Social Media For Restaurants

Let’s face it, it takes more for a restaurant to succeed then just knowing how to prepare the perfect Beef Wellington or serve the most trendy cocktail. It takes creativity not only in the kitchen, but also in knowing how to market your brand and connect with the customer.

I will admit that I am constantly intrigued by how restaurants can engage their customers by using social media. I often find myself thinking about how their owners can generate more buzz and create more loyal customers. These ideas have been scratched on napkins as well as dominated many conversations on the way home.

Personally, when I go to a restaurant, if I have great food, great service and I’m surrounded by memorable atmosphere, I usually become a repeat customer. Something changes though with my level of loyalty when I make a connection with a general manager or the owner. I now feel like I want to be a part and because of that there’s something that makes me want to help promote their business. If I feel connected, I often make a point to refer their establishment or brag about my incredible experience. I’m also prone to take someone with me the next time I visit. By feeling connected, I want to connect their restaurant to others.

As more brands are embracing the possibilities that can take place by using social media, you are beginning to see locally owned eateries begin to use social media as one of their main marketing tactics. Usually they are motivated by the opportunity to opt in at a fairly cost effective manner, and also the ability to bring them the closest to their customer. What you are seeing is a vast array of social media approaches that are being used to converse and to connect.

Often times, like in many small businesses you’ll find individuals that are good at their craft, but lack the expertise to market themselves or their brand. Once they realize who their customer is, what makes them tick, what they like and dislike, using social media can be that missing component that takes a casual customer and helps them evolve into a brand ambassador.

Here is a list of tools that any restaurant owner could use to connect with their customer that in return could produce a brand evangelist.

Social Media Tools for Restaurants

• Make sure your restaurant can be searched and reviewed through local business guides such as Yelp.com, Urbanspoon.com, and TripAdvisor.com
• Suggest that positive feedback from patrons be shared on these social business guide sites.
• Twitter – sign up for a Twitter account. Publish your Twitter profile on all documents. Promote giveaways, specials and announcements via your Twitter  profile. Use it also as a tool to listen and converse with your customers.
• E-Newsletter – Email a monthly newsletter with the latest happenings, new menu items, entertainment news, recipe of the month etc. This is also a great tool to collect email addresses for future opportunities to connect with the customer.
• Blog – Blogging is a great way to bring the customer into the kitchen. It’s a great way bring them behind the scenes and make them feel a part. Sharing a recipe, employee profiles, and kitchen tips and tricks are just a few options to break down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Customers want to be part of something more then just a meal, they want to feel like they belong. A blog can be that tool.
• Google Alerts – This is a great tool to use to listen to what is being said about your business, website or even your chef. Setting up a Google alert with just the name of your restaurant can bring priceless insight to both positive and negative talk that’s being said online about your business.
• Facebook – Set up a Facebook fan page to connect with your customers on Facebook. Keep it updated with fresh content and always make sure you’re involved with the conversations that are taking place on “the wall.”
• MySpace – If your clientele is more likely to be found using MySpace, create a profile page and updated it with fresh content as well. Like Facebook engage in conversations and comments.
• YouTube – Incorporate video into your social media strategy. Like your blog, take your customer behind the scene and give them a pass to a part of the restaurant that only insiders are allowed to go. Provide a few quick tips and how-tos from the house chef. Share these videos on YouTube and other video sharing sites, as well as your blog. Use video to even show where you buy your produce and meats. This is also serves a dual role because it promotes your local farmers.
• Mobile – Have customers provide their mobile phone number for coupons, specials and latest news via an SMS message.
• Events – Host Tweetups for your Twitter community and Meetups for those that gather around topics via meetup.com.
• The Business Card – Provide a business card or note-card to each customer that maps out where they can continue their dining experience online.
• Social Calendars – Use sites such as upcoming.org and eventful.com to promote the latest happenings and events.
• Flickr – Use photo sharing sites to show images of events, behind the scenes and market days. Let your customer see from the eyes of the chef rather then just the brand.
• Email – Use email not only for your e-newsletter, but also to give away FREE stuff to your customers and continue to build your email list.

Remember, that the effectiveness of social media isn’t the tool; its listening, answering questions and connecting with others. These tools are just opportunities to connect your customers to your brand and by connecting with them they’ll tell others about you.

It sounds like another terrible idea for a show on Food Network (and it may already be), but I’ve recently been told that there is a war going on between equipment suppliers and restauranteurs. Seriously?

I was under the impression that the “Mission Accomplished” sign on the deck of the Lincoln meant that major combat operations had ceased. My mistake. There is still down and dirty forum to forum and Twitter to Twitter fighting going on in the province of Social Media. Casualties are mounting on both sides but this is a war that will continue on for many years to come. Our leadership sees this as a war that must be won while a small restaurant insurgency is hell-bent on raising skepticism and question about our motives.

Is this really how the relationship between equipment suppliers and restaurants perceived? Are we really the bad-guy, strolling into a forum or social media network like a conquering army? Yes. Well, at least that’s been standard operating procedure for our industry since its introduction to Twitter, FaceBook, and open forums. From a distance our industry’s foray into social media looks like a Remarque title. But as you look closer, there is a battle raging. Social media sites have become a combat zone where a constant struggle between shameless sales posts and actual opinionated content rages on. It becomes harder and harder to sift through the Spam on sites that were originally designed as a place for people who share a similar interest to share their stories, opinions, or expertise.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of research and even a little soul searching. How do I increase customers and convert tweets into sales? When do we start to see revenue from FaceBook? Which is the best way for REW to gain from Social Media? I was deeply misinformed. The answer to these questions is the simple fact that social media doesn’t work in the way that most businesses think. We can’t just make accounts and expect people to come running to us. We also can’t expect to solely post products or sales and expect listeners to hang on our every word. Johnson and Westmoreland were right, winning hearts and minds is key to the success of any campaign- whether in conflict or social media. Potential customers will never convert to actual customers if we pillage and plunder the Internet or constantly announce ourselves to a quite room. Our behavior online has only served to fuel the fire.

Think of it this way. Have you ever been downtown and heard some guy touting Jesus and how you’re living a life of sin from a bullhorn? Do you ever stop to listen and take him seriously? Do you ever wonder to yourself that maybe he’s right and you should change your lifestyle immediately? Of course not. You say to your friends loudly, “That guy’s #*@%ing crazy” and go on about your business. The same concept applies to the Internet. No one wants to listen if you don’t have something important to say. And in what older people call “the information age” word travels fast- especially if you’re lame. Look at Star Wars Kid. Sitting on Twitter or FaceBook for 8 hours a day announcing daily specials or how customers can save is going to get you nowhere and it will do so in a way that ruins whatever reputation you thought your company had online.

We as suppliers need to give back. We work in the same industry as restaurants- we even help them get started, so we should know a thing or two about the business. Or at least fake it. REW especially, has over 30 years of experience in this field. I recently tried to convey the fact that we’ve seen and done it all, or at least know someone who has on an open forum but was met with stiff skepticism. We face the daunting challenge of changing the way we are perceived in our industry and it’s online community. I’m not suggesting a full defection, but merely a change in strategy. The world sees us as product-toting sales mongers who want nothing more than to swoop in on a discussion and make a quick buck. That’s not who we are- we’re not that guy. We are not a restaurant’s online enemy.

Social media is no place for REW- if we have the mindset of Willy Loman. We are in a position where we can contribute to the greater good. Will we make direct sales? Probably not. Will we establish relationships that have the potential to generate a new customer? If we play our cards right. The tools to build a reputation as a wealth of industry knowledge are in our hands. And we’re going to use them.

Let’s do something that this industry has never seen before. Let’s offer advice and assistance to those who need it without a shameless plug or product link. Let’s be the one used car salesman who says “This car was owned by a little old lady- but she drove the hell out of it.” Let honesty and altruism be our policy. Let Spam remain a mystery meat.

If there is a restaurant war still going on, we’ve been tasked with the most difficult mission. It’s up to us to change the face of our industry and re-vamp the way we view social media marketing. I can hear Norman Cota and he’s saying, “REW lead the way.”