If you aren’t yet on the social media bandwagon, you might be wondering how it could help your restaurant. Shouldn’t you be focusing on your food and service instead of managing your social media accounts? While great food and service will never go out of style, it’s foolish to think that you don’t have to do anything else to run a successful restaurant. Just about every restaurant can benefit from social media. In fact, here are four major signs you need to invest in social media for your restaurant. Do any of these sound familiar?
1) You don’t have many repeat customers.
Social media is often where customers go to brag about great meals they just ate, ask questions about restaurants, and complain about meals that didn’t go well. While logging on just to see customer complaints might not sound like your idea of fun, think of what happens if you aren’t around to address those complaints. You never get the chance to make it up to the customer, change his/her mind, or invite him/her back to your restaurant…which means that you just lost a customer for life! If you haven’t built up a loyal customer base that returns to your restaurant again and again, then you need to utilize social media. It’s a great way to encourage customers who loved you to come back and convince unhappy customers to give you another shot.
2) People don’t seem to know you’re there.
You can have the best food in the world, but if no one knows your restaurant exists, no one’s going to buy it. If you’re a new restaurant, situated in a less-busy neighborhood, or in a hidden location, many customers may simply not even know about you! Social media is a great way to get the word out and let people know who you are.
3) No one’s ordering your new specials.
Maybe you have an awesome happy hour, but no one’s coming out for it. Or, maybe you just introduced your new spring entrees, but no one seems to care. It might be that no one knows about the great deals at your restaurant. Social media is perfect for this! Tweeting about your happy hour, posting pictures of your entrees on Instagram, and telling your Facebook fans about your new specials are all awesome ways to get the word out about what you have to offer.
4) You can’t afford other types of advertising.
Advertising and promoting your restaurant can get expensive fast. Most forms of social media, however, are free or relatively cheap. Even if you can’t afford to spend much on promotions, social media is an extremely effective way to get the word out about your restaurant, build a community, and engage your customers.
Do any of these signs apply to you? If so, you should consider using social media for your restaurant!
Article provided by Buzztime.
For daily tips, ideas, and concepts for your bar or restaurant, please visit
http://www.BuzztimeBusiness.com/smarts
Trusted by over 3,200 bars and restaurants in North America since 1985, Buzztime integrates trivia, card and sports games with in- and out-of-venue messaging and communication tools. With over 4.2 million player registrations on the Buzztime platform and over 52 million games played each year, Buzztime players spread the word and invite friends and family to their favorite Buzztime location to enjoy an evening of fun and competition.
