6&7 SOCIAL MEDIA For Restaurants:
The Wise Approach
.
Long ago in the United States, some smart fellow developed a radio station and the idea of “broadcasting” and before you could think much about it radio stations were everywhere and conflicting with one another until all you got when you turned your radio on was a lot of noise and multiple stations. What a mess! The government stepped in with a “Federal Communications Commission” and forced these independent fellows to accept a license and a frequency and they were required to use only their frequency to be heard. Of course, they protested, but it was soon obvious, this was the only sane way to do business.
Now we have masses of writers telling us we should reach the world with social media and email. The result is you AND your potential customers might be getting 50 or more emails per day, and might be getting so much advertising on social media like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and others it’s just a cause of confusion.
My marketing study tells me the human mind tends to want simple, easily understood solutions. Getting 50-messages daily is not conducive to the way humans think. Consequently, I do not advocate that everyone push for a Facebook page and “follow me on Facebook” and “get all the email I can send you.” This causes more confusion and creates a lot of wasted work for you.
Yes, we can reach potential customers on social media and they can follow a blog or receive email, but the smart way is for one source to broadcast and make it easy for the customer to see a good number of offerings in one convenient location. That’s why I created Singapore Shopper Magazine.
I have social media there. I have blogging that points to pages with this week’s specials from YOU, and this weekend’s specials FROM YOU, and I do the work, you don’t have to be involved in expensive mass mailings, and writing in proper English.
I am directly honest in saying; Most people are not practiced writers. They don’t communicate well in print. They have never enjoyed writing. It’s my job to write, communicate, advertise, and market your business. It’s your job to run a restaurant and I know that’s a full-time job.
As prices fluctuate and the variety of available food comes and goes with the seasons, you have your hands full making choices about what to buy, what to prepare, and what prices make sense. Don’t throw yourself into communicating to the world yourself too. That’s just not your area. You probably don’t fix all the electronic stuff you own or tear down and rebuild a motorcycle or car either. We have our areas of expertise. You do yours. I’ll do mine. We all end up doing much better and at a lower cost!
Did I ever tell you I fell for the line, “Build a boat yourself for less”? I built a 25’ sailboat. It cost me almost as much as buying, it cost me 3 years of work anytime I had a few spare hours, it destroyed/cost me a marriage. That’s not what I call “build for less.”
So, in the same way, if I want great food, I know your place is one of my best choices. My own cooking is rather boring. If you want to reach the world with social media, email, blogging, and getting to the right people at a low cost, ask me to do it for you on your landing page and/or in Exciting Dining Weekend Edition, or the Weekly Dining Out Specials section.
Those go out through email and social media blogging and so forth. They’re for you, low cost, very efficient, and you can leave the writing and advertising design to me. I know what works and what to avoid doing. That’s my work. You’ll be happier doing yours.
On the Positive side, The HUGE advantage is you can reach many people with any message you want to broadcast. You can broadcast to those great many readers about a new food item on the seasonal menu, or a new stock of wine that has arrived, and advise readers, “Make reservations right away, before the stock runs out.” Offer a free dessert when patron’s reserve dinner for two or more. There are many offers you can make that bring patrons in for a repeat visit, and it all turns into “more money in your pocket.”
Contact me for more information here Steve.sgShopper@gmail.com
