Comments on: Every restaurant needs a powerful Twitter and Facebook account

By: Patricia

Patricia — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 03:40:01 +0000

David, thank you for this timely message, even though it was now two years ago that you posted it.

For my own clients who are not yet accustomed to the new digital world of marketing, it is challenging to get them to understand that it’s an inside/outside marketing strategy. Many believe it’s only a matter of being online and that’s it. But the marketing has to be internal also. Updating signage and menus is a crucial part of the overall marketing strategy. Your very best advocates for marketing are the customers that have already been satisfied. They are the ones who will be glad to RT those specials, share them with friends, take photos of meals while dining and posting them online.

Attracting new customers is always necessary, but don’t take the current clientele for granted. When they’re happy and engaged, you have far more power behind any marketing efforts because they’ll help spread the word.

Oh, and regarding the comment above regarding MySpace, I don’t quite agree. I always say it’s better to do few things exceptionally well than to try to do everything haphazardly. We’ve all seen websites plastered with icons linking to a bunch of other social media sites just to find that only 1, maybe 2 or 3 are updating even sporadically. I prefer the funnel and expand method instead. Rather than rewrite the explanation of that, feel free to read more and comment. I’d enjoy sharing more dialogue on this topic.

Let’s keep this dialogue going!

Social Media 101 – Funnel Then Expand http://bit.ly/ceC9sa

By: Josh Pearlstein

Josh Pearlstein — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:37:09 +0000

Hi Dave,

Great article. I agree with what you saying about about how Every Restaurant Needs a Powerful Twitter and Facebook account. In fact, a lot of what you wrote in the blog, is exactly what we at SinglePlatform believe in and do for our clients. We are a social media and marketing platform specifically for restaurants and bars, and we are already working with thousands of restaurants across the country.

However, I would argue that you left out the potential that exists behind the location based games like Foursquare.

Please feel free to contact me anytime, I would love to discuss more later.

By: JohnnyD

JohnnyD — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:35:20 +0000

Totally agree with your points about Twitter. I think more and more restaurants will be left in the dust if they don’t start tweeting specials and updates. People are turning to sites like http://www.eatbytweet.com to find nearby restaurant specials and restaurants are losing out on this opportunity to reach out to their local community if they are not using twitter.

By: Choosing from the Social Media Menu for Restaurants | Branching Out: The Maples DMG Blog

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:33:47 +0000

[...] Every restaurant needs a powerful Twitter and Facebook account [...]

By: Mat Siltala

Mat Siltala — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:49:45 +0000

@Pete Kane
For Twitter you can just copy and past this entire thing and link into your updates:

RT @Matt_Siltala Every restaurant needs a powerful Twitter and Facebook account: How many of you eat ou.. h ttp://tinyurl.com/962v88

For linked in you can just do a status update, or what you are working on update and just say something like – reading a great article and include the URL.

Hope that helps!

By: Pete Kane

Pete Kane — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:25:43 +0000

Thanks guys,

Brenda Segna with blast creative did share a similar view that restaurants can and should use both MySpace and Facebook however the Twitter is amazing. Dave …I ‘ll get in touch with you in a few week to talk about an interview. How can I link your article to my Twitter and Linkedin ? I noticed the facebook option. Thanks

Pete

By: David Mink

David Mink — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:00:51 +0000

@Nate – I totally agree that MySpace has lost a lot of its luster, while Facebook and Twitter “are the hottest things in Social Media.” However, in most cases I would still advise restaurant clients to include a MySpace page within their social media campaign plans.

By: Nate Moller

Nate Moller — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:29:14 +0000

I agree that all companies, including restaurants, need a twitter and facebook presence. The thing I love about facebook is that you can create a Facebook Page that allows clients and potential clients to interact, find specials, etc. Twitter is so powerful! It's a micro-blogging platform, it's so easy to use, it's free, and is going to get even bigger in 2009. Huge Companies like Zappos use Twitter as a way to directly interact with their customers, answer questions, and share promotions. It's an HR resource that is "Live" and "Free". To me, MySpace has dropped the ball and Facebook and Twitter are the hottest things in Social Media. Thanks for the post!

By: Mat Siltala

Mat Siltala — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:21:27 +0000

I just posted today how I want more offline companies to be doing this – so this is an awesome suggestion Dave – I first heard of restaurants using Twitter to promote daily specials in New York City – you find the places you like – follow them and figure out what specials and where you are going to eat – it is beautiful – you save money with specials and you have a choice! There is power here with this…Good article my man!

By: David Mink

David Mink — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:11:50 +0000

@Pete – Our company has had great success utilizing both Twitter and Facebook to drive foot traffic to a variety of offline businesses (including restaurants). In particular, many young professionals are on Facebook regularly, therefore it is an ideal social network for restaurants looking to increase their lunch crowd.

I would be happy to do an interview with you. Feel free to email me at dmmink@gmail.com to set up the interview.