Your Restaurant Needs a Strong Social Media Presence
Your Restaurant Needs a Strong Social Media Presence

Today, businesses are highly aware of the value of social media data, and the importance of communicating with their audiences. Social media has not only proved its ability to produce tangible results but has also demonstrated the capacity to develop strong contact points between brands and their customers and improve customer experience.

Social media is everywhere and is vastly expanding - but what effect do the various social platforms have on a company's brand awareness, engagement, revenue, and sales?

Use it Wisely

You cannot ignore the power of social media within the restaurant industry. In fact, it could easily be said that if you are not online you are more or less trying to communicate with your guests with two tin cans bound with a piece of string. Now being old-school might be cool, that is just a little too out of date.

80% of the people will look at a restaurant online prior to  visiting for the first time. This means it will check out a restaurant website and browse through online reviews.

Vasudevan Cheruvulli, Owner, Pan India Foods say,” Social media is an inevitable part of running a modern business. Whether your business is active on social media or not, you can be sure that your guests are tweeting, posting, and Instagramming about your restaurant online. Billions of people use social media. This is not a fad, and it's not something that can just be used by individuals to communicate. Social media now has an immense presence in conducting business, especially for restaurants.”

Research has it that 75% of people who browse food photos say they have chosen a place to eat based on social media. That means by just simply posting a photo of your food, you could be bringing in your next customer.

From the cost-effectiveness point of view, Virat Kapoor, Owner, The Sammy Sosa says,” The concept of pay per click enables businesses or business owners to actually determine the effectiveness of a campaign which was not possible through other forms of advertisements.”

Stressing it further Vasudevan says,” Today, more people are eating in restaurants than ever before. Diners love to research their options on Google and look at their social media sites before choosing a location.”

Food Products Going Viral

The KFC Double Down is a perfect example of this effect. When chain restaurants rolled out new items in the past, they were confined to a small market and the impact of the item was only local. This meant that a new sandwich could create a local buzz, but not much more.

The Double Down was similarly released in a small market, but the presence of social media caused it to become a national topic. Even though a lot of this publicity was necessary, it still got people talking about the KFC brand. Similar effects have been seen at the chain Hardees.

Because of instances like this, analysts have predicted that companies will make even more outrageous products.

Transparency in Business

Online review sites and social media have transformed restaurant marketing from word-of-mouth to world-of-mouth. In just click of a button, we can share a photo of our favorite dessert with the world. That has power. You need to respect and harness that power in order to build your brand.

Vasudevan shares three unique ways of utilizing social media for the business.

  • Respond to Online Reviews:By addressing negative reviews and showing appreciation for positive ones, the brand can create a transparent and friendly persona online. It should not be afraid to talk about its flaws and make a public attempt to improve upon them.
  • Share Customer- Generated Content: Brands can their customers into valuable brand ambassadors by sharing their comments and photos on the same social media. By acknowledging these posts and encouraging them the Brand can create social proof for itself and hence generate a backlog of social media content.
  • Ask Questions to Engage Followers:Social media is about more than just telling your followers what's happening at your restaurant. It's also about listening to them. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are a great way to create a two-way dialogue with your customers.

Commenting on its use, Vimal Verma, Director, Andaz, says,” It totally depends on your target customer and their behaviours and once it is known then the suitable medium can be used to make it effective and relevant.”

Social media pages are a great way to establish transparency. Guests should always be encouraged to leave reviews and post pictures about their experience at your restaurant.

Social media pages are a great way to establish transparency. Guests should always be encouraged to leave reviews and post pictures about their experience at your restaurant.

Scaling Profits

Everyone likes to share experience and likes the engagement with restaurants. More engagements would lead to more return of customers and more business. All international travellers also look for recommendations from google or tripadvisior or other mediums to see the dining options.

“Correct presence and good reviews give confidence to someone who wants to try for the first time and you can acquire a new customer”, added Verma

 
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