Restaurant Social Media

Welcome to FohBuzz by FohBoh, Online Restaurant Brand Monitoring

2010-03-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Find more videos like this on FohBoh

For more information please contact info@fohboh.net

B2C Social Media: FohBoh Strategies That Work

2010-03-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Social media is part art, part science and evolving fast. Because Internet marketing and social media communication moves and changes, shifts, wiggles and merges, no one really knows exactly how social media are best used for all business cases. Subscribing to a best practice in social media is a little like creating a budget for a start-up; not enough empirical data is known to create one. Try this, try that and use what works.

FohBoh is creating its own social media best practices for the restaurant/foodservice industry based on its in-house experiences, domain expertise, and honestly, with a fair amount of trial and error. Social media = R+D.

FohBoh is a social media practitioner with a vertical perspective. We focus our energies and insights exclusively at the foodservice industry. So, while there may be some companies finding success in other industries, it doesn’t always translate to foodservice. Many of the homegrown best practices we have developed for our restaurant clients, we regularly collect good commentary from other social media practitioners. Many of the “laws”, “rules” and “practices” other communities and practitioners use are consistent with our own findings.

The following represent ten that I believe to be true. Note that they suggest integration, just like the social web is, so no silos!

1. CONTENT IS KING

Crowd-sourced or user generated content is amazingly powerful. It's the ultimate manifestation of social neyworking. But, unfortunately, not all of it is good content. Having a voice doesn’t mean it's always useful, or meaningful. It just means that the crowd is in charge and has a megaphone for their collective soap box. This is great and what makes the world a better place. We want crowd commentary and the more the better and, better leads to higher quality. Quality content wins every time, ask anyone in media. So, If you want people to come to your website and promote your brand, share only the content that is most interesting, compelling and click-worthy. If it’s just “stuff” and “fluff” don’t bother. It’s like getting lousy jokes from the same person all the time. After a while you just delete them before even reading them.

2. IT’S NOT all about you
I know it’s hard to resist. But, if you want more social media followers and an increasing number of brand ambassadors, our social media marketing team at FohBoh have found that by providing useful and interesting content and using a consistent messaging theme (see #1 above) is a best practice. We recommend using a ration between 60%/40% and 70%/30% for pull vs. push media messaging. In some cases all pull is best if you are a well-known brand or celebrity. But for most brands, you will need to find the pull-to-push ratio that best suites your social media objectives. You just earn more trust when you show people that you're not in social media just to promote your brand, products or your site all the time. Try posting to other links and point their content to other sites. Syndicating and sharing is the key here. Trust, honesty and not being terribly blatant in messaging is a key success factor and will inure you to the social web. The results we have found yield more followers and ultimately, more brand influencers.

3. FIND, CATEGORIZE, COVET AND Reward your brand INFLUENCERS
A key social media objective is measurement and understanding what that means for you and your brand. Objectives change from time to time, so your toolkit should be modified from time to time as well. Build trust, know what Return on Influencers (ROI) and Return on Engagement (ROE) mean, relative to your objectives. Strengthening these relationships and building loyalty will ultimately price economic value, if that's your objective. Loyal customers and brand ambassadors are your best evangelists. Because of this. treat your best customers and key influencers with kindness, recognition and respect, and they'll return it to you ten-fold. Reward them with recognition and in some cases gifts and empower them to syndicate a positive message.

4. IT’S NOT THE TECHNOLOGY – it’s the MESSAGE

We hear this all the time and I personally struggle with this concept. But then again, I am not a technologist so what do I know! What I do know is that underlying all this chatter, the metrics and messaging is the technology as platform and delivery mechanism. However, I think the point here is that it's humans (people-to-people) that makes social media work. Having conversations; a dialog that engages and promotes the social agenda on the social web, is what makes social media work. Use the tools but how and in what form you deliver the message is a key.

5. Social Media Metrics

FohBuzz™ is what we recommend you use. Why wouldn’t we? Social media measurement must be adopted and adapted to every social media campaign, or what's the point. You cannot protect your company’s reputation if you don’t know what’s being said about it on social media websites. It’s just too risky to turn down the volume particularly when listening devices are available to alert you to the good, the bad and the ugly! While there is no one way to measure, you must start somewhere. The reality is that once you start listening, you will want more data and want to dig deeper to identify and find your brand influencers, as well as your brand nemesis’. Then, if you’re smart, you’ll want your competitors information too. But, measurement can be tricky. For measurement to be effective it has to align with your social media objectives. And, what are objectives without a social media strategy. Sentiment tools are not perfect but they are getting better, so common sense prevails here like everywhere.

For the record, it’s not all about fans, followers and subscribers. It’s about reach, engagement and building long-term relationships. It’s about connecting, and inspiring action while building relationships. It’s about building your brands “street team” and empowering them to be your brand message ambassadors. Get your share of the conversation before your competitors tap the network for their strategic benefit. There is no time like the present to discover, in real-time, what your customers are saying about you or your restaurant. Visit FohBuzz for more information on this. It's very cool and created for independent restaurants, restaurant groups and small chains.

6. COURSE CORRECT

Ever been sailing? Ever been on a sailboat when another yacht steals your wind? Dead calm, it is and an early business lesson for me. Get in front and stay in front so a competitor doesn’t steal your wind. The best way to do this is to be smart and strategic while clearly and consistently executing on your social media objectives. Measure, course correct and repeat.

Objectives change and will challenge you because you are no longer in control of your brand; the consumer is; we are. This is possibly the most difficult concept to overcome for many professional marketers. CONTROL IS AN ILLUSION. All we can do is try to influence, which is why social media is so valuable and developing a social media skill so important.

7. THE SOCIAL media LANDSCAPE

Thousands of tools and technologies dot the social media landscape. “New arriving daily”, should be the sign on the infamous "information superhighway". This landscape is made up of four to five categories: sharing, expressing, networking, reviewing even gaming tools. Most of these web 2.0 tools and technologies free. Many are easy to use, and others, more complicated. But, one thing in common is they nearly all have funny sounding names. So, shrink your “universe” down to a solar system, or a social media tool box that works best for your restaurant.

We do this at FohBoh every day and focus only on those social media tools that have application best suited to the foodservice industry. While many can be purposed for almost any industry, some just tend to work better than others for restaurants. We recommend building your own toolbox to meet your social media objectives and keep a look out for new tools, based on what your strategy and core social media objective look like. FohBoh offers FohMedia social media marketing and strategic planning services to help restaurant operators navigate this.

8. SOCIAL media STRATEGY
We suggest that you being with listening. Listening is perhaps the most important thing we do at FohBoh. But then, one would need to know what to listen for. In the restaurant space, we start with behavior: listen to your employees (peer influencers), your customers (social influencers) and your market (key influencers). What are they saying about your brand in your market? Social science is a big part of social media - we are dealing the people here after all. It just makes sense to respect behavior before going off and launching a facebook fan page and Tweeting to anyone that will listen. Strategy is necessary and the first step in developing a winning social media strategy is first, understanding the behavior of your brand, market and customer. Then, use this to create a strategy using FohMedia methodology. I have a blog about this.

9. EXECUTION AND ENGAGe
It's okay to engage and have a social dialog with people you don’t know. Make friends, connect, communicate, collaborate, share, learn, teach and have a voice. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and please, have a thick skin. SOmetimes it can be a bit rough.

Social networking is a big part of social media. With nearly 90% of those online now using some form of social networking site, this is where you need to be. Wasn’t it Willy Sutton that famously said, “It’s where the money is” when asked why he robbed banks? Develop a strategy that works for your restaurant and that meets your objectives. Be like Willy - go where your customers are. Then, execute your tactics consistently and constantly. Embrace the Social Shock™.

10. be smarter

To own a smart restaurant you first must become a smart restaurant operator. New rules apply now. New business models are being created and adopted. New ways to engage and retain customers are being incorporated and new opportunities to optimize your partnerships and retain and engage your workforce are being presented. Social CRM didn’t exit until recently and Software as a Service (SaaS) will teach operators how to compete better and smarter in 2010. Being smart and operating your business smarter using technology is simply the reality of running a business in the 21^st century. Operators must be smart and leverage their time better. Technology is your friend, it’s getting affordable and easier to use.

It's Pull love not Push Love

2010-02-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-05T13:27:00.001-08:00

February 1-5, 2010

Find more videos like this on FohBoh

Finding Influencers and Getting Your Social Media Game On

2010-01-26T17:16:00.001-08:00

This can be a very long discussion, so I promise to keep it short. This post is short because I want this message to be concise, almost a mantra:

The goal of all this discussion, energy and activity regarding social media is to do one thing and one thing well - find your key influencers by listening intently and empower them to be your brand ambassadors.

"Find your key influencers by listening intently and empower them to be your brand ambassadors".

If you focus on achieving this one goal and measure its effectiveness over time, you will win the battle for customer loyalty and engagement.

What Social Followers Want

2010-01-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

I found this on emarketer and thought is was worth reposting

What Social Followers Want
JANUARY 22, 2010

Deals aren’t the only thing

Brand marketers want consumers to follow them to build buzz and engagement, but social media users often desire something in return. What they’ve come to expect is a good deal, but many consumers—including the most active users of social sites—are also interested in deeper engagement.

A December 2009 MarketingSherpa survey indicated that learning about specials and sales was the top motivation of those who friended or followed a brand online, supporting the results of earlier surveys. But looking for savings was followed closely by learning about new products, features or services.

Reasons for Friending or Following Companies Through Social Media According to US Consumers, December 2009 (% of respondents)

Users described as “max connectors”—those with at least 500 social connections—were less interested than average in getting deals. Instead, they cared about new products and company culture, demonstrating the deeper engagement expected by social media power users.

An earlier study, by Razorfish, also found that exclusive deals and offers were the primary motivation of US Internet users following brands on Twitter.

Primary Reason US Internet Users Follow a Brand on Twitter, August 2009 (% of respondents)

Respondents who friended a brand on Facebook or MySpace responded similarly, though they were more likely to become a fan because they were a current customer (32.9%) than were users of Twitter.

Sharing interesting content that users care about, along with the deals and discounts they have come to expect, will both keep them engaged and spur them to pass along marketing messages.

Keep up on the latest digital trends. Learn more about an eMarketer Total Access subscription today.

Corporate Social Networking

2010-01-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

You bet, interactive communities are penetrating the corporate office and replacing (at least being included) in company intranets. No longer are the just big technology companies adapting and adopting this new communication tool. Restaurant chains are to. Even independent restaurants are starting to see the value of creating and managing a private group for internal communications and dialog. There are many ways to create a new, more engaged workforce reaping all the attendant benefits.

First, understanding how social media technologies work including legal considerations, IT support, policy and guidelines. It's best to realize that in most cases, company communication policies and common sense would apply. But don't smother, enable. The hardest thing for marketing folks and lawyers to do is let go. Social web mandates that we trust. It's a learning process, so community management is a key success factor.

Second, IT generally hates anything that passes through a firewall. So, allow access outside the firewall. IT, lighten up a bit.

Third, be patient and try not to grow your community too fast. It will take time because you really want the employee to discover the value and share. Word-of-mouth works internally too. The champions will surface

Fourth, make sure the your regional managers and general managers are on board and know how to use the community at the unit level. More, mush more on that as we go along here.

Corporate Social Media Policy

2010-01-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

More and more enterprise-grade social networks are coming online. With this, should come rules and guidance.

Here are ten common sense rules for developing your corporate social network social media policy:

1. Be Certified in the Social Media Certification Program.
2. Follow our Code of Business Conduct and all other Company policies.
3. Be mindful that you are representing the Company.
4. Fully disclose your affiliation with the Company.
5. Keep records.
6. When in doubt, do not post.
7. Give credit where credit is due and don’t violate others’ rights.
8. Be responsible to your work.
9. Remember that your local posts can have global significance.
10. Know that the Internet is permanent.

Yelping about Yelp!

2010-01-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Oh my, Yelp still doesn't get it!

I am a fan of reviews. Reviews keep us honest, alert and wanting to improve. But, I am also a fan of fairness and honesty. If Yelp would adjust their algorithm to focus on identifying "fake" reviews and post reviews chronologically, I would be much happier and these type of reports and blogs would disappear.

This is a link to a video to yet another story on how Yelp seemingly extorts money from reviewed merchants. Yelp sucks as long as they continue providing such an unfair service. In my opinion, as soon as a new review site comes along that offers the same amount of information, with reviews posted chronologically, Yelp will become less relevant. And, that's fine with me. Yelp never addresses their algorithm relating to date stamping. Why is that?

Even consumers are starting to look for alternatives. It's a good directory (so is Google), but it isn't a fair review site. The average review is what, 3.5 stars? Seems like a low-end attempt to create a crowd-sourced content site. Moreover, they are not creative. They haven't figured out how to monetize Yelp beyond advertising. Or have they?

See video at YouTube here.

Watch video here

The B2B Social Web - More Than a Marketing Tool

2010-01-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is! I know, the media is all in a frenzy about social media, all your friends are on facebook and Twitter is starting to bug you. Me too, sometimes. But, I find all these web 2.0 tools useful, but I use them for different purposes. Social media is like Chinese food. Somehow, when you make it at home, it always tends to taste the same. At least for me. That's because whatever I choose to make, I tend to use the same spices - because that's all I have in my cupboard. So, of course, my dishes tend to take on a similar flavor profile.

So, cooking with all the same spices is like using the same web 2.0 tools for all your social-business needs. The results will be similar. Choose the right tools for your social media strategy and measure its impact. Them swap them out until the objectives are met.

The future, as I see it for the social web, is B2B utility. Utility is needed when there is a problem to solve. In the foodservice industry, particularly at the unit-level, business solutions fall into four primary buckets: Business CRM, Social CRM, Workforce Collaboration and Business Productivity. By using readily available SaaS solutions developed specifically for the restaurant industry, an operator can leverage Web 2.0 and social media creating a powerful management system that promotes efficiencies. Cloud computing is finally here for foodservice. From purchasing and supply chain transparency through managing customer loyalty programs and mobile marketing initiatives, social media is in the middle of it all. How? By engaging all stakeholders via the social web and delivering information bi-directionally. Collaboration between all stakeholders is a must today.

FohBoh 2.0 is the first step in delivering integrated technology and social business solutions to the foodservice industry. While B2C is cool, and driving new customers to your restaurant door is compelling, you still need B2B social tools to engage and communicate interactively with them to measure success. Social networking is a part of your communication strategy, but should also be incorporated into your B2B strategy as well.

You also need to control commodity costs and real-time interactive conversations relationships with your vendors and access to manufacturers. It's a new game with new business models, new tools and technologies that are cheap and easy to bolt on. However, technologies need to be unified before true utility is obtained. Look for SaaS solutions for foodservice that offer fully integrated and unified connectivity under a single log-in beginning this year. This will finally make restaurants smarter and offer something truly valuable to business. B2B Social media is as powerful as B2C social media. Successful restaurant operators will need to be fluent with both.

How Restaurants used Social Media in 2009

2009-12-31T21:03:00.000-08:00

I asked Emerald Reilly, a senior marketing coordinator for social media services at FohBoh, to find a few current examples that define success. Emerald, always the over-achiever, found five worth sharing.

1. The Cheesecake Factory recently jumped on the Social Media bandwagon to promote their Reunion of a Lifetime Sweepstakes. They required people to become a fan of theirs on Facebook in order to enter. The winner would get to choose ten friends or family members to bring with on a trip to Las Vegas. Pam Naumes, CCF’s Manager of Web and Interactive Marketing, said Facebook was the perfect place to promote this sweepstakes “because people are there to connect with friends, family and loved ones.” (Information from CCF newsletter)

2. Domino's Pizza is utilizing social media to promote the brand new pizza recipe. They launched a new section on their website, dominos.com, 'Oh Yes We Did', which chronicles Domino’s decision to revamp their recipes based on consumers comments. The site includes live feeds from Twitter and Facebook, sharing what consumers think of the new pizza. "Our inspired new pizza was driven so heavily by listening to our customers through social media, having that component be a part of our online marketing campaign seemed like a no-brainer," said Chris Brandon, their spokesperson. He says the site lets them show their customers that they are listening to their concerns. See smartbrief.

3. When Maggiano’s first began to use Twitter to engage with customers, they found a way to gain followers quickly. Michael Breed, senior marketing manager, sent out a tweet saying that if users began following @Maggianos by 5pm they’d be entered to win a $100 gift certificate. They gained 2,000 followers that day. See Chain Leader.

4. Erik Oberholtzer, co-owner of Tenders Greens, a fast casual, three-unit restaurant chain based in Los Angeles, began tweeting to increase awareness about his brand. After gaining followers by tweeting about daily specials and ingredients he finds at farmer’s markets, he was able to tell all his customers that the grand opening of their third restaurant would be delayed a day due to mishaps with a permit. “The benefit is getting a message out there and building a community,” he said. See Chainleader.

5. Bob Evans Restaurant’s digital marketing manager, Stephanie Busack uses social media as a platform for dialogue with fans and followers. She says it makes easy to monitor customer’s needs and what people are saying about their brand and service. One of the more successful initiatives they’ve had was the use of microsites for interactive games and sweepstakes. “These games dram in a large audience, most coming back an average of seven to eight times to play or register and interact with our brand,” said Busack. See Chainleader.

I love businesses cases and success stories. As the restaurant industry becomes more engaged, it will only get better in 2010.

Goodbye 2000 -2009 decade

2009-12-29T17:27:00.000-08:00

It hardly seems that 10 years has passed since I hosted 25 people at a dinner party (well wine and we also had food) to say hello to a promising new millennium. We ate and drank and toasted to our good fortune, to our vested stock options and the burgeoning Internet gold mine. Living and working in Silicon Valley then was an insiders' game. It was regular cocktail chatter. We discussed how much each of us was making and where we were investing our option cash. It was a heady time. I miss those arrogant, easy money days where wealth was created from good timing, a lot of sweat and luck. We all knew it wouldn't last. That was obviously then. Before meltdowns, bubbles, tragedy, not one but two recessions and lost wealth. I often wonder how many of my old cocktail party friends still have any money?

The verb named Google and the micro-blog named Twitter - the new kid on the block that may implode on its own weight - are welcoming signs of another fast to market caution. Twitter went mainstream in February after simmering since 2006. It's 2010 and they still haven't a clue on how to monetize. I guess I am just old school when it comes to business. While free can be a good model, it doesn't always sustain unless there is utility and technology there to sustain a high influence rating.

I worry about Twitter. Not that I am losing sleep over their success or future. I just worry that so many restaurants seem to think it's get followers, spam them, give away coupons and increase my business. This is an incomplete thought with expectations from a naive user. Rushing to use any one-to-many mass communication channels is not a good idea. I just hope restaurant operators use this social media tool as a start to joining the conversation and a way to seed new belief in a changing landscape.

The LongView

2009-10-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Image by Gauravonomics via Flickr

I was told today that we may have to be patient for success. That, while social media are indeed being embraced by the enterprise, the FohBoh vision may be too big for foodservice. Hmmm.

The 4C's of Social Media
FohBoh has content. In fact, more P2P content in one spot for the foodservice industry than anywhere else.

FohBoh Is collaborative. We have 13,000 members that suggest that we are an active, engaged community. Not all at once, but we are engaged.

FohBoh is The defacto online restaurant community. We have members, content, groups, interaction, dialog sharing, and 13,000 members...

FohBoh has collective intelligence. We are the deepest peer-to-peer resource for our industry. Our members are the voice of the restaurant industry.

The Restaurant industry isn't waiting for analysts and investors to say, ok, the timing is perfect for us now. That concept is a circular reference.

We are working hard to move this needle and educate investors, analysts and others to deliver solutions to this industry. We need social media business cases and thought leadership now, not when prognosticators say so.

Time for the restaurant industry to embrace the new, new

2009-10-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

Image of fohboh

I find that I am always thinking about what's next. I am a gadget guy, for sure. Call me the ultimate early-adopter. I remember my first computer purchased for a ton of money in 1984. It was a Macintosh. I jumped right in and started playing with it. Totally unafraid, as I should be. Unless I dropped it, I wasn't planning to break it. Really, what could a 512 machine do? Practically nothing, almost everything.

I'm a believer, and I practice the art of the possible. I have no fear. So, why is that? What was it during my childhood that turned this personality on? My parents were hard working, middle class folks. But not risk-takers. My grandfather was an entrepreneur and inventor, howevever. Maybe "it" skipped a generation; kind of like hair-loss.

Being a risk-taker is a hard thing to tell someone. Like your wife! Actually, my wife knew it long before we were married. It's my first wife that didn't know. That is, until I had quit my job, moved to Reno, Nevada in 1980. Then a year later, I opened my first restaurant at the age of 26. I just decided to be an entrepreneur. I had a vision and focused on that goal. In those days, being an entrepreneur wasn't something you actually put on a business card. It wasn't something that I even identified with. I was just a someone that had a dream and followed his heart. I was a risk-taker restaurateur.

Here's the thing I just don't get about the restaurant industry. An operator will take enormous personal and financial risk developing and operating a restaurant. Huge amount of risk with huge failure rates. But when it comes to technology, clams up. "No thanks." "Not for me." "Too complicated." "Too expensive." "Never had it, don't need it." "It's a fad." "We have all the technology we need around here, thank you very much!" Gez. Ask any technology vendor about selling into the foodservice industry and they just look down and say, "man, can you say late adopters?"

But, wait. I see as small crack. A glimmer of hope for the sales rep and the operator. Its called social media. Why does it takes an economic meltdown and a fundamental shift in how humans communicate to drag a restaurateur to the table?

First, foodservice is already very late, so may they are right on time, again. Social media has been around since the Internet started. Social media is just people having conversations online. The change is speed and dialog...a two way conversation. The future of the social web is positioning restaurants to leverage this amazing force of change betetr than many industries. If, they will use it. Don't be afraid. You cannot break the Internet.

1. It's mostly free.
2. You cannot break it.
3. It will, if used strategically, build relationships with new and existing customer and should increase sales.
4. It is powerful and can, drive operating costs down.
5. It should be looked at as a utility: Business CRM, Social CRM, Business Productivity and Workforce Productivity tools to help sustain and grow your business.

The trend is more use, not less. The reality is your customers and employees are online using social media and social networking right now. Are you?

Blogging for a Living

2009-09-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Over the past two years, I have somehow found the time required to be more productive. While I have been blogging since 2006, this past 20 months, since founding FohBoh, I have been a very active blogger and social media practitioner. Now, with my frequent posts on FohBoh, bi-weekly posts for the FohBoh newsletter, "In the Window", my new Social Media Kitchen blog, this new Restaurant Social Media blog and my forthcoming monthly column for the California Restaurant Association "The Standard", I am now fully engaged. Lately, more speaking engagements, moderating and participating on panels discussing my passions, social media, online communities, technology, and foodservice social media.

So, where do I find the time to actually run my business? How can I be creative, continue my research, read, raising capital, create and sell new products and still have a balanced life? I think I just work, alot.

I find what takes the most time is messaging. Crafting messages. Revisiting the last message, learning new messages and trying not to live in PowerPoint. FohBoh is a small company with just a few employees. We are NOT venture-backed, so resources are skinny. We do have a few shareholders and a couple of note holders. But, most of the capital is from my wallet. Deferred luxuries include things like like a paycheck. This is skin-in-the-game and dedication.

Blogging has become our SEO strategy and we have learned to be patient and optimistic, however. Testing and evaluating new technologies has also become a big part of our daily routine because we need to accelerate user adoption, FohBoh member activity. So, adding to our daily activity is Twitter, Digg, Friendfeed, Facebook, and dozens of foodservice and other blogs. Writing now consumes 4 hours a day, seven days a week.

I had a foolish thought recently. Maybe I should write a book?

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]">

reBlog from fohboh.com: Testing Zemanta to enhance your blogs - FohBoh

2009-09-06T12:37:00.001-07:00

I found this fascinating quote today:

This is a test blog using Zemanta. I downloaded the Firefox plug in to see how it works for me on FohBoh. The test topic is cheeseburger, seems appropriate, since this is the most popular food served in restaurants. So, Zemanta popped up on my right side and I added "Cheeseburger" in the search box as my topic. Up pops relevant photos and articles that have been posted using Zemanta.fohboh.com, Testing Zemanta to enhance your blogs - FohBoh, May 2008

You should read the whole article.

What is the core of a Social Media Strategy

2009-07-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

The core of your business to consumer (B2C) strategy will be to open up two-way communication between you to the customer. This allows you to inform them about what you offer as well as allowing them to offer feedback about what you’re doing well and what you can improve upon. One side benefit is free focus group polling. Once you’ve opened up the lines of communication, joined the conversation and engaged your customers, there’s then the opportunity to create a community around your brand.

Start with Understanding Behavior

2009-07-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Restaurant owners can no longer afford to ignore the shift in power from business to the consumer. It started the day the Internet was available to consumers. Now, control of your brand is in the hands of the many, who love to be honest, transparent and open about nearly everything. Advertising your business through traditional means is part of your strategy, but not the tactic of choice. You must take advantage of social media to outperform your competitors and engage with your customers and employees.

The foregoing seems obvious to many of us, in part, because social media is just so, well, restaurant. Customer-facing businesses, like restaurants, are naturally social. They are just used to doing this in person, not asynchronously.

The crown jewels of your social media strategy begin with understanding who your customer is. This starts with understanding behavior. Ask these five questions first:

1. How is your restaurant is positioned? (segment, sub-segment, pricing, service and staffing philosophy, etc.)
2. Who is your most loyal customer demographic? (Gender, age, ethnicity, etc.)
3. How do you define frequency?
4. Where does your customer consume media? (if you are sending out tweets at midnight and your customer is in bed, then, is that tactical?)
5. What motivates them to make their decision to dine at your restaurant over another?

Once you understand behavior, you can start crafting a strategy.

Joining the conversations means never, ever stopping...

2009-07-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

The first step is to develop a strategy for how you will use social media for your brand. It's an integrated marketing strategy that makes your traditional marketing efforts work harder and more efficiently. Once you start, make sure you commit time to execute. Or hire a company that specialize in restaurant social media to manage your programs for/with you. No one knows your brand better than you. But, consultants will leverage your time and ensure you keep the conversation going.

Core Media
First, update your restaurant website. Too many restaurants created a website 10 years ago and haven't changed a thing. Web 1.0 is so obvious. Take the time to update it to include facebook fan links and "follow me on Twitter" badges. Add industry-centric badges and widgets that show you are relevant and connected. This is the center of your online branding efforts, so start here. If the customer isn't coming in to your restaurant, they need to be thinking about your restaurant.

Too many restaurateurs drop the ball after their initial effort because they do not take the time. Managing your social media is a key success factor today. Be sure none of your competitors are using social media before you make this mistake.

Measurement is a big part of your strategy. What is your online reputation? What is the blogosphere saying about your brand online? There are a lot of tools and services that will provide this data to you including Guest Pulse and BooRah. Start by going on Twittersearch (launching July 2009) and search your brandname. Welcome to reality. You are no longer in control of what is said. Your customers, employees, vendors and their relationships are.

Social Media Tools for Restaurants

2009-07-26T16:44:00.001-07:00

My first post isn't even from me. Part of what I will do here is aggregate, re-post, Tweet and link to blog posts that I think are relevant. David Finch does a good job here. See the entire blog here.

Social Media Tools for Restaurants

Make sure your restaurant can be searched and reviewed through local business guides such as Yelp.com, Urbanspoon.com, and TripAdvisor.com
Suggest that positive feedback from patrons be shared on these social business guide sites.
Twitter – sign up for a Twitter account. Publish your Twitter profile on all documents. Promote giveaways, specials and announcements via your Twitter profile. Use it also as a tool to listen and converse with your customers.
E-Newsletter – Email a monthly newsletter with the latest happenings, new menu items, entertainment news, recipe of the month etc. This is also a great tool to collect email addresses for future opportunities to connect with the customer.
Blog – Blogging is a great way to bring the customer into the kitchen. It’s a great way bring them behind the scenes and make them feel a part. Sharing a recipe, employee profiles, and kitchen tips and tricks are just a few options to break down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Customers want to be part of something more then just a meal, they want to feel like they belong. A blog can be that tool.
Google Alerts – This is a great tool to use to listen to what is being said about your business, website or even your chef. Setting up a Google alert with just the name of your restaurant can bring priceless insight to both positive and negative talk that’s being said online about your business.
Facebook – Set up a Facebook fan page to connect with your customers on Facebook. Keep it updated with fresh content and always make sure you’re involved with the conversations that are taking place on “the wall.”
MySpace – If your clientele is more likely to be found using MySpace, create a profile page and updated it with fresh content as well. Like Facebook engage in conversations and comments.
YouTube – Incorporate video into your social media strategy. Like your blog, take your customer behind the scene and give them a pass to a part of the restaurant that only insiders are allowed to go. Provide a few quick tips and how-tos from the house chef. Share these videos on YouTube and other video sharing sites, as well as your blog. Use video to even show where you buy your produce and meats. This is also serves a dual role because it promotes your local farmers.
Mobile – Have customers provide their mobile phone number for coupons, specials and latest news via an SMS message.
Events – Host Tweetups for your Twitter community and Meetups for those that gather around topics via meetup.com.
The Business Card – Provide a business card or note-card to each customer that maps out where they can continue their dining experience online.
Social Calendars – Use sites such as upcoming.org and eventful.com to promote the latest happenings and events.
Flickr – Use photo sharing sites to show images of events, behind the scenes and market days. Let your customer see from the eyes of the chef rather then just the brand.
Email – Use email not only for your e-newsletter, but also to give away FREE stuff to your customers and continue to build your email list.

Remember, that the effectiveness of social media isn’t the tool; its listening, answering questions and connecting with others. These tools are just opportunities to connect your customers to your brand and by connecting with them they’ll tell others about you.

Here are a few examples of how dining establishments are using social media to connect with their customers.

1. Social Media for Small Business - Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse
2. How one Coffee Shop Used Twitter to Double its Clientele
3. Restaurant Entrepreneur Turns to Social Media and On-site Tasting Events for Help

What types of social media are you using to converse with your customers? What has worked and what hasn’t? What would you recommend to your local restaurant owner?

I want to hear your thoughts. The comments are yours!