It's Pull love not Push Love

Restaurant operators still tend to revert to the "olde" ways of media. Push media isn't effective, yet they still try. Now, having said that, I truly don't mean to imply that all announcements fall on deaf ears. I just mean that social media is about having conversations; an interactive dialog not a monologue.

I receive messages from a a wide array of media. There is this one restaurant that thinks using a countdown to happy hour will be effective. "five hours 'till happy hour, four hours 'till happy hour, three hours 'till happy hour, two hours 'till happy hour, one hour 'till happy hour"..then amazingly - "30 minutes 'till happy hour" and then, the finale, "IT"S HAPPY HOUR AND YOU ARE MISSING IT!!!!!!!"

How can anyone think that this will be effective.

Social media are here to help you engage, discover and find influencers and build relationships. Using social media to broadcast promotions, specials and happy hour countdowns will not inure your brand to your affinity group.

Now, it is OK to create a social media campaign that includes broadcast, provided it is mixed with thought leadership, inspired notes, fun, games, contests, interactive dialog and conversation. Did I say conversation? Just pushing messages will do more harm than good, so it's a wasted effort.

This week on FohBoh

February 1-5, 2010


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