As we inch closer and closer to a post-COVID world, the restaurant industry must once again figure out how to tactfully attract and maintain customers in the face of rapidly changing guidelines and increased competition. For consumers, the standard for an elevated, compelling experience will be higher than ever.
Make entertainment work for your business
In a recent survey, millennial consumers reported they are most excited to return to leisure activities that revolve around unique experiences.1 While restaurant owners are already familiar with having to rethink the customer experience to improve safety measures (hey, we're all about contactless payment), there's one opportunity that is often underutilized: entertainment.
For decades, businesses have relied on closed-captioned talking heads and polarizing news to enhance the environment for their customers. The problem? The way we consume content outside our homes is vastly different from how we do so inside of our homes.
It's a logical insight, but the truth is that most businesses opt to not do anything about it, often resorting to a traditional, expensive and clunky cable package. It doesn’t contribute to a unique experience, and it doesn't make customers want to stick around.
Most modern businesses have screens in some capacity, but they're not leveraged as true value-adds, rather unamusing noise boxes.
Custom content differentiates the experience
COVID-19 restrictions forced a speedier adoption of technology that allowed customers to engage with restaurants in entirely new ways, and studies show that customers expect those innovations to stay.2 As businesses open back up, compelling ambient content is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s an essential element of the modern restaurant experience.
Atmosphere TV is the world's leading streaming TV service for businesses, offering original, audio-optional and family-friendly TV channels. We've developed an entirely new class of TV programming that redefines the standard for out-of-home content and is intentionally designed to keep customers lingering.
"It gives users and guests another reason to stay a little bit longer," says Mike Beauchamp, director of digital marketing at Hooters. "There’s something to that while they’re finishing up a beer or waiting on their check, it's something else to see that they don’t see anywhere."
As the next logical touchpoint to engage customers, Atmosphere TV delivers customized content, including promotions and special offers tailored to fit our partners’ needs, that meaningfully engages and strengthens the intangible connection consumers develop with brands.
Making it count: how it impacts the bottom line
Soon enough, people will be more on-the-go than ever, and successful reopenings will ultimately come down to how long business owners can keep customers in their restaurant. Spoiler alert: traditional live TV programming is not what’s going to capture their attention.
Consider these growth data points that occur across Atmosphere’s thousands of restaurants and venues:
- 14% increase in new business
- 16% increase dwell time
- 19% increase in repeat guests
That's the difference. And at a reasonable price.
Most venues think they have no choice but to show cable stations with subtitles featuring talking heads or news, but Atmosphere delivers flexibility and personalization that adds significant value without added cost.
As so many businesses are in the midst of re-evaluating how they deliver a memorable experience to their customers on a daily basis, it's critical that content be a part of that discussion -- and the role it will play to support, not to detract.
Want to learn more? We'd love to chat with you: come visit www.Atmosphere.TV.
https://morningconsult.com/2021/03/24/pent-up-demand-travel-restaurants-cruise-pandemic/
https://blog.opentable.com/2021/restaurants-diner-survey-data-covid-19/
