Successful Social Media Strategies for Restaurants

As we have said before, social media plays a key role in successful marketing plans for all luxury brands, but it is especially important for restaurants that face tough competition and rely on customer satisfaction. According to a recent study done by Forrester research, 90% of food industry executives agree that social media has completely changed the way consumers interact with their businesses. Social media is an excellent way for restaurants to build the identity of their brand, as well as engage their customers outside of the dining room. Here are some tactics that will help you in developing a successful social media strategy:

1.     Develop a Calculated Plan – The most successful social media campaigns start with selecting one overall message to deliver. All content should bridge back to that initial message.  It is important to understand your target market and know what engages them. The more your content is shared, the wider your audience becomes.

2.     Get Visual – What is more appealing than a photo of a delectable dish? According to socialbakers, photos make up 93% of the most engaging posts. With our client, ON20 we have found that our social media audience gives a greater response to visual posts, such as behind the scenes looks of Chef Lizotte in action or the restaurant’s breath-taking views of the Connecticut River.

  

Platforms that focus on visual content, such as Instagram and Pinterest have proven to be effective communicating tools for restaurants. Pinterest is a great way to build your restaurants identity by creating boards that relate to your brand. Show how your restaurant gives back by pinning pictures of a fundraiser you hosted. Instagram also has a visual appeal but is much more immediate.  Restaurants can snap photos of today’s most appetizing specials and instantly share them. Adding hash tags are a great way to build your following and reach people that you have never connected with before.

3.     Encourage Customers to Participate  – Posting about dining experiences has become a trend on social media. Restaurants should be encouraging to patrons to tweet about their experience, instagram a photo of their meal, or check in in on Facebook. There are many ways to influence customers to digitally interact with your restaurant. Adding QR codes to your menus and print materials are an excellent way to direct traffic to your social media. Contests are also a great way to engage customers.

4.     Use Industry Platforms - Leading platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are necessary components of a social media strategy, but there are also industry specific sites that are important to your digital brand as well. Foodspotting is a rising star when it comes to restaurant social media.  Recently acquired by OpenTable, the website and mobile app allows users to rate specific dishes that will appear on a local map. Restaurants can create accounts to promote their own dishes as well. Nombe, a San Francisco-based Japanese restaurant, has created customized recommendation guides and scavenger hunts on Foodspotting in order brand themselves and attract potential customers.

Many restaurants offer rewards or incentives for checking in through location-based platforms. AJ Bombers, a Milwaukee restaurant was able to drive sales up 110% through a foursquare promotion. When the restaurant’s Foursquare page featured a tip about the Barrie Burger, with no additional promotion or advertising, sales for the item grew 30% in the first week. AJ Bombers is now up to 15,000 check-ins. 

5.     Create an open dialogue – It is important to engage your audience, but it is also important for you to be engaged as well. Answering all comments and tweets shows authenticity and keeps fans involved in your social media. Live tweeting is great way to build lasting relationship with followers. Many restaurants have found success in live tweeting from special events. Using hash tags can help further the conversation and spread the word about specific campaigns.

Morton’s Steakhouse made national headlines when responding to a mid-air tweet, humorously requesting a Morton’s porterhouse steak upon arrival at Newark Airport. Morton’s responded to the tweet by sending a driver and full meal to the airport to meet the customer. While this may seem like an extravagant gesture, the story is still being talked about two years later.

In conclusion, when used efficiently social media can be a remarkable tool for engaging customers and generating new ones. Social media plays a fundamental role in brand identity and maintaining a dialogue with consumers. There is plenty of discussion of food in the digital world and you need to be a part of that conversation.

Weekly round-up: August 12, 2011

What happened this week? (I’m sort of wondering more: What happened to this week?!) Here’s my summary of the must-know news of the week for luxury, fashion and jewelry brands…

Social media’s influence on Americans

No analysis needed; the stats speak for themselves:

“The purchasing decisions of 38 million 13-80 year olds in the U.S. are now influenced in various ways by social media—up 14% in just six months.”

“Of the more than 149 million Americans actively using Facebook, 70% of these log on to the social network daily.”

Facebook ads now can target by zip code

I’m frequently asked about Facebook ads. Never been a big cheerleader, but this might be a game changer for regional brands…

Conde(Nast)Elevator Tweeter gets cold feet

The 8^th grader lurking inside me was secretly bummed to see this Tweeter vanish and stop churning out gossip from Conde Nast. The grown up in me, however, knows there’s enough ugly gossipers out there to (sadly) fill the void.

Gold expected to hit $2,000

Hard to believe gold may hit this high. Expect to see even more fine jewelry designers/brands experimenting with new metals and materials. On the bright side, necessity is the mother of invention, so I’m looking forward to seeing the creativity this will spur!

Vera Wang endangering her brand with Zales collaboration?

Vera Wang and Zales are interesting bedfellows, indeed. While mass/luxury brand collaborations are certainly nothing new, Zales doesn’t quite have the “masstique” allure of brands like H&M and Target... Yet. Something to watch.

David Yurman cozies up to Foursquare

We constantly push brands to embrace social media for marketing purposes, so kudos to David Yurman for embracing Foursquare! Agree, however, that their Foursquare content is far too self-promotional/product oriented.

“In order to encourage actual luxury customers, not just aspiring, to participate, it’s important to offer real-world incentives, an area where luxury brands have a difficult time,” Tamar Koifman, a senior social media strategist at Digital Luxury Group in Geneva, Switzerland and contributor to Fashion’s Collective.”

Baby steps…

The "Greening" of America’s affluent

This report is a personal favorite of mine… more than three quarters of affluent consumers are eco-friendly.

“76 percent of ecofriendly consumers have an annual household income of more than $150,000”

Proud to be representing a leader in socially conscious fine jewelry design: AnaKatarina Eco Gioielli!

How to come back from a social media gaffe

While we hope we never need to worry about it, here are some interesting case studies on the are of social media comeback

Miamore's News this Week:

• Have had a wonderful time working with the Rhode Island International Film Festival (there's one more day, in case you've missed it so far!). Thanks to the Rhode Show, Newport Mercury, Boston Globe and Projo (among others) for the coverage!
• Still drooling over the fall collection from Thistle & Bee... and over the stunning Lookbook we created for them!
• AnaKatarina Eco Gioielli isn't just a client; nor just a socially conscious luxury company; nor just another "designer" name. AnaKatarina Eco Gioielli is the baby of Ana-Katarina Vinkler-Petrovic--one of the most talented and intuitive designers I've yet to meet. Bonus: she's also, put simply: a beautiful soul. Love her blog, where we highlight her custom jewelry creations.

Stich up the wounds left by surgical shoppers

It’s no surprise that the economy has changed how people spend their money. Everyone has been pinching pennies and in turn became smarter shoppers. People have been working overtime and getting second jobs. Who has time to browse shops? Who is going to fall for the impulse buy when money was strategically placed elsewhere? The Great Recession may officially be over, but the changes that people made to their spending habits may in fact be here to stay.

The new type of shopping is referred to as “surgical shopping” because the time spent shopping in stores and online has dropped drastically. No one is taking the time to wander stores and browse through websites to stockpile on clothing, necessities, etc. Instead, people know what they want and aren’t sticking around after buying it. Shoppers today visit an average of three stores during a trip to the mall, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago research firm that tracks sales and customer counts at more than 70,000 stores. That compares with an average of five stores in 2006. There is even evidence accounting for stores being messier due to people dumping most items right before the check out.

How are companies and brands adjusting to surgical shopping? Often, through the strategic use of social sites like Groupon.com. The site has attracted more than 25 million subscribers to “group” together to get the lowest price on an item. Subscribers are pitched local discount offers on restaurants, retailers, etc and if enough people take advantage of it, it takes effect. The Gap's recent Groupon offer of $25 off a $50 purchase was a blockbuster Gap’ sold 441,000 offers as part of a one-day only promotion in August, for a total of $11 million.

With this new type of shopper mentality, what’s the best way to get them in AND to leave with your product? To help capture their attention, this might be the time to step up your “social media” strategy beyond the typical Facebook and Twitter. Along with Groupon, foursquare is another great tool to utilize. Promotions through foursquare are coming up everywhere (more on foursquare). I myself came across a promotion while shopping in NYC. Walking into an H&M, there was sign on the door that said “Check-In here and receive a special discount!” With incentives like that, who wouldn’t check in? Companies like Wholefoods, Saks 5th Avenue and Starbucks have all partnered with foursquare as well.

The continued practice of surgical shopping is creating a new reality for brands. And websites like Groupon.com and foursquare are helping them embrace consumers’ new way of shopping.

Blogging Your Way To Success

Any ‘great’ company has one and any company that wants to be ‘successful’ has one. What is it, you ask? A blog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog.) But why do we blog? What is the point of one? We’re often asked: if my brand is already well known, what can a blog additionally do for my company? Our answer: A LOT. A blog is not an advertising vehicle for your company; it is a tool of communication that shows readers ‘something extra’ about your services, personalizes your brand, and offers insight into your area of expertise.

For example, we here at Miamore love our blog and, while we do some really amazing work, we are not simply going to put up blog entries outlining our achievements, or how innovative our work is. Why? Because those sort of posts don’t generate interest or build relationships—the main goals of a blog or any social media. In sum: it won’t get us (or any company) anywhere.

Instead of being promotional, it is best to provide readers with information that is not only enjoyable, informative, and personal; but also something that establishes confidence in the brand. For example, Southwest Airlines built up a blog when sales were down and they wanted to hear from consumers about what they could improve upon. So, their blog began with the CEO of the company discussing trends in the industry and allowed followers to comment. Did anyone read that blog and immediately log on to buy an airline ticket from Southwest? Probably not. But, has the brand become a household name? Definitely. Thanks in part to the open communication and dialogue by Southwest on that successful blog, the company grew into something bigger and better.

Have a hard time relating to a brand as large as Southwest? Well, for small business owners, we offer up ourselves as an example. Last week, Miamore’s president, Carrie Soucy, attended a trade show in New York. In two days she heard from at least a half dozen people (the majority of whom she did not know) how much they enjoyed our blog. Many others simply recognized our brand—no doubt in thanks to our active blogging. For a company like ours, only a year old and based in a different city, to receive—without having ever spent a penny on traditional advertising or marketing—responses like: “Oh! Miamore Communications!”… well, that’s quite a statement.

So where do we go from here to make sure that all company blogs steer clear of becoming too promotional? Here are some tips:

1. 1 Designate one person to oversee the blog. (Preferably not a junior staff member; however, if they have a great writing skills and an eye for news, then by no means limit them)

2. Promote your blog by featuring it in newsletters, having a link to it via Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, Linkedin or website.

3. Talk about stuff other then your services. Like trends in the industry, developments and newsworthy stuff.

4. Be fun and have a conversational tone.

5. Encourage comments and be sure to respond to any you receive.

Foursquare:The Newest & Hottest Kid on the Social Networking Block

You already know the benefits of the now-mainstream social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube--all phenomenal tools to engage clients and build a brand. But, if you're like many local businesses, you see the boost in engagement from those sites, but wonder: how do I translate it into actual foot traffic? Enter the newest (and hottest) kid on the social networking block: Foursquare. Why is this new tool growing so quickly? Mostly because it doesn't only drive traffic to your website, but actually drives customers to your doorstep.

Foursquare is a location-based social networking site that allows people to connect with friends and update their location via text message or by Smartphone. Teaming up with Twitter and Facebook (and now quite possibly Google, Microsoft and Yahoo- Creator Dennis Crowley is in talks with these search engine giants), this allows friends of foursquare users to be notified of their friend’s newest location (and in hopes that more friends will come and join). Foursquare not only promotes human interaction but also exploration of their surroundings. After checking in a certain number of times at a location, users earn badges and points for their location frequency or by discovering something new in their city. Users can find locations in the directory or from friends who are also on foursquare.

What separates Foursquare from Facebook, Twitter or Wikitravel, is that users are participating in a marketing game, by earning points and badges for their travels. This is where Foursquare gets interesting… Foursquare not only encourages people to wander through their neighborhoods, but with the help from local businesses they reward people for stopping in at their location. Business owners can use Foursquare to engage their clientele by offering specials, discounts and prizes for those who continue to update their location on Foursquare while at their venue. People who check-in to a particular location quite a bit are dubbed ‘mayors’ and are eligible to receive a discount, prize or special offer. Cool, right? An example: Cuban Revolution, a hip avant grade restaurant with two locations in Providence, R.I., gives a free sandwich and soda to all ‘mayors of Cuban Revolution’. The owners of business owners are not only being current and participating in a trend of pop culture, but they are also using Foursquare to track how their venue is performing over time due to venue analytics that are provided to business owners.
The best part: users who are checking into your location are doing some of the marketing and promotion for you to individuals who may never have even thought of visiting your store or restaurant. Talk about social networking.