Using Video to Engage and Interact with Restaurant Customers Online

Discover the Steps for Using Online Video to Increase Sales

Agenda

1. Why Video?2. Producing Video-What to Produce and How?3. Displaying Video-How to Display Video Online?4. Syndication– Getting the video in front of hungry customers – on

traditional channels– Going beyond traditional restaurant websites-endless

opportunities to engage eaters by syndicating to social media and video sharing.

5. Questions & Answers

Why Video?

We are in the middle of a new revolution on the Internet

• Video is at the forefront of this revolution.– The percentage of viewers that watch video is

expected to grow to 70% in 2011 *• Video motivates spending!– People are 83% more likely to spend after viewing

a video.**

Online Consumers love web video!!* eMarketer April 2010 ** comScore

So…Why Video?

• Video increases conversions and makes websites sticky*

*Website so rich in content and features, and so well organized, that visitors feel compelled to stick around for quite a long time and come back often. BusinessDictionary.com

• Consumers want and demand video. Restaurants using video are seeing positive returns.

• If you have not committed to making video part of your ebusiness strategy, RECONSIDER NOW Your Competitors Are!

Producing Video

How to make online video effective…

• Make it Authentic• Make it Relevant• Make it Engaging• Keep it Short• Make it Available• Make it Sharable

Elements of effective video ….Authentic

Video that captures the human element allows customers to connect on a personal level.

Restaurants should use that human element used in the restaurant on the video.

RelevantVideo that works shares

compelling information that resonates with the audience.

Provide your audience with actionable content to compel specific action such as ordering.

Multiple videos may be required.

EngagingGood information is no

longer enough. With so many similar

sites, your online video has to stand out against competitors.

Video should be entertaining to some extent.

ShortOnline customers have

short attention spans.Don’t ramble. Short video forces you to

be creative and distill your value proposition down to it’s very essence.

AvailableCustomers are visiting

portal sites (i.e., itzlunch.com) as well as individual websites. The ability to distribute and show your video on these sites will allow you to reach customers in a way that differentiates you from others.

There’s More…

The advent of universal search has changed things. Search Engines now return

more and more videos in their results.

The new algorithms weigh video heavily, increasing your relevance in search results.

Good meta data, architecture, file naming, and syndication on sites like YouTube (now the #2 search engine on the Internet) are helpful.

ShareableYouTube taught the world that video is portable

and starts conversations between friends. Video that does not meet this new expectation limits

their own effectiveness. Sharing is an easy action that viewers can take to promote your business.

By enabling conversations to spread, you give yourself an easy opportunity to gain viewership (and traffic)

To promote sharing, make sure your video can be embedded , emailed, and posted to different social media sites.

Effective video tells a story…

When developing a video story, ask yourself…

What makes your restaurant unique?Who are your customers? What are people saying about your place? How are your competitors different?What would excite and inspire you if you were

looking for a place to eat?

Suggestions

Use online reviews (i.e., Yelp and Google Maps) to:

Help generate ideas about what people find unique about your restaurant

What good is being said about your restaurant. Unlike television, the experience is solely in

the hands of the user (lean forward approach). It’s important to keep this in mind as you create your videos.

Syndication

Traditional restaurant websites , social media, and video sharing sites.

The more points of distribution for your video content the greater the benefit.

Social media sites are great outlets for video distribution.

Google universal search returns video results primarily from YouTube.

Media Sites get 40% of traffic

The role of media sites like www.itzlunch.com is to provide and facilitate the exchange of information. You want to ensure that the video presentation (that you have invested your money in) is accessible to these sites. Media Sites also include:

Online Directories Mapping Websites Expert and Review Sites and Portals

Video should be optimizedThe same rules that apply to SEO for non-video content should be applied to video.

Create a video landing page 1 video /URL Unique URLs with keywords Same domain (video hosted outside)

Optimize the Video Landing Page SEO principles for titles, URLs,metadata,H1,etc. Keyword anchor text to URLs

Viral Syndication

• Your video is uploaded through social media channels where it can drive traffic back to your website.

What have you learned? Customers are demanding richer visual experiences-

online in particular. Creating a video is not hard , but it must

Leverage the Internet Bring the human element of your restaurant to life Be available on all electronic channels and websites used by restaurant shoppers

Online retailers have taught us the value of online video. Increased stickiness Increased sales Increased engagement

Restaurants are finding great success with online video and syndication of online video.

Questions & Answers