UPDATED: JUNE 2018
If you are just seeing this post I want to let you know that several of the bulleted items are outdated!
Please read this article and then pop over to this link: Restaurant Social Media.
Sabrina Espinal
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I have a pretty spicy niche of restaurants and social media. I didn’t set out to specialize in social media for restaurants and I certainly have other clients that are not in the food biz but my love for the industry naturally led restaurant in New York City to my door.
Restaurants really do not have the time to manage all the levels of social media and social customer service that happens while they are cooking, greeting customers, managing employee squabbles and checking morning deliveries. It’s just not possible. And it’s sad to see a restaurant have a “young kid” do their social media just because they are always on Facebook. Alas, I think most companies have seen that fail miserably when they don’t know who set up their accounts and everything is abandoned.
Oh, and I can’t forget the companies that offer mechanized social media for restaurants that do nothing but take their money and propose a daily harassment of restaurant specials…don’t get me started on this terrible presentation of social media.
I get it. I know restaurants do not have or want to spend a fortune on social media but they must know that…whether they like it or not…the restaurant industry is “smack dab in the middle” of social discussions without turning on their Wi-Fi. People are eating and talking and tweeting and checking into restaurants and they desperately want to be acknowledged from their favorite eatery. Just last week after giving a #ff (Twitter Follow Friday) to a fan of a restaurant that I handle…the customer excitedly Twitted to the world that they had just been acknowledged by one of the favorite spots. That will be a nice ROI.
Every restaurant is like a person. It has it’s own unique personality, voice and style that needs the right strategy and marketing along with the right social media voice.
Let me share a few engagement tips that I use when managing Social Media for Restaurants. Please understand that you shouldn’t do everything on this list because each restaurant is unique.
- Newsletters
- YouTube Channel
- Professional Food Photo Shoots
- Blogging
- Press Releases
- Website Optimization
- Facebook Pages
- Twitter Conversations
- Foursquare – Serious Management
- Yelp and other similar services
- Google Places
- Google Alerts
- Local Eating Hype and Blogs
- Local Food Tours and Enthusiasts
- Events, Meetups, and Tweetups
Oh, and one more serious tip…if the food’s not perfect…I’ll ask you to go back to the kitchen and give me something to really Tweet about!
Let’s keep it real and spicy. Call Sabrina&Company for a social media restaurant consultation today!
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company
800 238-0772