Social Media with Ned Barker

In the last issue of Spirited we reviewed two simple but powerful steps for getting started with social marketing:

1) To LISTEN to what is being said about your business online, and

2) Take proactive steps to EMBRACE YELP, which can help your bar and restaurant business in
so many ways.

This time we’ll look at the basics for establishing an online presence and offer some tips for growing this presence once it’s established. Begin by considering these three questions, even before setting up accounts in Facebook and other social media sites:

1.  Should I have an online identity for my bar, my restaurant or both?

If your bar and restaurant are part of the same operation, especially if they share a single name, then a single online identity should be established. If the bar and restaurant are separate and each is worthy of interest to the local community, consider establishing an identity for each. In this case you might wish to test the waters with just one F&B operation. For purposes of this article, let’s assume you’re setting up social media accounts for your bar.

2.  Do I need a website for my bar?

In short, yes—you’ll need one. Your website will be your “home” for all resources and information, including menus, pictures, events and promotions, basic information, contact information and much more.  If you don’t have a site for your bar, consider using a service that will provide you with an independent (bar/restaurant) website while at the same time integrating your website messaging with your accounts in Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels. One of my favorites that provides this service for a reasonable cost is SinglePlatform (www.SinglePlatform.com, and click here to see the related article).

3.  Should I use a third party service to represent our bar in the social media universe?

I don’t recommend this for restaurants and bars. Outsourcing your “voice” is risky and expensive. Allowing a third party to communicate directly with your stakeholders as if they were you may diminish your ability to establish credible, authentic relationships with your customers.

Once you’ve resolved these issues, it’s time to create your accounts and establish your public identity in the appropriate social media. Remember, you are building a relationship with the public, and you’ll have needs, just as you have needs in your personal relationships. Here’s quick guide:

Are there other great social media sites? Plenty! Consider joining these if your other sites have been up and running for some time, and you already have many Facebook “likes” and Twitter “followers.” Otherwise stay with and grow the basics.

Grow the Audience

OK, so let’s begin to make some friends. Here are a few tips for beginning the process:

1. First, create (and upload) content. Do you have PDF versions of your menus? If not, get them. Do you have lots of pictures of your bar and people having fun in your bar? If not, take some! Hint: pictures without people are boring. Do you have videos? If not, make some. Hint: you can convert any PowerPoint presentation to a video format. You can make a great video in 20 minutes using a free service like Animoto (www.Animoto.com). Do it.

2. Make sure you have links everywhere. Your website, your email signature, your menus, your business cards, your promotional posters—all of these should have links (or in the case of printed materials, directions to your sites).

3. If you have an email list, send an announcement about your new site(s)—but make sure you have a reward there for those who check it out. For example, this could be a “secret” invitation to a special event, a special discount code, a peak at your new menu, a drawing for an iPad or a weekend at your hotel, etc.

4. Like, friend, follow, subscribe, recommend: Engage your audience by recognizing them. Subscribe to a blogger’s blog. Like a friend or page on Facebook, follow a follower on Twitter. Like a customer’s YouTube or Flickr post.

5. Leverage special occasions. For example, use Facebook’s Audobudder app to automatically send a message with a “gift” to any of your friends having birthdays.

6. Use poll apps. These allow you to get organized and measure feedback from your audience. More importantly, they represent just one more way in which to engage your audience. Facebook has several types of poll apps.

7. Create a contest. Contests are fun, and everyone loves prizes. Announce a prize for the “best phone video shot in our lounge this weekend,” or “the best video commercial for your favorite drink at our bar,” or “the best picture of our bartenders ‘in action,’” or “the best recipe for a cocktail using (brand) gin.”

Finally, don’t neglect this new online presence. Nurture it. Relationships grow with attention. Cultivate your establishment’s new friendships with periodic new content. You and your bar will be rewarded.