Social Media has become a must in the marketing of Restaurants, Clubs, Hotels, Pubs and Bars. In fact, Social Media is becoming such a major part of our lives, that if your business is not connected, then you are risking your survival. I don't say this to be scare-mongering, it's the way the world is changing. Of course some pubs and bars will not embrace the advantages of this global phenomenon. They may well continue to enjoy a profitable future, but they are missing out on opportunities. These opportunities include: 1. Data Gathering - Your website, blog and facebook page should all contain links for customers and potential customers to subscribe to. Your newsletters, offers, clubs or any list you build are what you use to build deeper, closer relationships with your customers. This is your promotional arm for your business and you need to be able to grow your lists, in order to improve your restaurant marketing. 2. Customer feedback - By setting up alerts, you can be up-to-date and aware of any comments made about your venue. Any complaint made about your venue, can be potentially damaging to your reputation. Being aware as soon as possible allows you to attend to any issues, problems or complaints that crop-up. Deal with it publicly or privately depending on the circumstances, but ensure you are proactive and use the incident to improve your service levels. Remember, people are going to talk about you in any case. Gain useful feedback from using surveys as well. 3. Customer Interaction - Get some conversation going with your customers, build trust and relationships, by giving advice, answering questions, asking questions, requesting opinions or help. Do not mistake this for selling, this is not your aim here. This is a part of your restaurant marketing strategy. 4. Spreading the Word - Download or import a 'share this' app so that your customers can pass on your tips, advice or recipes to their friends and colleagues. Have a RSS button for those that want to be notified of your updates automatically. Have video and photo's of recent events that your customers can share with their friends. Use links and follow buttons so your community can find and follow you on your blog, facebook and twitter. 5. Team Involvement - Getting your team involved in Social Media is fantastic. Not only does it broaden the interest for your customers, it also allows your staff to get more involved in something they will unquestionably enjoy. Bear in mind that they are almost certainly already using Social Media anyway. It also lightens the load on yourself or whoever you place in charge of your SM involvement. Additionally it gets all your staff focussed on the same principles and vision you have for your business. Your customers will benefit more by understanding your business ethos. Get your chef involved in sharing tips and recipes. These are just some of the restaurant marketing tactics you can use, it's an endless list. In summary Social Media has changed the world and the way we should approach our marketing activities. It's quite simply a revolution. You can now reach anyone, anywhere in the world, in real time, in any format. You can post video on the internet, or 'stream' video live. You can hold video or audio conferences live and have replays available. You can have your own TV or Radio channel, live and interactive. You can post articles, letters, blogs or any form of text documents, right through to e-books, whitepapers and 'how to' manuals. All of this and more and all for free except your time. This means you have exactly the same platforms available to you as the big boys. You can compete on a global level. If you fail to take advantage of this........ So now you know all this, what are you going to do about it? Learn about Social Media and how you can utilize it to benefit your restaurant. Add your comments below and share how this has helped you to broaden your approach to your marketing. Copyright (c) 2011 Baz Rothwell
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