Before consulting for restaurants, I started out blogging about (you guessed it) donuts. Over the past few years I’ve seen some bloggers bring a sense of entitlement— demanding free meals and donated prizes for their giveaways — without first giving back to the local restaurant community.
But we have to remember that the business of blogging is a human business; it’s all about relationships.
And now more than ever is when restaurants need our support.
With that in mind, here are 9 ideas on how to support the food and hospitality industries during COVID-19:
1) Create guides for your favorite restaurants that are doing curbside pickup and delivery.
2) Encourage followers to buy restaurant gift cards and merchandise.
3) Host giveaways that do not involve growing your following. Try a Takeout Bingo game or a Spot the Difference photo contest. A gift card is a great prize, but make sure you’re paying for it yourself.
4) Donate to, or crowdfund for, a food-related cause like Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation or CORE Gives. You can even use the Instagram Story DONATION feature to select a nonprofit.
5) Offer your skills for FREE to your favorite local restaurant (photography, social media, GIF creation, website upgrades, general advice) in exchange for testimonials.
6) Go live with your favorite spots for an interactive event: @dallasites101 has been co-hosting fun cocktail classes and trivia nights on Instagram.
7) Write a positive review on Google, Yelp or TripAdvisor. Your positive review/caption on Instagram is meaningful for your followers, but it’s not moving the needle in terms of SEO. Did you know that Google often pre-filters results for searches including “best”? Meaning it will only show results for businesses with a 4-star rating or above. Check out this article for more.
8) Support artists who are supporting the food industry. Two things I’m loving from my friend Volta from @colorsnack:
- She contributed a page to Decent Market’s coloring book with proceeds going to the North Texas Food Bank.
- She’s collaborating with fellow artist Katie Fuerst for a ceramic donut mug kit benefiting Heard That Foundation.
9) BONUS: If you’re a traditional food blogger and recipe developer, consider creating a Quarantine Cookbook with partial proceeds going to charity.
Restaurants who make it to the other side of COVID-19 will remember who used their platform for good at this time. So be kind. Give back. Lead with your heart. Let’s serve those who serve us!
