Battle for the Plate – 29 Social Media Ways Restaurants Can Compete for

Customers Online

Good News - Restaurants are probably experience the largest industry growth in the

past 10 years. Due to a strong upswing in the economy, going out to eat and

hanging out with others is back to being a national pastime.

More Good News – With the boom in foot traffic to restaurants, the 82% of people

who currently carry a smart phone are potential brand ambassadors for the places

they visit.

Bad News – Unfortunately, for restaurants, the good news tends to end when the

customer walks in the door. Instead of courting a decision making customer seeking

a new place to spend time (and money) or reaching out with good content to entice

new customers through the customers already sitting in their business, most

restaurants let customers walk out the door with a full stomach without thinking

about the next visit.

Of course, the growing trend is to offer surveys that require customers to return to

claim a freebie, but this does little to invite new customers to come to the restaurant

or battle against the competition for the right to place a plate in front of the

customer.

You have come to the right place, if you want to:

Drive location based traffic to restaurants and eateries.

Enhance exposure and brand awareness of the location / business.

Create a buzz around the business that draws people into engagement.

Social media content will change according the age group of the restaurant, type of

restaurant, type of food served, and location. What does not change is the Growth

Strategy because the biggest part of a social media strategy is execution of engaging

content.

Social Media Avenues – These are your top social media channels to maintain and

optimize for a successful campaign.

Facebook: Still the leading social media in the USA, Facebook allows fans

to engage on a high level with businesses.

Twitter: 140 characters is enough space to share an idea, but don’t

forget the image, hashtags, tags, and links.

Pinterest: Generally, the highest conversion for women of a middle to

upper income bracket. The average time spent on Pinterest is 42

minutes.

Instagram: If a picture says a thousand words – Instagram pictures with

hashtags and a call to action mean traffic to the door.

Location Based Marketing (LBM): LBM usually means Yelp and

FourSqaure with some Facebook check-ins and TripAdvisor for tourists.

These should be full profiles with all of the treatments of a FB profile.

Many people make the mistake of not claiming an existing profile. Make

sure everything the LBM profile represents exactly what you want a

customer to see. These searches come up higher because they attached

to geo-location.

Google Plus (G+): Google+ is the Facebook version for Google. Adding

G+ for local businesses gives you instant access to the Google search

engine and rankings.

YouTube: As the number two search engine in the world right now,

YouTube is an excellent way to virally distribute your message to the

audience you want to reach in a manner they want to receive the

information.

Engagement Marketing: This type of marketing includes QR codes, text

to join or get a deal, reviews, and check-in services. These allow people

to do the promotional for the restaurant and get something in return.

LinkedIn: If the restaurant is seeking to build a business following, LI

groups and company pages give you instant access to a lunch-time or

happy hour crowd.

PR: Press pieces submitted to media promote better exposure avenues.

Organic SEO: Needs instant submission and manual listing of XML /

pages in Google / Yahoo.

Newsletter: Weekly email blast or monthly newsletter lets you keep

yourself in the eye of your user. Specials, deals, and events are all

promotable directly to their inbox.

Blogging: A fresh supply of content, several times a week, which is

properly optimized and listed in blog directories, will increase traffic to

the website. Blog marketing and link exchanges between blogs,

societies, and associations particular to the niche of writers will boost

traffic. Plus, it gives the reader comfort to be able to interact with a

voice.

Advertising: A Facebook ad can be very cheap and extremely targeted.

The ad should lead back to a Facebook page that is complete and robust.

Checklist: 29 Ways to Battle for the Plate - Growth Strategy

Facebook (FB) – 3 to 5 times per week.

Twitter (TW) – linked to FB. Posts as often.

Pinterest (PIN) - 3 to 5 times per week.

Instagram (IG) - 3 to 5 times per week.

G+ - linked to FB. Posts as often.

YouTube (YT) – 1x per week

Newsletter (N) - weekly

Engagement (E) – ongoing.

LBM (Yelp, Foursquare) (LBM) – Once per week.

Across Social Channels (ALL)

1. All channels are branded with logos, great cover photos, information using

keywords and location, maps, and good images. ALL

2. Facebook tabs are used to connect newsletters, multiple locations, menu

choices, Food or drink specials, events, happy hours, reservations, and

videos. FB

3. Food photos (people expect to see food at restaurants) with full descriptions

using keywords. The picture will say a ton, but search engines cannot read

pictures. Use your keywords (such as location) with hashtags (#) and tags

(@). ALL

4. Profile a customer / employee of the week. Take pictures inside of the

restaurant and of people have a good time. It humanizes the experience and

makes others want to participate. ALL

5. Create albums of “the average night” at the restaurant. Increases

engagement and makes the people in the pictures want to share! Make sure

your albums have a pictures, description with #, and invitations to share.

FB, IG, TW, G+, PIN, YT (can make into video)

6. Make everyday an event. For events, invite people to come to a special

tasting of a new dish at the bar. Means they will probably stay for dinner.

Make sure your events have a profile picture, description with #, and

invitations to share. FB, TW, PIN

7. Good experiences = good reviews. Ask for reviews and tell people to please

share their pictures through check-ins, reviews, and tagging. ALL

8. Social media exclusive only deals used to promote check-in and shares will

ramp up involvement. FB, LBM, G+, PIN

9. Contest for free lunch or appetizers or beverage used to promote check-in

and shares keeps people involved AND brings them to claim the giveaway.

ALL

10. Niche the market. Use deals or promotions for a table of three or more

people, kids eat at a discount when parents dine, girls nights out, or couples

only nights gives you the opportunity to niche out a frequency group. Find a

night to own – like Tuesdays at Tina’s offers free tapas per table for ladies

nights. Or, create a menu just for business people that are quick, easy, and

inexpensive to take a business client. ALL

11. Ask people to share their videos, testimonials, and pictures by tagging the

page (you can always remove if it is not good). ALL

12. Include videos (because they play automatically) in your page. When they hit

others feeds, the fun time is automatically in process. FB, PIN

13. Name a drink or name a plate each month. This gives people the opportunity

to participate by naming something in the restaurant. Ask an opinion and

they will come. ALL

14. Survey – ask people their opinion of a specialty and share the good results on

social media. ALL

15. Share a recipes or cooking tips for something small – like a favorite drink or

sauce that goes on a dish – and ask people what they like best with that

recipe. ALL

16. As either/or input. Would you rather white napkins or red napkins? What is

your favorite game – football or basketball (specific to the area)? FB, IG, G+

17. Event trendsetters – post all of your events on social media and ASK people

to LIKE/SHARE. If Valentine’s Day is coming up, offer a free bottle of wine or

dessert with a seating for two. Maybe every lady gets a rose. Find ways to

be different and make the experience special for diners. ALL

18. Tent cards on tables with QR codes for special offers, asking for check-ins,

join email lists, and text to join programs (use Constant Contact – so easy!).

OFFLINE

19. Posters around the restaurant and IN THE BATHROOM with QR codes for

special offers, asking for check-ins, join email lists, and text to join programs

(use Constant Contact – so easy!). OFFLINE

20. Include a link to a menu, testimonial, instructional video, or any other rich

media you want people to look at….even if it places to go in your area. Do

not ignore the tourist traffic. ALL

21. Timing is everything. Find out when most of your customers (look in the

insights or google analytics – install them if not installed!!) are looking at your

page. Find the right time/date and schedule release of materials ahead of

time. FB – but everything else follows.

22. Sharing breaking news, sponsorship, community involvement, and human

stories with your customers. ALL

23. Ask customers to share their favorite drink or dish and tell you why it is your

favorite. ALL

24. Have a word of the day that a customer can say to a server to get a free treat

like an insider’s exclusive. NOTE: The server should prompt diners and if

they don’t know the world of the day – score! The serve can share it with the

secretly, give them the treat, and tell them join your social now to stay in-

the-know. ALL

25. Put a QR code or check-in reminder on a napkin. People sit and look at

napkins at the table or bar. Wasted space – use a call to action. FB, LBM,

G+, Engagement

26. Celebrate unique things …like national chocolate day…with pictures of your

great chocolate mousse….or gluten free day with a recipe. Get out of the

box. ALL

27. Be prepared to respond to negative issues. Restaurants are the most likely to

be attacked because of food, service, wait time, or servers. Know how you

will respond – apologize and make it right! Goes a long way toward making

your customer want to come back. ALL

28. Partner with another business to do promotions on their social media space.

For example, if you are having a girls night, find a local spa that will give a

gift card for a manicure. ALL

29. Advertise on Facebook or Yelp – offers and deals – that are targeted to your

area. This allows you to attract those who are looking for that restaurant as

well as those who know about it – while saving money. FB. YP

What makes a great post?

1. Pictures and Images – Be expressive with your images. There are hundreds

of posts everyday competing for the attention of your customer. Be

impressive!

2. Description with keywords (think outside of the box) - A set of keyword are

many times too limited. Keywords should include location; any recognized

events that match your demographic, and information of value. If the

customer enjoys golf and there is a Masters coming to the area – use all of

those keywords in the post. Think outside of the food industry for keywords –

look for habitual behaviors to draw traffic like golf or boating.

3. Hashtag keywords (#) – This makes your posts searchable in social media

and search engines.

4. Tag (@) anyone / place you can (you can tag cities!) – These tags help

people find you through other businesses and places.

5. CTA (call to action) – Tell people to LIKE/SHARE or take some type of action.

If you do not ask, then they will not do!

6. Be consistent. Find what works – do it again. While there are basic

guidelines for WHEN to post, your Insights will help you pinpoint the best

times. Start off by trying several different times and gauge response.

Now that you know HOW to post, WHEN to post, and WHAT to post, there are a few

final words about the downside of social media marketing.

If you are not consistent, then you will drop out of search engines and your

customers – when they find you – might think you have gone out of business.

Be committed to making strong posts everyday…after all, your customer is

waiting for you.

Brand and reputation management are a vital part of your social media

efforts. If someone says something negative about their experience (and

they WILL – it is coming!), then respond quickly and offer to make it right.

No excuses – no reasons…just make it right.

Now…you have everything you need to promote your restaurant through social

media…get going!

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ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA SECOND

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Social Media Second, a division of Magic Marketing USA, has successfully launched

business start-ups using social media and helped amplify growth for businesses

seeking to jump to the next level of brand exposure, customer outreach, or sales

using social media marketing.

Magic Marketing USA executes high performance SEO, web design, and social media

campaigns using platforms like Facebook and Twitter to reach customers quicker and

cheaper with better results. We call it a 360 approach to marketing that includes

every single avenue with high return on investment.

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Social Media in Clear Terms, because we really believe in educating clients to make

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http://bit.ly/socialmediadictionary.

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