What is Restaurant Social Media Marketing ?
Restaurant Social Media Marketing is a process of marketing your restaurant by using innovative use of social media primarily internet and mobile phones.
Barack Obama-Person of the Year 2008
President Elect Barack Obama has been chosen as the person of year 2008 by Time Magazine. No doubt, his election campaign was one of the most successful and innovative in the history of American Politics. Never will the marketing strategy be the same again. That means politicians will have to take a different approach to reach their supporters, communicate directly with them on one on one level and share their vision and win their hearts and mind and ultimately make them the grass root loyal supporter.
Five most effective tools President Elect Barack Obama used to win the election.
- Blog/Website
- Online video
- Text Message
How he used all those social media tools to win the most powerful post of the world ?
When he started his journey, a steep one to White house, neither did he have enough money nor supporters. How ever he understood the power of social media marketing and to use the tools readily available to his advantage if he did really want to win the election.
First thing he did was created a website with blog. Obama knew the secrets of using email marketing. So he built a massive permission based email list via his website. He was able to capture almost 4 million email addresses of supporters. He was now able to bypass the traditional industrial age media and communicate with them on a personal level and share them his vision. Ultimately he won their hearts and mind and turned them his grass roots army of volunteer supporter who not only made small donations but gave their time to spread his vision and win over more supporters. This kept continuing and had that snow ball roll effect. Ultimately it led him to victory over his much stronger, experienced opponent. Such is the power of social media marketing.
If you check out his website at www.barackobama.com you can get a feel how he has tapped into this incredible medium-internet. But the irony is very few use them. He also has used online video to broadcast his message not only to people in America but to every one around the world. Even a guy from Kenya and Indonesia can view his message.You can see face book link page and several other social networking sites.This enabled him to create fans around Barack Obama with his unique selling proposition slogan “Change We Can Believe In””
Before announcing the nomination of vice president, he didn’t choose to broadcast via traditional media but did it via text message. That also means that he had that 4 million mobile phone numbers that he had collected during the email sign ups. He now had another powerful medium to connect with his all supporters at a push of one button on his cell phone. Do you see the power of the social media.
How can your restaurant use social media and win over tons of new customers ,make them loyal and create fan around your restaurant brand ?
Now you might be thinking if you can really use the same Obama’s strategies to your restaurant business. The simple answer is “Yes You Can”. Internet has leveled the plain field. Any one can use these tools available online. The key is that you have to be able to identify the tools that will be helpful to your restaurant website and use them.They are all over internet. It doesn’t discriminate against rich or poor unlike traditional media like TV where you have to have loads of money to get in. I believe most of the small restaurant business doesn’t have that kind of money to waste over mass broadcast marketing which is not effective any more. Even if you had the money why would you want to throw on the marketing that doesn’t really work for your restaurant. We call it a buffet syndrome. If you really want to have just a soup why do you want to go to a buffet and pay over $10 or more. It is better off to go to Quiznos and pay may be $2.29 or less and be done with it.
How can we do this will be the second question. The answer to that would be first by simply starting Free Blog/website. There are several free blog software program. But I recommend word press blog platform (www.wordpress.com) because it is free and second if you decide to go for paid self hosted wordpress, then there are so many features that can added as required by demand with the change of time and trends. You can go online right now and at no cost to you and within few minutes you can build your own blog/website.
The second thing that needs to your blog/website is email program that can capture the potential customers of your restaurants. It could be new customers who would like to try your FREE appetizer when they sign up your email list or your loyal customers who would like to periodically hear from you. One of the reasonably priced email program that I would recommend is self service icontact email program. You can check them out at www.icontact.com
The third thing you have to do is, to create a face book page and link that to your blog. You can create fans around your unique restaurant concept. You can recruit fans on face book who have similar food taste that your restaurant provides. You can go to facebook.com and check out groups that are online; you will find so many restaurants who are creating fans around their brands. Recently when I checked out I saw Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant with lots of burrito fans. You too can create your own fans whether it is independent or franchise brand.
The fourth thing you can do is create a video and broadcast your restaurant message to your potential customers and loyal customers. You can create a short video with your chef cooking the signature item and make those online viewers salivate and come running to your restaurant to try the food that you were bragging about. Though it sounds very technological to have video of your own restaurant online, it is not. I am sure we all have taken some video of some sort during vacation, why can’t you take video of your own restaurant. Then you can create your own you tube video account at youtube.com and upload your video online and make it available to the rest of the world. By the way don’t get surprised if some customer from Berlin, Germany and comes to your restaurant and orders your signature item without even looking at your menu.
Even if you don’t have video of your own restaurant, you can search some funny you tube videos related to restaurants and upload those funny restaurant videos and you can have your loyal customers enjoy some jokes around the office to get them out of the cubical boredom. You will make their day little less stressed if they are going through a bad day.
Lastly you can use your customers’ cell phone numbers I hope if you have collected while collecting the email addresses to your advantage even if it is a rainy day and bad for your restaurant business traffic. One of the simplest thing you can do is create mobile coupon in the form of text message with 10 % discount or Bring your friend and get free hot soup for both, assuming it is cold when it rained that day.The idea is limitless, you can create your own creative mobile coupons and have all those floods of office workers or university students at your restaurant. Make sure that you give “I don’t know what happened” look to your competitor when he tries to sneak into your restaurant to figure out what you had really done.
I am sure you agree with the Time Magazine who chose the President Elect Barack Obama as the “person of year 2008″and hopefully you will do the same with me too when we vote him the “marketer of the century” 2008 .