The situation isn’t quite as dire as the scenario below lays it out to be- if you aren’t on facebook yet you probably aren’t on the verge of going out of business and it really depends on where your restaurant is located and who your customers are how important this it to you.
If you are starting a restaurant in a small town with few other options and where all of the town people will know about your place whether they ever use facebook or not then you are probably OK without this right now.
On the other hand, if your new restaurant business plan is for a location that has lots of other choices and competition, using social media, and facebook in particular can really make a difference.
You can use it in two ways. You can place advertisements targeting your local audience in your selected demographics (women, age 18-45, in zip codes x,y,z) and even laser target down to people who like a certain tv show, like another restaurant or like certain magazines or whatever. These types of ads are cheap, fast and you can control exactly how much you spend.
The other way to use it is once someone has come into your restaurant once, you can let them know about your facebook page, ask for their email so you can email them coupons, offers, promotions etc. and run that through your facebook pages so you can also ask them to invite their friends or let them “like” your restaurant so their friends will see it as well. In this way you can build a large audience from your existing customers.
It doesn’t take a lot of time or money but it can pay big dividends if you put it into play. And if you don’t your competition just might.
You’re an expert chef with a beautiful restaurant, friendly staff and great food. In the past, you’ve successfully managed your customer flow through traditional advertising in local newspapers and you sponsor the local little league. Business is great, but a similar restaurant just opened up a few blocks away, and it’s generating lots of buzz. The restaurant is using social media to its advantage, growing its customer base at an accelerated pace, and you’re starting to lose market share. What’s going on?
The Internet is the great equalizer, giving unlimited ad space and airtime to businesses no matter how big or small. Today, 70 percent of local businesses are marketing through Facebook — more than anywhere else on the Internet.
It’s one thing to have a social media presence, but it’s another to manage it correctly. These sites are living, breathing entities. If you pay them attention and perform proper maintenance, then they will remain healthy and grow at a steady pace. With this in mind, social media-savvy restaurant owners are acquiring and retaining new customers at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising.
Zengo, a Latin-Asian fusion restaurant in Manhattan, realizes that Facebook is a platform for two-way communication between a restaurant and its clientele. Zengo expands and retains its customer base by actively posting events, recipes, interesting stories and Facebook-specific specials for their fans. The Zengo Facebook page always has up-to-date menus, photos, and hours listed. Loyal fans can even make reservations and sign up for Zengo’s mailing list directly through the Facebook page.
The odds are that you probably have a Facebook page if you’re reading this blog post. The real question is whether you have more than just a phone number and address on it. Facebook is not the YellowPages. There are over 500 million active Facebook users — 50 percent of whom are logging on everyday, hungry for content to interact with. As a restaurant owner, engaging these users is crucial for your digital business.
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