Datassentials, a leading market research firm that focuses on the foodservice industry has been engaged in Covid-19 research with operators, suppliers, and consumers to help inform the industry’s current and next steps:

• Nearly 70% of consumers would much rather support locally owned restaurants, however, 65% of shelter-in-place takeout & delivery business is from chain brands. Almost flipped.

• 33% of surveyed restaurateurs chose “helping to get word out to potential customers that they are serving takeout and/or delivery” as a most welcomed resource, while 25% cited ‘help to promote traffic.”

Takeaway? Locally owned restaurants, on average, are experiencing communication and marketing challenges. Chain brands have the systems and human resources to update their status and communicating their sanitation protocols: not only on their website, social media platforms, and/or 3rd party delivery apps… they’re updating Google too. Answering at a glance the query of the moment: “Restaurants open near me”

Google, and by extension Google Maps, launched some serendipitous upgrades to its business listings in February of this year that expands the “at a glance” details of area businesses that can give restaurants an extra edge to leverage.

Google My Business is a free and a *relatively* user-friendly process:

Go to Google My Business. You’ll need a Gmail address, ideally, one owned by you or your restaurant, NOT an employee’s personal Gmail account.

Ensure that your business is listed in Google My Business and select “Sign in”. If you’re prompted to start the process of Googling your business, it’s as simple as answering a few questions before you’re taken to the next step.

Google has new Covid-19 specific options available, look for the “Coronavirus (Covid-19)” section; this should only take you 20-30 minutes.

Once you’ve gone through the basics of the verification process you can post updates directly to Google. Doing so will give you full control to update your business hours, menu adaptations, and Covid-19 sanitation as well as improve your page ranking.

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