Restaurant Social Media
What Social Media Are you Using At Your Restaurant? FohBoh Wants to Know
Hi all,
I am compiling a list of social media that operators are using now to manage their operations, manage their online reputation, promote to the "crowd" and drive traffic to the door. So, what are you using?
My sense is that once we have a list we can discuss their relative value and socialize the results.
Thanks for your help.
Michael
I am compiling a list of social media that operators are using now to manage their operations, manage their online reputation, promote to the "crowd" and drive traffic to the door. So, what are you using?
My sense is that once we have a list we can discuss their relative value and socialize the results.
Thanks for your help.
Michael
Tags: Restaurant, FohBuzz, FohMedia, media, social media, social media for restaurants
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joel Cohen, RestaurantMarketing.com on -
Hi Michael,
Is this strange that no one's replied to this post? A restaurant that is not engaging in "social media" both online and offline is missing potential sales. Is it a problem of time? Is it an issue of "I'm just a restaurant guy, trying to keep my feet above water, and along comes twitter, facebook etc...and I'm just now trying to figure out how to ftp a menu revision for my website!"
What's scary is that their restaurant is, probably unknowingly to them, already a participant at the party. Just go to search.twitter to find out what people are saying about the restaurant.
So, what's the solution? An easy 60 second a day social media plan. Pick a couple of platforms and get going. Encourage your guests to follow you on twitter. That's a great start, especially if you already have an email list.
Joel Cohen
www.RestaurantMarketingBlog.com
www.RestaurantMarketing.com
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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Atkinson on -
Joel,
Sorry about not responding immediately, but like you, I was hoping this would attract more interest. It's also indicative of the restaurant industry and how early we social media practitioners, really are. It will take time. If I have learned anything since founding FohBoh in 2007, it is patience.
As we continue to evolve as a social web technology that develops and provides social media services and SaaS under the brand FohBuzz, we see first hand how uninformed the industry is. You get and are a pro at restaurant marketing. Others, well, are not.
We keep delivering the message and appreciate, as ever, those who are willing to share. It really the power of social intelligence that the operators are missing.
Cheers Joel
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Permalink Reply by John Strawn on -
Micheal,
At my establishment we currently have a facebook page and thats about it. Most of our social media stems from local weekly magazines and newspaper advertisements. I agree 100% that we are in a new age of restuaranteer's and apealing to the younger consumer is crucial in developing these future relationships. In term's of online reservations OpenTable has worked miracles and it's capabilites as a system are an extremely useful tool.
I dont know if sites like facebook and myspace will ever be a top source for restuarant reviews but with helpful links to your website or online review sites like BOORAH.com a facebook page could really help build a younger customer base.
John Strawn
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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Atkinson on
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John, thanks and sorry I am a little slow to respond. We have really been swamped developing and delivering our social media monitoring tool called FohBuzz. It gathers reviews, blogs, photos, Tweets and status updates from all social web sites into one restaurant-centric dashboard. Check it out here.
Cheers!
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Permalink Reply by Joe Coyne on -
Michael,
I just e-mailed my regional manager today about starting a Facebook account for each unit so that we can communicate in store specials and promotions to our biggest fans. So to answer your question accurately right now we are not using one but I plan on using Facebook very shortly. I am very interested to see what everyone else is doing.
Joe Coyne
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Permalink Reply by Joe Coyne on
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I've never actually used Twitter. I am actually a little behind everyone else with social networking. I do plan on checking out Twitter though.
Joe
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Permalink Reply by Erica McClenny on -
Which Applebee's group are you under? I'm helping Apple Gold and The Rose Group with their local strategy already! LOL
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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Atkinson on
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Lots of uses and use cases these days, Joe. See this below for some idea on how to frame a strategy. If you need assistance, just let me know. Four Square and Posterous are great and two of my favs
Cheers!
FohBuzz + FohMedia Services.pdf
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Permalink Reply by Paul Paz on -
Many of us on FOHBOH participate in SM platforms because we are already sold on the applications. The dilema is that we haven't yet been able to reach our peers on how to use SM and/or prove its value. I feel there is a noteable population of our peers who are just too embarassed (especially as successful restaurant entrepreneurs) to admit that they don't know much about the SM, tech in general, and aren't comfortable sharing that (perceived) weakness with the entire world. It's gentler on the ego to pass SM off as tom-foolery that real businperson wouldn't think twice about. If anything, this lack of interest is a real opportunity for those who diligently explore the SM business applications.
Paul
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Permalink Reply by nick on -
A good social media site for restaurants to talk and receive feedback from their customers is FeedbackJar.com
Think of it as an online suggestion box for restaurants.
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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Atkinson on
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Hey Nick,
I agree! Feedback Jar gets the award for being honest and interactive. Being able to connect directly with those that review you is a key engagement factor.
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Permalink Reply by Kitchen Cavalier on -
The best social media (site/platform/community/blog/vlog/etc) for any restaurant or hotel to use, is...
...wait for it...
...the same one that your guests are using!
Sorry, that was a cheap trick :-) But the obvious point I want to share is just that social media has something for everyone, and there's no one-size-fits-all. That's what makes social media more powerful than email or direct mailers alone. So the best way to definitively say which social media would work for you is to start listening to what your customers (and competitors) are already saying about your business... and where they're saying it. Then you're in a position to decide where you need a profile (or two or three), and to choose which converstaions you want to participate in (and which ones have the furthest reach/influence).
Paul is absolutely right in his post above - that the FohBoh community is likely to already be dabbling in social media as part of an existing integrated marketing effort. And whether you're a single unit operator or a global restaurant brand, social media can be just as powerful as all your other marketing efforts combined.
I would be interested to see how many people in the FohBoh community are approaching social media in the same way that they approach other forms of marketing (i.e. as strategic and relevant communications).
If you were at the recent NRA Show in Chicago, then you probably also saw very little in the way of innovation, especially when it comes to marketing and social media. I was actually amazed that in this economy there isn't a more obvious shift in the industry towards affordable ways of communicating with new and existing customers.
I have seen a lot of positive chatter about a hospitality focused solution called Guest Pulse (www.guestpulse.com). This is the only social media marketing service that specifically caters for restaurants and hotels, so it's definitely worth trying out (there's a free trial).
Hyatt recently announced their social media strategy: http://groupsinternational.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/hyatt-ceo-annou... But you don't have to be Hyatt to tap into the benefits of using social media as a part of your marketing and sales plan. In our expereince, it's important to start a social media strategy by listening to what's already being said about your location/brand (and whether it's coming from your happy customers or your sneaky competitors), then test different ways of responding to your customers (from personal messages to loyal customers to winning back unhappy guests), you can also listen out for potential new customers, and that's where a good social media approach can become your best sales person! Imagine that someone just blogged about their trip to Seattle next weekend... if you're listening out for it in the right places you can respond by offering a last-minute hotel package or a dinner reservation at your restaurant.
So, start by monitoring the amount of chatter in the social media space (i.e. listen to your customers and/or look for potential new customers), then try exactly what Joel mentioned in his post above... start with a manageable and targeted social media plan. Even if it's a 60-second-a-day committment, it's a start!
Custom social media services like www.guestpulse.com (starts at about $200) can also handle the responses on your behalf, and that's even more affordable than working with your marketing agency or hiring a marketing assistant to do it! If you find any similar hospitality solutions/services in the social media space then please post it!
Lastly, there are also a lot of software licenses and tools out there (not industry-specific) that you can use for things like social media monitoring, response workflow etc and they start at about $500 per month, so if you're technically minded enough and/or just enjoy spending the weekends tinkering with new technology (guilty) then it might be worth it.
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