finally, we all know social media is a great way to boost your online presence but are you using it strategically? Identify the platforms that make the most sense for your business and focus your energy there. You’d rather invest in a robust Instagram page with stunning photos than focus your energy on tweeting with little engagement. Also, be sure to create a content strategy that drives genuine engagement and encourages UGC. 

These are all tried and true ways to boost your online presence, but it can be good to take a moment to reevaluate your efforts in these areas and see where there could be room for improvement or reinvestment. As time spent online by consumers only continues to increase, you’ll be happy you made the time to do so now when you reap the benefits down the road.