There are many good reasons why restaurants, taverns and bars should be using social media marketing. It is a great way to interact with new customers and keep up with existing ones. It drives traffic to your website. It is much less expensive than traditional advertising mediums like television, radio and print.

Stacey Kane, Director of Marketing for California Tortilla, says: “For smaller restaurant chains like us, social media is an easy and inexpensive way to reach our customers. It is a way to reach people instantaneously. There is no big backup on producing artwork or a radio spot. You have the idea and you can send it out.”

Here is a recipe for social media success:

Build Your Community

Building a good community is like preparing a good meal. You start with the right ingredients. Open a Facebook account – the world’s largest site for social media marketing. Facebook has become a digital calling card for many restaurants. It allows you to network and stay in touch with your current customers and make new ones.

Twitter is the other good social media site for restaurants. It asks the question, “What are you doing?” Write short one-liners announcing new services, specials and menu features. Start conversations. Be an authentic voice of your restaurant. Try to blend humor with your message. Don’t over do it. Go with a natural flow and you will fit right in.

Pay Attention to What People Are Saying

Now that you have a community, listen to what your fans and friends say. What is their favorite food? What was their favorite restaurant experience? Who is their favorite waiter or waitress? When you participate with your fans on social media platforms, you make them feel wanted and you make them feel at home.

Pay Attention to Your Competition

Keep an eye on what your competition is doing. Where are they listed? Who are their fans on Facebook? What kind of promotions do they offer? If your competitor has a website, check inbound links for their business directories and then add yourself to the same directories. Make sure your restaurant is on Google Maps, too. You can do this by signing up at Google’s Local Business Center.

Promotions and Contests

Nothing beats a promotion or contest. Create promotions regularly and then give them an event name. When you tie-in Facebook Events for your promotions, they are automatically promoted on your Facebook Page. Post lunch or dinner specials for your restaurant. Promote monthly wine tastings if you own a wine shop. If you own a bar, create a Facebook event each week for happy hour. California Tortilla has an exciting contest called “Secret Password Day” – a password is released on a specific day and people use the password for free food and items. Discounts are a great way to endear yourself with your social community. When you give them special coupons, you are not only telling them you are a good restaurant, but you are a good person, too.

Building a community around your restaurant by leveraging these social media tools takes time and dedication. If you are able to participate and add value for the members of your community, you will succeed in social media marketing and fill up your tables as well. Bon appetit!

Dan Chambers
Vesta Digital
http://www.vestadigital.com

Mobile marketing is beginning to sound like the movie Minority Report, where pedestrians had their retinas scanned by computers as they walked by stores and voices addressed them by name and encouraged them to buy products tailored to their personal preferences. That would be scary, but it’s never gonna happen to me, right?

Surely you’ve seen TV ads asking you to text such and such to a number and receive deals or promos. The companies doing that kind of advertising get your number when you text, and use that to target you for future promos.

Seems like we’re getting warmer, Steven Spielberg.

Until recently, nobody in the food service industry was thinking about applying some of these new technologies to an old game: improving sales and customer retention.That’s changing, and one of the agents of change is Fishbowl Inc., a technology-based marketing company for the food service industry. The firm has built email and internet marketing campaigns for over 30,000 restaurants and is recommended by the National Restaurant Association. They recently expanded into mobile technology marketing, where new marketing techniques have revolutionized how restaurants reach their customers.

Scotty’s Brewhouse in Indiana increased to-go orders placed on the internet by 500% with a two-for-one promo that went out via email and applied only to those internet orders.

Smoothie King chain restaurant locations offer a free smoothie in exchange for a text message from customers.The cost of the smoothie is a fraction of the value of having that customer on an email and text list for future promos, and sales are up on promo days by 24%.

Jack-in-the-Box has even experimented with placing a small computer chip in special promo posters that communicates with mobile devices and alerts customers to local store locations and deals.

Maybe those retina scans aren’t that far off after all.

As marketing methodology improves using these new technologies, restaurants will be able to reach their customers in increasingly innovative ways. Building email and text number databases of customers will help connect customers and businesses and allow restaurants to improve sales in slow periods and maximize customer retention. Most importantly, restaurants can learn about their customers and cater more directly to their needs. Knowing what customers want when they want it is half the battle in any service industry, and especially in the food service industry.

Gregory Scott McGuire is a regular contributor to The Back Burner Blog, a resource of restaurant news and trends written by the employees of Tundra Specialties, a company specializing in restaurant equipment, supplies, and equipment parts

http://blog.etundra.com
http://www.etundra.com