Social Media - The Next Frontier

Dare to go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek Quote:
"Sybok: The people of your world once believed the world was flat. Columbus proved it was round. They said the sound barrier could never be broken!... It was broken. They said warp-speed could not be accomplished..."

After much research, it seems to me that the practical application, using social media to benefit the restaurant industry, is still very much a work in progress, .....but very much possible. At present, and maybe to the majority of us, it resembles something ellusive, something perhaps best left to Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock.

Truth Be Told

After discussing social media with several restaurant owners and managers, most have neither taken the time to explore, nor seriously considered using social media in their business, even though most of them believe it could enhance their image and possibly increase their customer base.
They are waiting for 'social proof' before they get too excited or motivated to jump on the social media bandwagon.

A Recent Article may Best Represent The Present Mindset

An article posted by Kara Swisher, Co-Executive Editor for the Wall Street Journal, was quite thought provoking.

With Walt Mossberg, she currently co-produces and co-hosts, All Things Digital, a major high-tech conference with interviewees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many other leading players in the tech and media industries.

Her article,
"Is Social Media Killing PR? (Or Maybe Vice Versa?)," was quite good.
Be sure to watch the 4:21 minute video.

'One of The Comments' in response to the article was also very insightful:

"As I see it, social media may be saving PR during a time when traditional publications are folding on a weekly basis. When used properly, blogs, podcasts, etc. offer clients the opportunity to have an equal, honest and unedited voice in discussions that shape their industries and impact their brands. If PR pros invest the time required to learn how to use these tools effectively, the potential for creativity is endless." [Posted by Jayson Schkloven]

I think that social media is coming of age to the restaurant industry.

It is just waiting for the next captain to take the controls.

I believe the master course will be charted by the use of 3 coordinates:

1. Vision
2. Clarity, and
3. Social Proof.

How do you feel about Social Media and The Restaurant Industry?

a). Good, It's already shaping our future.
b). Bad, It's just a bunch of nonsense, too much hype!
c). Ugly, created by people with too much time on their hands. Get a job!!!
d). Undecided, maybe you live under a mushroom and never heard of SM.
e). All of the above, You could be a candidate for my next fry cook :)
[Just kidding,]

Let me know what you think,

Bill

Tags: Baumgartner, Bill, Media, Social, improvement, management, restaurant, self

0 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of FohBoh to add comments!

Join FohBoh

Comment by Dan Harris on June 13, 2009 at 6:47pm: Social Media and Social Networking go hand in hand and the hardest thing for restaurants is finding the time and being willing to invest the time. I've seen it work best when restaurants and establishments connect with large networks of people who are connected and then use their establishments for meeting and gathering spots.

TasteCasting was founded based on this premise. We gather, meet, eat and then tweet, blog, and promote our attendance and promote the food we are treated to.

Check it out. There is a proofpoint video on the home page and more proof to come that social media does work if a strategy and appropriate tactics are deployed.

Comment by John Dumbrille on June 10, 2009 at 10:19am: Joel, I agree to a point with your comments: it's about relationships. And there there are lots of social mediums.

"Being social" is an imperative, for sure. For me the key is that "push marketing"has drastically lost its grip in the Internet age, and companies have to build their businesses with this in mind. It's getting increasingly difficult for a brand to be disseminated when people don't have real enthusiasm for what the business is doing, and don't have a real sense of relationship. Nowadays, marketing is best kept out of the hands of people with disdain for other people.

Most - not all - food business tweets and facebook food company "fan" page data that I see amount to inconsequential, broadcasted messages in an echochamber - with links back to ME. "Look at us, we're going fast, we're winning, you can be too!" Is this social media? We have to retool.

What we call social media isnt necessarily social or effective. If the necessary change in the ways and means that we relate to competitors, suppliers and customers in the Internet Age is respectful and adaptive, we'll use the new tools effectively; we'll succeed on this new and important frontier.

Comment by Joel Cohen, RestaurantMarketing.com on June 10, 2009 at 5:19am: Bill,

I'm going to play contrarian here.

I don't think Social Media is the next frontier. Actually, I don't think anyone knows what the next frontier really is.

As a realist (and player) in Social Media, and knowing its advantages, the fact still remains that the best social media that provides long-term sales is being "social" in the the restaurant and in the community. That's the real social media -- and that's still a "frontier" that in a lot of restaurants has yet to be crossed.

Sales are made through connections and relationships; sales are made through "mayor marketing" not through "the grass is always greener what's the next frontier marketing."

Social media (I know you know this) is much more than Twitter. It's blogging, it's forums, it's recommendations on Yelp and Google Maps, it's chat sessions on web sites, it's videos and more. Where applicable, all or some of these elements should be part of any restaurant's disciplined sales-building plan (hopefully they do have a plan) to provide current and relevant guest-focused information and communication.

But is Social Media next frontier? Hmmm...I think that's a little heady.

Joel Cohen
RestaurantMarketingBlog.com

Comment by Ashley Howard on June 9, 2009 at 3:22pm: Hi Bill,
Very interesting article! I absolutely believe that Social Media has absolutely started "coming of age." This post actually goes along with a poll I recently saw on the National Restaurant Association's site saying that 29.73% of restaurants are currently using Twitter, and 26.32% are thinking about it. As an online marketer myself, I think that one of the biggest issues the foodservice industry is having with social media is that they dont fully know how to use it; many small restaurants/bars/etc are just throwing themselves onto all of the main social sites without really getting an idea of who they want to reach and what their customers are interested in online. This article is a great conversation starter, and I hope that more and more restaurants start looking into the potential of social media!

@ Annie Galebach: A possible way to gauging general Twitter value is to put up a Twitter-specific promotion/coupon and track how many people use it. It's not perfect, but it's certainly a start.

Comment by Erle Dardick on June 9, 2009 at 12:35pm: Hey Bill - good stuff, and I have to say:
a) Good, It's already shaping our future!!
Customers, not the PR dept, are in charge as never before. Just ask the guys at Google, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, and in the food industry, the guys in the LA canteen truck - Kogi - “The social media side of Kogi and Kogi can’t be separated.”... I'll expand on this...

Comment by Debra Straka on June 9, 2009 at 12:21pm: "We need more millenium crystals, Captain!" How exciting to be living the Social Media moment. For some in the industry, it is the oil that keeps the wheels turning (see Earl Dardick's Kogi story), for others it is one more facet to the crystals that is promotional dollars.
Social marketers and sociologists are still deciphering target audiences (ie. did you know that fastest growing population on Twitter is the 40 to 50 year old users ~ it would appear a better marketing tool for the boomer and gen x generations than for gen y). Is it any wonder that the small mom and pop business' are still trying to figure Social Media value?
Thank you Bill for opening this discussion up again. Value? Yes plenty to go around, but as a rule of thumb I wouldn't put all of my eggs in this basket alone ~ the smart business alwalys looks to the next trend.

Comment by Annie Galebach on June 8, 2009 at 11:09am: Bill,
Very interesting read! Thank you.
I'm a recent college graduate who just started working at a restaurant specifically for social media. So far, we have had some success promoting events through Twitter and Facebook. However, it seems particularly difficult to know how much of an impact Twitter has in promoting events and encouraging people to eat at the restaurant. It seems Facebook can be more reliable way to understand the responses of customers to a restaurant.

The restaurant I work for is a french restaurant with two Boston locations and one Natick called Sel de la Terre. Do you have any thoughts about the most effective ways to reach customers through social media?

Comment by Keith Bernhardt on June 8, 2009 at 8:54am: Bill,
Hope you're doing well. I've been following the social media system, too.
I'm surprised that more restaurants aren't joining in the conversations, so to speak.
It seems like it would be an easy program to develop. Further, each could be as different
or creative. Noone would have to be the same.

I would think the ciost to investment ratio would be inexpensive, because it is relatively
simple to develop. The customers, are, undoubtedly using some form of SM, so the restaurant and food service sector should, too. It seems to me.