New directory websites RSM offer centralized, easily searchable state or metro-wide listings of restaurants open for carryout, delivery and curbside service. They connect restaurants with customers who wish to support their favorite and new establishments with their dollars during the coronavirus crisis
As stay at home orders closed the dining rooms of restaurants across Kansas, RSM Marketing Services and their longtime client, the Kansas Restaurant & Hospitality Association (KRHA), had a critical objective. They needed to find ways to keep these restaurant businesses—many small and family-owned—in business.
“These businesses are the lifeblood of our community,” said Bruce Rowley, Managing Partner of RSM. “What’s more, the community very much wants to support them—to keep them going by ordering delivery, curbside and carryout. Most restaurants remain open, but they need new ways to let people know.”
Rowley took the challenge to his team of marketers.
“At a time like this, you need to do more marketing, not less,” he said. “It’s all about direct connection and communication. The go-to tactic is social media, but we found that many small restaurant and hospitality businesses don’t have an established platform. Building that up takes time that they don’t have right now.
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“Restaurants must also reach outside their usual customer base. People in the community want to try new places, to spread their support around. What was missing was a way to bring them all together—a centralized source of information.”
In response, the RSM Marketing Services team created OpenInKS.com for KRHA. The website offers a centralized database of Kansas restaurants that are open for carryout, curbside and/or delivery. It allows customers to easily sort by city, service options, cuisine, and even view menus. Restaurants and lodging establishments can add their listing in minutes at no cost.
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The site took off instantly, with hundreds of restaurants and hospitality businesses across Kansas adding their listings. Knowing that the concept could help restaurants in additional states, Rowley shared the idea with the Council of State Restaurant Associations (CSRA).
The response was positive and instantaneous, with site requests coming in from states across the country. The RSM team rose to the challenge, building seven additional websites in only four days: OpenInOregon.com, CarryoutPA.com, CarryoutAK.com, CarryoutAL.com, CarryoutMA.com, CarryoutMO.com and OpenInIdaho.com. RSM’s developers worked long hours over the weekend to turn around the sites. The team expects to build additional sites as requests from more associations come in.
“We couldn’t be prouder of everyone’s quick thinking, coordination, skill and dedication,” said Rowley. “It’s heartening to see how people and organizations are pulling together like never before to help each other.”
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