2020’s Marketing Lessons Hold Advice for 2021 and Beyond

Raise your hand if your 2020 marketing plan included messaging about wearing a mask. No one?How about weeks-long dining room shutdowns? Still nothing?To say this year has been unpredictable is becoming cliché. By now, the trying situation facing many restaurant owners and managers around the country is simply a predictable reality. Curbside takeout and no-contact delivery are the norms. If a restaurant can open its doors, the rigid rules for containing the spread of COVID-19 are habit.

That’s not to say anything about this year has been easy. We’re in the midst of a crisis, and the challenges presented by it will likely be with us long after a working vaccine is adopted. But we’ve been operating in this environment long enough that we can begin to form new long-term strategies.

And when it comes to those marketing plans, 2020’s lessons will, at least, provide good advice for 2021 and the years to come.

Be a TeacherWhen the pandemic reached our area and we closed our dining…