Cafe and restaurant owners you can attract more customers to your business using social media. Here are ten top social tips you can adopt to be more effective on social media. The result? More customers through the door.
1. Be active
One of the keys to being successful on social media is to have an active presence. Your business needs to be posting regularly. Cafe and restaurant owners are often worried that posting too often will be a turn-off. This shouldn't be a concern. Remember one post only reaches a proportion of your followers. By posting regularly you expand your post reach. Try to post at least once a day on your chosen social media platforms. If you're worried about not having the time to maintain an active presence then start small. Pick one social media platform and start from there.
2. Get the timing right
Scheduling your posts at the optimal time will ensure your posts are reaching the right people at the right time. For cafés this will mean your coffee related posts are scheduled for the early morning. Restaurants will want to post their menu items just before lunch or dinner. For more generalised updates schedule them when most people are online. Facebook has a great tool tool under insights > posts that will tell you when your fans are online. This is broken out into daily data. Iconosqaure is one analytical tool for Instagram that will show you optimal posting times. It's also FREE! SocialBro can offer the same information for your twitter account. A free version is also available.
3. Tailor exclusive offers
By tailoring exclusive offers for your social media fans you give people a reason to follow your cafe or restaurant. It's also offers an easy way to measure the success of your offers. For example you may offer a discount on a customers bill if they tweet or instagram a picture in your establishment using your social media handle. Your notification feed will tell you whether or not your offer has been a success.
4. Run a competition
Running a competition on social media is a great way to increase the brand awareness of your café or restaurant. This is because a competition involves a customer posting something to their personal social media about your business. Don't make the entry requirements onerous. You want to encourage as many people as possible to get involved. Offer a prize that is attractive to your target market and make sure you advertise the competition both on and off social media. Don't force entrants to become fans of your page as part of the conditions of entry. If you are posting engaging content and people are interested in what you do then followers will come naturally. Above all any competition you run should help achieve your business objectives.
5. Ask questions
Social media can be a great tool for cafés and restaurants to conduct informal market research. New menu ideas, opening hours even decorating ideas. Ask your customers for their feedback on things that will affect their experience in your establishment. It's a no-brainer that the more you ask your fans the more in-tune you will be with what they're thinking. This will make for a happy experience all round.
6. Interact
Social media is a two-way conversation. Make sure your not only talking but listening as well. If someone leaves a comment on your Facebook page, respond. If someone leaves a negative review on Yelp, respond. Tell them you will use their feedback to improve your business. Often cafés and restaurants will avoid review sites and social media for fear or receiving bad reviews. Whether or not your on social media customers will still share their feedback. It is better to have a presence on the same platforms as your customers so that you can manage a response and show you have received any feedback.
Social media is also a great tool to expand your network. Follow customers, competitors, suppliers, government and industry bodies. Start a conversation with these people and respond to their posts. LinkedIn is an especially great tool for building a network of industry contacts.
Social media is also a great tool to expand your network. Follow customers, competitors, suppliers, government and industry bodies. Start a conversation with these people and respond to their posts. LinkedIn is an especially great tool for building a network of industry contacts.
7. Track
Track your performance on social media to ensure your content is engaging your target customer. You can track basic metrics such as fan growth, likes, number of comments, re-shares and mentions. Hootsuite and Buffer are just two popular tools to analyse your social media performance. You should also track the amount of traffic that social media is sending to your website. Google Analytics will give you this as well as a plethora of other website data. Google Analytics is FREE, make the most of it!
8. Advertise on Social Media
When it comes to spending money to advertise on social media a little can go a long way. This is especially the case for any café or restaurant that has a Facebook page. Increasingly Facebook is becoming another paid advertising medium just like any other. The organic reach of a post (the amount of people who see your post without paying) is decreasing as Facebook attempts to get more businesses to spend money. For those that do, they can gain an edge over the competition. Facebook's Ad Creator can be used to increase traffic to your website, respond to a post, increase the amount of page likes or promote an upcoming event. Another great tool that Facebook offers is "Custom Audiences." By uploading your database of customer contacts Facebook compares your list with its profiles and when a match is found adds them to your customer audience database. If you to advertise on Facebook with the aim of getting customers to your site, ensure that you have a compelling offer to convert the visitor into a sale.
9. Advertise your social media presence
Ensure your café and restaurant guests know that you have a social media presence when they are dining. Offering the cue will make them more likely to share their experience on their own social media platform and generating interest in your establishment. If your offering interesting content this will result in new and repeat business. You can advertise your social media presence on your website, email signatures, business cards, advertising material and menus.
10. Make it consistent
Social media should be part of an integrated marketing effort. Social media is another tool to get your message out to your target customers. Make sure your message is consistent across all your marketing platforms. Understand your brand, what it stands for and its personality. Use this knowledge to target what you say, to whom, why and how you say it. Whether you adopt this approach on social media or another marketing tool you will be well on your way to attracting more customers to your cafe or restaurant.
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