TRG Ebook - Restaurants and Social Media

ebook Ser ies: Volume 17
the promise behind the brand.

Res taurant s & Social Media
Restaurants &
Social Media
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©The Russo Group, 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Why the Consumer Owns the Brand..................................................................................................................................................3

Listening: Your Most Important Skill...................................................................................................................................................6
Business Benefits From Social Media.................................................................................................................................................9
Local Eateries That Facebook.............................................................................................................................................................11
Chains That Twitter............................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Why the
consumer owns
the brand
With the rise of Web 2.0 and the ability of
social media users to boast their messages and
feedback on a global scale, the consumer has
become more powerful and is now driving the
market. The trend has continued with successful
companies making the consumer the center of
their business. Companies that recognize and
embrace the psychographics of the consumer
as the most important force are able to provide
products and service that are wanted and
needed. Henry Ford used to say that if he had
asked consumers what they want, they would
have said a faster horse. Companies that use
insight to give consumers what they really need
gain market share and increase profitability.

Furthermore,
these consumers have become the “owners” of the
brand because they can help promote public opinion
(and inevitably the reputation) of the brand itself.
For example, feel free to Google the name of any
restaurant that pops into your head and see what
comes up. After maybe the primary business website,
you’re most likely to see consumer reviews from
Yelp or OpenTable. These little tidbits of personal
experience will be more effective in the overall
decision to “buy” than the restaurant’s website itself.
That’s because people trust the opinions of other
experienced product-users before they trust the
product or service. We are a society that follows
trends and public opinion. Why would product
searching be any different?

Finally,
the consumer owns the brand because the consumer
has the power of influence. With social media in
hand, the consumer can connect with a business
and influence his or her friends to do the same.
From this, a fan base is born and the business is
then responsible for providing consumer feedback
and actively participating in the conversation.
Ownership has shifted.

Listening:
Your Most
Important Skill
Google Alerts
Set up a Google Alert under your company’s
name, and also add the name of your industry
you belong to, the business owner’s name,
and even the names of your competitors.
Set this up under anything that is unique to
your business. Every day, you will get new
updated information emailed to you directly.
You will continue to get updated conversation
information on the titles that you’ve entered.
Basically, Google Alerts is the most general
listening device on the web today.

Social Hospitality Review Sites are probably the best resource

within this industry when listening for your name.
Yelp
Just search for your name and principals on Yelp. If you aren’t a big restaurant or chain, you might
only get a few reviews a week, but it’s worth going through and keeping tabs on yourself. Yelp is a
great resource for finding out what has already been said about your establishment. You may also
want to search for yourself under ‘TALK’ or ‘EVENTS’ which aren’t necessarily review sections, but
contain conversations in which your name may be used. It’s all about listening. Check for accuracy
about the info Yelp has about you while you’re there. If something needs to be changed (like the
fact that you do not take reservations), let Yelp know so that the info can be corrected.
UrbanSpoon
UrbanSpoon is both a website and extremely popular iPhone app. UrbanSpoon is a restaurant
guide serving major cities in North America as well as London. With it, you can search for local
restaurants by neighborhood, cuisine or price. You can also find reviews from local newspapers,
food blogs and fellow diners. With both the site and app, users can vote on restaurants and share
your take on the best and worst places to eat with your friends.

Mass audience Social Networks have the biggest pool from which to
listen and a great arena in which to find fans.
Facebook
On Facebook, you should set up a personal account for yourself first. Do a search on Facebook for yourself
to check discussions, fan pages and groups for any name-dropping. This is your opportunity to find out
what’s working. Try out your new ideas on Facebook and see how fans respond. This is the best place to
build a personal relationship with fans and friends and provides a fantastic instant focus group.
Twitter
Use this Social Media behemoth to Search not ‘Tweet’. Get in on active conversations and see what real
people have to say about you. Find out how you fit into their everyday lives. You will also be able to set a
feed of the query with your RSS reader, which will send you the tweets directly without repeating a search.
Got to http://search.twitter.com to start today!
Technorati
Technorati allows you to specifically search blog posts. It gives you the opportunity to see a more detailed
account of a review because blog entries tend to be more personal and elaborate than just a posting or
status update. Expect to see less activity unless your business is written about often or is more high profile.
You will find your name discussed more deeply in content and context.

Business Benefits
from Social Media
From a business standpoint, social media makes
great economic sense as a branding and promotional
utility.
1. Short Term ‘Buzz’ is the initial benefit of any social

media endeavor. Because more and more social networking
sites are popping up every day, it seems like most of these hubs
are fleeting and becoming more fad than future. However, some
of the major players (Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter) have
become global entities with a staggering audience. Short Term
‘Buzz’ refers to the initial response that a business will find
when it enters the Social Media waters in one of these major
arenas. It’s like the new kid on the block that everyone wants to
meet. After this ‘Buzz’, though, it’s the business’ responsibility
to keep the hype going.

2. Long Term Reputation and Trust is

the second business benefit of social media. As
the company’s fan base grows, the company
must do its part to make sure that the feedback
of its fans is heard. That means upholding
its own mission to provide customer service
as well as provide effective feedback-loop
closure by responding to the conversation.
This projects an image of responsibility and 3. Reduced Cost is the final business benefit
eventually leads to consumer trust. of social media for the restaurant industry.
Most experts will agree that any social media
effort will be a labor or time, not money.
Although most of these sites are free, they do
require a special amount of time dedicated to
maintenance and updating. On the upside, the
networks allow for a major resource of free
publicity and feedback, which allots for more
budget to use for tradition means of branding
and advertising.

Local Eateries
that Facebook
Tsunami Sushi Lafayette
Tsunami is a premier fine dining establishment for
international cuisine located in Lafayette, LA. The
restaurant uses its Facebook page to post daily
happy hour specials and to promote neighboring
businesses and events in the Downtown Lafayette
community. The page has already garnered
almost 1,300 fans and is growing each day. The
restaurant has become a staple of the community
and its Facebook page only supports its spotless
reputation thanks to consistant updates and regular
maintanence.

Agave Mexican Grill & Cantina

Downtown
Agave is called a “retreat” in the heart of
downtown Lafayette. The restaurant brings
together traditional Mexican cuisine, an
outdoor, patio atmosphere, and over 40 of
the finest agave Tequilas in the world. Agave
uses their Facebook page to advertise the best
days to enjoy the patio on a day-to-day basis,
and they also invite fans to submit their Agave
Experience photos to be featured on the page
itself. The page uses personality and humor to
drive Facebook users to “fan” Agave.

Chains that
twitter
Jason’s Deli
Chain restaurants or franchises might see
better results with a Twitter account as
opposed to a Facebook page because of the
relentless updating and constant opportunity
for your “tweets” to be heard. Jason’s Deli is
doing just that.

RUSSO IS A STRATEGIC BRANDING AGENCY –

AND AS A BRANDING AGENCY, WE ARE BELIEVERS.
Here, we believe in the promise behind the brand.

And here, we believe that changing the conversation motivates consumer behavior.
Through the use of consumer insight, we develop branding initiatives for our clients
that form emotional connections with their consumers.
For more information on branding, social media

or to learn more about The Russo Group, drop us a line, we would love to hear from you.
116 E. Congress St., Downtown Lafayette, LA 70501 | 337.769.1530 | F 337.769.1531

www.therussogroup.com | www.razorbrandingblog.com | jaci@therussogroup.com

Restaurants &
Social Media
©The Russo Group, 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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ebook Ser ies: Volume 17

the promise behind the brand.

CLICK SCREEN TO BEGIN.

1 < Back | Home | Next >

Why the Consumer Owns the Brand..................................................................................................................................................3

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3 < Back | Home | Next >

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Social Hospitality Review Sites are probably the best resource

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1. Short Term ‘Buzz’ is the initial benefit of any social

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2. Long Term Reputation and Trust is

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Agave Mexican Grill & Cantina

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RUSSO IS A STRATEGIC BRANDING AGENCY –

Here, we believe in the promise behind the brand.

For more information on branding, social media

116 E. Congress St., Downtown Lafayette, LA 70501 | 337.769.1530 | F 337.769.1531

14 < Back | Home | Next >

15 < Back | Home | Next >

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