Social Media Marketing Tips For Restaurants, Bars & Cafes

By Author: Nicksmith
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In my opinion as a social media marketing consultant, restaurants, bars, cafe's or anywhere that serves food, drink or entertainment has an enormous opportunity with social media marketing. I'm talking, gigantic-enormous.

Think about it. You have a location, returning customers, new customers, a product, a service, and a lot of creativity. The social networking and social media for marketing restaurants are endless. You can use social media to gain new customers, retain your current customers, provide promotions and give them an outlet to spread the message about your establishment. So, how do you do all this? This is where you have to go back to your original marketing plan and figure out what your goals are and who your market is. Now we'll start incorporating social media for marketing into your existing marketing plan and tweaking budgets where tweaking needs to be tweaked.

Here is a short list of social media and internet marketing channels for restaurants' marketing plans.

1. Foursquare: Foursquare is a location-based social marketing tool. It is based on GPS location services ...
... within the mobile devices and has become increasingly popular over the last 6-9 months. People check-in to a business or location when they are within 50 yards of that location or business. The businesses have the opportunity to offer promotions, specials and discounts for those who either check-in often (loyalty), check-in first (sense of urgency) or check-in with other friends (virally spreading the word). Check-ins can be commented on by other friends, photos can be left on check-ins, tips can be left about a location and photos can be added to a location. Make sure to add your Foursquare bubble window cling to your window so people know to check-in. If someone is within 200 yards or so, and you have a special going on, they will be notified of the nearby specials. This might be a way to attract new customers that would not otherwise venture into your location.

2. Twitter: I have been preaching that Twitter is an amazing tool for marketing, especially if you are trying to attract completely brand-spanking new customers who have never heard of you before. This is an excellent tool for your current customers to relay to their followers who can then "re-tweet" to their followers and if you have a good message, discount or just amazing information, your reach can become much bigger, much faster. Twitter has a great search tool which makes this possible. Some topics to tweet about include your daily specials, weekly specials, promotions, events, new dishes, hours, history of your food, images of your food, and the list goes on. Twitter is a real-time, immediate conversation with your customers. You can share articles and reviews about your establishment and industry to your followers.

3. Facebook: Facebook is a great place to send your current customers so they can receive the latest and greatest information form you. This is where you want to engage in dialog with them. Ask them what their favorite dish is or remind them of a weekly special: Thirsty Thursday! You can also now spread your message on Facebook to other businesses in the area by 'Liking' their business as well. This creates a great platform for local businesses to support each other. It doesn't always have to be competition with the guy next door, but rather sharing your customers with each other.

4. YouTube: Want to show off your employees, the bands that play in your establishment, a busy night at your restaurant, or just simply record a "welcome message" for your customers? YouTube is the second largest search engine and therefore, this is a great opportunity to put yourself out there for a whole new set of potential customers. Make sure you talk with an SEO specialist or read my blog post about search optimizing for videos to make sure that you maximize the potential of your videos. Use these videos on your Facebook page, your website and add them to Vimeo. You'll get more exposure, more links, and people will grasp a better understanding of who you are as a business, and what you can offer customers.

5. Your Website: It's no secret that you should have a website for your business. What you put on this website is important, as well as the design of your website. Navigatability is extremely important as well as making sure you have all the information people might be looking for on your website. Make sure to list your location (you'd be surprised how many businesses forget this), phone number, e-mail address or contact page for questions about reservations, events, or catering, menu with or without prices (though people get turned off when no prices are listed), images of your food, establishment and any entertainment you bring in, a calendar of events if you have them, promotions, catering opportunities, event opportunities, and more! How do you tie this into your social media marketing campaigns? Make sure to ask visitors to follow you on Twitter, or 'Like' you on Facebook, or if you have a blog, tell them!

6. Blog: This is a great way for your customers or potential customers to find out who your business is and who you are as a personality. As the owner, the chef, the booking agent, a waitress, a hostess, a sous chef, a bus boy, the caterer, the events director. It doesn't matter who you are. All of those people would make great blog writers for an industry or company blog. This is a great tool because it creates return visitors to your website or provides you followers with consistent messaging and information so you always stay top of mind. Just remember to be consistent with your delivery, try to create a niche for your blog (Are you a French restaurant? Stick to all things French cuisine or French culture for instance), and read up on these blog tips.

Now that I've covered a few of the social media marketing channels you should consider, here are a handful of social media tips to remember:

1. Determine how much time will be needed to manage this campaign. Companies are often surprised by this and in turn hire a social media marketing consultant to help take the time constraint off themselves.

2. Determine who will manage this campaign. Is it a shared effort? Someone internally? Hire someone else?

3. Tell everyone who works at this location about your ideas. Everyone needs to know because in the end, it will always be a team effort.

4. Commit to your promotions by advertising them on your social media outlets.

5. Start small. Pick a few of these channels and as your see the opportunities elsewhere, expand.

6. Be consistent! I can't stress this enough.

7. Answer your customers! This is almost the most important piece of the puzzle. It isn't social if you're not being social.

8. Consider apps! These may be a little pricier, but if done correctly, there is a great opportunity here to be creative and unique.

9. Be friendly. People go out to eat and drink to relax. Keep the same tone when you're out there on the 'net.

So, if you are a restaurant, a bar, a cafe, a diner, or any other food, beverage or entertainment establishment, get out there and market! Little budget is needed to start, but much planning is encouraged.

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