Why is Social Media So Critical for Restaurants?
Across the world nearly 4 billion people use social media. There can be no denying that social media is actually changing the culture around the food we eat and where we choose to eat it. 90% of consumers looking at reviews and various social media before selecting a new restaurant. This new social media culture simply can’t be ignored. In fact, we at Platr.co recommend that you embrace this new culture and think about social media marketing for restaurants.
In the current social media environment restaurant customers expect more from their restaurants than just good food and service. The consumer is looking for a total entertainment experience from their restaurant choices. Communicating on social media has become expected by the consumers of their restaurants. Consumers want the total experience for the money they spend on their restaurant choices.
What can the Independent Restaurant Owner do to Fully Engage Their Customers and Prospects with Social Media
First things first. Your restaurant needs to have accounts on the big 4 social media platforms. You should be sure to have accurate and active accounts open on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you engage actively on these platforms, you can be assured that you are reaching all the pertinent demographic groups that your restaurant needs to thrive.
Further you should be posting to these accounts every couple of days. Your clients are expecting to hear from you. Your restaurant is part of their overall entertainment, and they want and expect you to communicate regularly with them.
The content you post needs to be timely, relevant, and frequent. You should strive to be posting on all the relevant events and holidays, from Mother’s Day to 4th of July to sporting events; you need to be communicating with your constituents. Research shows that the best results are achieved on social medial if you are posting every 2nd or third day,
Reviews are now part of the social media fiber so you should ask your customers to review you on various social media. Remember that 90% of your prospective customers are going to look at online reviews before selecting the restaurant they dine at. And getting reviews is just half of your social media responsibility.
You also need to respond to your customers’ reviews. The customer has taken the time to engage with a review and it puts the once on your restaurant to respond to the reviews. Imagine if a customer complimented you on the fabulous evening they just had and how much they enjoyed the service and food. Of course, you would respond to the summertime in your restaurant. The same holds true for social media. The customer expects to be responded to.
Handling Your Social Media Can be Time Consuming and Daunting
When developing our plan, you need to consider a plethora of activities. What audiences and with which social channels to communicate with them on? What should my restaurant’s content strategy be? How can I develop and keep up with a calendar for my communications? How can I monitor and manage all this various output from my restaurant and input from my consumers? How can I expand my reach and attract more customers?
You Run a Restaurant and Have Plenty to Do
With inflation raging, labor tough to get and customers demanding more and more from you daily, keeping up with a never-ending social media campaign can be challenging.
You can turn all this over to a local digital marketing agency to handle all of this. Unfortunately, the cost of doing so is often prohibitive. An alternative is to use Platr.co. Think of Platr.co’s digital marketing suite as an ‘agency in a box’ but at a much lower cost and likely with much better results. Even better, no management needed on your part.
Platr.co’s automated digital marketing suite handles all your Social Media, Reviews, Review Responding, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Search Listing Optimization with an easy-to-use platform. You can even choose a completely hands-free option on Platr.co’s platform that is a set it and forget it solution to all your digital marketing needs.
