A lot of restaurants are now looking to somehow get involved in social media.  Or at least utilize social media platforms as a means of promoting themselves.  That’s a good thing.  The problem is that many are going into all of this without any strategy.  They lack a game plan.  They see it merely as a means to send out promotional messages.

That’s too bad.  The misuse of social media can be harmful to a brand.  But more often than not, misuse translates into ineffective use.  And ineffective use can often go unnoticed by the restaurant because they haven’t established any benchmarks to measure or tangible goals to reach.

This is happening all too often in the restaurant industry.  It’s a shame because, if you think about it, restaurants are natural social media entities.  There are plenty of reasons why.

  • They are entirely customer/service focused. If any type of industry is people oriented, it’s the restaurant industry.  The entire relationship between the establishment and the customer and the processes that go with it are service oriented.  That’s why many establishments now use the word “server” instead of “waiter”.  It’s why the server appears a few minutes after the meal is served to see if everything is OK.  It’s why the manager then comes by to check on things. That’s called “engagement” - a key pinnacle of social media.
  • The customer relationship is based upon an entire experience. Customers look at dining as an entire experience.  From the convenience of parking to the atmosphere in the place to the quality of the food to the price that ends up on a check.  Each one of those is often a factor that’s considered in the overall dining experience.  Those are “touchpoints” that each leave an impression.  Contrast that with going into a retail store and quickly buying a product, taking it to the counter, paying and leaving.  The greater the interaction with the customer, the deeper the relationship.  Which means…
  • Loyalty is everything. If relationships are forged by customer experience, then they serve as the foundation for loyalty.  Loyal customers or “regulars” are said to be part of the place.  And loyalty means the relationship goes beyond the time the customer spends inside of the restaurant.  And loyal customers mean that…
  • Communities can be established. Organically formed communities - those regulars - happen all the time.  But they’re often not really communities.  Social media can help a community actually grow because it can inspire interaction amongst these regulars to the point that they begin to feel like a community.
  • They produce their own product. Again, consider the retail store - the supermarket, the hardware store, the toy store.  None of them produce their own products.  They resell someone else’s product. If you try out a particular type of shampoo you bought at Giant and end up not liking it, you don’t blame Giant.  You go back to Giant and buy another type of shampoo..   A restaurant’s products are their own creation.  Menu selections are often carefully planned out by owners and chefs.
  • They are now continually subjected to online reviews. Yelp, despite some controversies has become a universal go-to site for reviews of local businesses.  Open Table has seen a tremendous increase in usage.  Urban Spoon is catching on.  That means people are using social media to research and to rate restaurants.  All of this increases the the need for restaurants to jump into the game and embrace social media strategies.
  • Digital means instant communication. Whether it’s people asking one another on Twitter where to meet for happy hour or someone “checking-in” someplace on FourSquare, the instant communication decision factor means that restaurants aren’t just being reviewed online.  They’re being discussed in real time.  Real time means instant opportunity.

It’s when restaurants don’t understand most of the above is when they begin to lose out.  It’s because they don’t realize that they are already social media entities.


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