Category Archives: social media marketing

Ideas for Using Social Media to Market Your Restaurant

Marketing, social media marketing, tactics

Do you own or promote a restaurant as your business?

Are you using the best new tools available to you?

Here’s my short to-do list for restaurant owners and marketers:

Basic:
1) Create a Google Local account in Google’s local business center!

Goggle local works in conjunction with Google maps, so when someone is looking for a restaurant online, your Google Local account will help to showcase your restaurant, not just list the name.  And, with more and more people using their phones for searching, Google local business will be a key for getting found.  If you’re not listed, your potential customers will go to the restaurants that are listed.

  • Post a photo of the front of the restaurant and another of the front of house staff
  • Add photos of items on your menu to the Google account
  • Add your menu descriptions in text too. Goggle works with words
  • Make sure your hours are there
  • Include clear directions and the phone number
  • Log into your account from time to time and see the results.
  • Introduce a new offering? Post it on your Place Page after you’ve created your Local Business Account

2) Log in and check your Yelp account!

Yelp - “Real People, Real Reviews” is a review site for customers to post their comments about a meal, a restaurant, the service.

  • Check out the other restaurants in your area
  • What are your customers saying about your restaurant?
  • Ask your social media savvy patrons to do a review for your restaurant on Yelp.

Intermediate:
Once you’ve done the basic of having a good local Google listing and happy reviews on Yelp, then you’re ready to promote.

  • Create a Twitter account and then tweet the daily specials.
  • Promote your account offline in the restaurant.  Let your patrons know that you tweet at 11 am the specials in your restaurant so people will follow you!
  • Create a TwitPic account to marry with your Twitter account so you can post photos from Twitter.
  • Consider creating a coupon for a free beverage when the customer buys a meal (or whatever coupon makes sense for your business.) Take a picture of it and post the coupon photo on TwitPic. Then promote the coupon on Twitter with a link to the TwitPic photo. Ask for a RT (retweet) so the coupon gets passed along. Hint: make sure your coupon has an expiration date!
  • Create a Facebook Fan Page for the restaurant. Offer a special incentive to become a fan and then regularly reward your loyal fans with specials.

Bonus:
Get listed by Fo.odie.us on Facebook for all the Foodies in the US. Not all cities available…

What have you seen that really works for marketing a restaurant on line?

How to Use PR to Effectively Market Your Company

social media marketing, tactics

I believe that PR is a stronger marketing tool than advertising for many situations. Especially if you’re trying to build awareness and create a reputation on a moderate budget.

Advertising works well when you have robust cash flow and you want to keep it that way by reminding your target market about the benefits of your products.

So let’s say you’re interested in using public relations as a tool to market your business, but aren’t sure where to start. My first suggestion would be to consider hiring a PR firm or a PR consultant to help you set your goals and create a great program.

If that’s not in the budget and you’ve got to be a pure PR do-it-yourselfer, there are some resources that I recommend to help you get started.  These good press release writing tips sites will help you with writing the information in a journalistic style:

What PR tools do you use for either creating your plan, writing your information or distributing the info? Leave a comment and let me know.

Ten 2010 Trends & Opportunities for Small Business

Marketing, social media marketing, strategy

Last night I heard Anita Campbell speak at the Hudson Library to a packed house of entrepreneurs, small business owners and those who are considering taking the first steps in starting a business.

You can read the full summary of her presentation “2010 Small Business Trends & Opportunities” at her online publication, Small Business Trends which offers a wealth of helpful information.

The 10 trends and opportunities for small businesses:

  1. Cloud Computing
  2. DIY Marketing
  3. Green
  4. Personal Branding
  5. Blending of Phones/Computers
  6. Local Presence on the Internet
  7. Growth of Gov’t Contracting
  8. More Competition to get Found OnLine
  9. Crowdsourcing Customers w/technology
  10. More Sole Proprietorships (due to high unemployment)

She made the point very strongly that as a small business, you’ve got to be somewhat savvy of online marketing techniques. If you hire a marketing person in your company, or you outsource your marketing to a firm (Note: here’s a link to my marketing company), make sure they are a Techno-Savvy Marketer.

Good advice!

Recommended reading: The Social Media Bible, New Community Rules,
SocialMediaLeaps.com

Two sites that I’m going to check out:
BizSugar, where readers vote on content that helps small business owners. The content is pulled in from a wide variety of authors and published by Anita Campbell.

ReTargeter an advertising app that helps keep loyal readers returning to your online publication.

Social Media Marketing is NOT a Passing Fad

Marketing, social media marketing, tactics

landsend catalogYesterday I got a Lands’ End catalog in the mail.  Today I got an ad in my Facebook account saying “become a fan of Lands’ End and get 25% off your order.”  Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Since I watched this quick 4 minute video about social media, I decided I it’d be a good idea to add our social media marketing links to the home page of our company website. Gee, I should have done this months ago!

Watch this video and you may be motivated to advance your social media marketing too! Let me know!


Social media, the next wave of business
After watching this video, you may change something about the way you think about marketing, advertising and reaching out to customers!!
If so, here are a couple helpful resources to get started or on to the next level in Facebook: