Social Media + Restaurants = Increased Foot Traffic

Social Media Restaurants

Social Media + Restaurants, a successful combination. This post is especially for the Restaurant and Bar owners who aren’t taking advantage of social media marketing. Most restaurant owners are busy 24/7 and there is little time for them to learn the ins and outs of social media. But restaurant owners, you are missing out!

Honestly, it doesn’t take too much to send out a tweet or a Facebook post, which could really drive foot traffic into your place. Take a look at how technology is changing, and how people are using their phones now to find good places to eat, drink and hangout.

(Download a FREE Copy of the book: Social Media Strategies for Restaurants)

Your restaurant has to be on Yelp

The growth in mobile apps usage such as Yelp and Urbanspoon show that more and more people rely on these applications. Yelp is an application that allows its users to search or find locations based on their current location. Once they find a restaurant based on preferences, they can then read information about the place, such as hours, prices, and reviews from previous customers. A lot of people trust the reviews on Yelp unless they are totally outlandish. Yelp has really put social review sites on the map. That is why it is important for owners to check out what people are saying about their places, as a well as making sure all the information is accurate and up to date.

Say hypothetically, something goes wrong at your restaurant (which is likely going to happen more then you would like) and the customer leaves unsatisfied. You can bet your bottom dollar that the unhappy customer will write a bad review on Yelp about your restaurant, if they actively use Yelp. This can drastically affect your business if it’s serious enough.

Remember when you heard that Word-of-Mouth marketing is the most powerful marketing tool? Well that’s right and that is what Yelp does. But instead of word-of-mouth, it’s actually word-of-thumb and the general public will see it and act accordingly.

Don’t forget about UrbanSpoon

As for UrbanSpoon, this is more an application used by people to find something to eat. I generally use it when I don’t want to bother thinking about what to eat and just spin the wheel till I find something that peaks my interest. The app allows you to select three things, location, price, and type of cuisine. I generally just pick the location and let Urbanspoon do the deciding. This really enables me to find new places, but these places need to be in there in order for me to find them. It’s imperative for owners to make sure that their places are getting listed in these types of applications so that people like myself will be able to discover them! I can’t bring you business unless I know you exist!

Be present on Facebook

Just about everyone knows and uses Facebook or Twitter. If not, you’ve either been living under a rock, or you’re just plain old fashioned Amish and don’t believe in technology. But for the rest of the population, Facebook is what they use, to find out things from their friends and keep tabs on ex’s and old “acquaintances.”  Over 700 million people are Facebook doing this; don’t you think it would be a brilliant idea to create a page for your business? OF COURSE! What better way to inform loyal customers and their friends about new menu items and drink specials! It takes very little time, and is ultimately extremely effective if done correctly!

Be engaged in conversations on Twitter

“Tweet Tweet,” said the Twitter bird, and everyone listened! That’s right, Twitter is home to the world’s largest online conversations. Is your restaurant/ bar mixed into those conversations, probably not if you don’t have a twitter handle. What’s a better way to attract people to your place then to be in their conversations daily? Can’t say I know too many other ways, but what I can tell you is that if people are talking about your place, it must mean they’re frequenting it. If not, then they are probably badmouthing your place and you should stop and step back to see what’s going on and make things better. Things going slow at certain times? Create a special and tweet it out and watch as people start rolling in simply because you put the word out and they saw it!

Social Media Restaurants Final Thoughts

I could go on about the benefits of using these social media platforms, as well as naming plenty more platforms to use, but start with the basics. Now that you see some ways in which it can be used, get out there and try them. Then come back and let me know how it went. I can tell you already it can’t hurt your business but it only helps grow it. So please, any Restaurant/ Bar owners out there, please let me know how you do with your social media practices. I am very curious as to how it helps you and I’m sure we can all gain something from hearing your real life examples.

Next time I’ll talk more about FourSquare and other location based apps that are really taking off, especially with regards to the restaurant industry. I will talk about benefits in using these and how you can provide incentives to people to “Check in” to your place of business! And we hope your restaurants soon belongs to the Social Media Restaurants.

(Download a FREE Copy of our ebook: Social Media Strategies for Restaurants)