Social Media Tips for Restaurants | Part 1: From the Consumer’s Point of View
Lately, I’ve found myself eating out quite a bit due to birthdays, holidays, etc… and I realized I’ve fallen into quite a pattern of how I choose where to eat and what I do when I get there. A pattern I thought would be a good one to share with restaurant owners wondering how to get people to their establishment and keep them engaged. So while these are marketing tips, it’s going to be written from the point of view of a consumer.
So let’s start from the beginning. Allow me to walk you through the process of how I use social media to find the restaurants I visit. With the ever growing popularity of people flocking to the internet to share their opinions/reviews with the world, suffice it to say, I don’t find I have to blindly choose a restaurant and hope for the best.
There are a number of online restaurant review sites that will help you select a restaurant by allowing you to choose a location and type of cuisine for which your mouth is watering. These sites also offer social sharing options such as a “Share” or “Like” button so that users can effortlessly pass the listing/reviews on to their own networks; referring restaurants they enjoy to their friends and family.
Here are a few suggested places to start:
If your restaurant is not listed on any of these sites and it falls within the areas which they cover, go become familiar with these sites and add your restaurant. Don’t put yourself out of the game before it even starts!
In order to narrow the playing field I use the factors of where I want to eat (geographically) and the type of food I’m craving combined with the reviews found on these sites. At this point I’m usually able to narrow my options to 2-3 restaurants in which I’m interested. To help make my final decision, I head to Facebook.
Why do I head to Facebook next? With over 500 million users, it is much more likely that someone has posted their review/opinion about a restaurant on Facebook than any other site. I’ve found this to be especially true because everyone knows, or at least believes, that there is a human on the other side of the Facebook Page; a human who we presume to be listening. So, whether a compliment or a criticism, people want to voice their thoughts where they think someone will hear them.
Tip: Make your Facebook Page easy to find. Put a link to the URL on your listings on the review sites. Have a button or Facebook box on your website. If your restaurant is part of a chain or franchise make sure you identify the geographic location in the name of your Facebook Page so that it is easy to find for the people in your area.
If I can’t find a Facebook Page for a restaurant in which I’m interested, I won’t discount it altogether but I will continue looking for Pages for the other restaurants on my list. If other restaurants on my list have Pages and I’m intrigued by positive comments and/or promotions on the page, then I really don’t have much of a reason to go to the restaurant for which I couldn’t find a Page. (If you don’t have a Facebook Page set up yet go here for help getting started.) Alright, I’ve made my decision. What now? Well now I’m hungry, aren’t you?! I’m going!
Whoops! I got overly excited and jumped in the car before looking up the directions! No worries, I’ll just use my smartphone to look up the restaurant, find it on Google Places, click on the address and map my route! Don’t have a Google Places listing?! Shame on you, now I’m lost! Go sign up NOW!
Phew, quick ride. Just arrived and while I’m waiting for my table I think I’ll check-in on Foursquare and see if there are any tips and/or specials and tell my friends about the new restaurant I’m trying out. I find your Foursquare listing and you are offering a special! Now I’m extra glad I came, a perk before I even sit down. But wait you say, “what if my restaurant isn’t on Foursquare?” Well I have news for you, if you didn’t add it, somebody did and you better find your listing and claim it, see who the Mayor is, and check out what tips people are leaving. Can you believe all of this could be going on without you knowing? It’s time to get in the know about Foursquare for Businesses.
Let’s take a break for now! I have some advanced tips coming for how restaurants can integrate neat things like QR codes into their menus, get more reviews, and more, so stay tuned for Part 2!
In the meantime, let’s summarize what you need to have set up for your restaurant to get started using social media in order to get found and get people to your tables:
1. Restaurant Review Sites
2. Facebook Business Page (NOT a Personal Profile)
3. Google Places Listing – Full and complete with hours, details, photos, and videos.
4. Foursquare Listing – Consider Mayor and Check-In specials.
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Saying It Social, LLC provides Social Media Marketing & Local SEO Services for Franchisees & other Small Businesses.
“According to the Cone Business in Social Media Study, 93 percent of Americans expect companies they do business with to have a social media presence. And 85 percent believe a company should not only be present, but also interact with its customers via social media.”
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I agree that social media is playing a more significant role in the choices we make. I wonder how influential Facebook is becoming in restaurant choices and if it the new peer review site.
It’s at least one of them. Especially when Facebook is the only social site that a lot of people use – often it wouldn’t even occur to them to go elsewhere on the web besides a restaurant’s website.
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I liked your site, always successful
Thank you!
Thank you!
This has been extremely helpful to the project at hand. Thanks for a wonderful series! Looking forward to more posts on how social media plays a major role in restaurant business growth. Thanks again!
Glad it helped!