Lately, it seems much of my attention has been turned toward restaurants and their use of social media for marketing.
Just the other day, my friend Mary McKnight and I were discussing the matter and both agreed restaurants, bars and such other consumer-centric local businesses are obvious choices for use of the medium. (From our joint perspective as marketing consultants, we also agreed they were “low hanging fruit” too — obvious prospects for our services.)
Take, for example, what’s happened with Naked Pizza down in New Orleans. Their entire approach to marketing has been revamped to include social media, especially Twitter. So novel was it, the restaurant garnered coverage in the New York Times as well as investment from Mark Cuban.
The same can be said for Ramon DeLeon, owner of several Domino’s Pizza restaurants in Chicago. He has mastered the art of using social media to sell his products and created a very loyal following in the process. In fact, his popularity has taken on almost Gary Vaynerchukesque proportions.
Recently, I noticed a number of articles and blog posts on the topic of restaurants using social media. Here are a few:
- Where fine dining and social media meet – SmartBrief on Social Media
- Take a Tip from Restaurants on Email Marketing & Social Media – Vertical Response blog
- Atlanta Restaurants Band Together on Niche Social Media Site – 11Alive.com
A year ago I asked the question on Twitter, “If I were a restaurant, I’d use Twitter to…” and received a number of responses ranging from, “I would tweet my lunch specials at lunch time; tweet whether there’s a wait; tweet my best desert of the day” to “ask customers to submit their best homemade recipes and hold a contest, the winner gets dish on the menu 4 a yr & named after them.”
Truly, Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts were made in the shade for restaurants. I can’t think of one good reason why every such establishment shouldn’t have both.
In fact, even though I work as Internet marketing director for a Web design and development company, I once told a client who came to us for consulting on social media marketing that they didn’t need a Web site, and that a Facebook Page would suffice. (And, no, that advise didn’t get me fired.)
In this particular case, the restaurant in question was a lunch counter in an office building, not a full-service restaurant. In their case, a Web site would have been overkill. (For the record, I do believe every full-service restaurant should have a Web site.)
I’d really like to hear from restaurant owners and patrons alike. If you’re a restaurateur, how are you currently using social media? If a patron (and aren’t we all), how do you see social media being a good fit, and in what ways would you encourage its use? Also, please feel free to share links to any restaurant, bar, etc., that’s using social media for marketing purposes and tell me what you think of their use of it.
(NOTE: This is the latest in a series I started last year entitled Social Media Works for Small Business. I Have Proof. See previous entries here, here and here.)
Tags: Facebook, restaurants, social media marketing, Twitter
Paul, Great post! I have been watching Gary Vee and Ramon and believe truly that restaurants and bars will see benefit from Social Media. I recently helped a friend launch his Facebook fan site: http://www.facebook.com/PoppersSausageKitchen and after tweeting about the new page, saw the fans spike from 5 on the 1st day, to 65 on the 2nd day, and it is growing! The power of Social Media is incredible.
Thanks,
Jenn
@jenngorius
Paul. As an old restaurant guy who has made his living from the food business for most of my life, and now as a midlife guy starting a small shop specializing in Social Media Art, I’m coming to humbly thank you for the greatest idea of these last few weeks.
I will next follow your many links and also go learn about your company. I used to run the training programs for several of the largest restaurant chains and later worked as a consultant for manufacturers to help them with their national account strategies. You are so right on the money about thinking of restaurants as low hanging fruit for this medium.
1. The interaction is face to face within the restaurant. The owner or manager gets instant feedback, either “Great meal,” or “this is not what I expected.” To move past that with many opportunities for future engagement, by using social networks is a natural.
2. How to effectively use twitter with messages of our wait is running…. or today’s specials…What is better than that?
3. Restaurant owners and managers (especially local and small chains) are already out of time in their day. They’ll need someone to help with these things. Drumroll….in I come to have lunch and leave my card ; ).
Thanks again Paul. Looking forward to reading more of your stuff!
I’m @socialme2u on Twitter. I’ll look for the connection to you when I review your other sites.
Nice post Paul. As a Social Media marketing consultant for the restaurant and tourism biz, I can tell you that participation in Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and now Foursquare are no-brainers for making and maintaining a real connection with an audience. The hard part isn’t just getting them on board, but teaching them how to make the most of these tools. I try to pass on any good nugget of info I come across, and have put together an ebook/website fine-tuned just for restos on social media. Looking forward to reading the feedback from this article. ~ Lara @deepdishcreates and @twit4restos
Thanks each of your for your comments. I’m very interested in learning more about how location-based social networks can be used by restaurants and bars. It does seem like a no-brainer to be sure.
Hi Paul, long time follower of PR Web. Enjoyed your series on social media.
One of the biggest challenges I see restaurateurs having is enough time to spend on social media. The evidence is clearly there but it’s a tough sell for smaller organizations who don’t have the resources to spend on marketing.
As for your question about a restaurant that is using social media well one of my favorites is http://bluebirdtavern.com/
More than once I’ve found myself drooling over their specials they post on their twitter feed! I think more restaurants should engage the way they do.