Beneath the Buzzwords

Swamped by catchy phrases as you read about social media like me? Lets get past them for a moment. Sure they sound cool: Optimization, Metrics, Communitization, Social Graph etc etc etc but does that help you or just make it seem more complicated? There are brilliant minds like Chris Brogan who lay out ideas that transcend industries and form the basis for where we could be going… but you want to ‘Put butts in Seats’ and do everything else that your business demands, and you want to start today.

So lets get beneath the buzzwords and the noise that is associated with them for a moment. Social media is both of the following for your restaurant: a fantastic tool for communicating your messages and a way of listening that connects the top of an organization to the customers pulse, immediately and without filters.

Your presence should be consistent, creative, and committed. Do not ever feel anonymous or that you are unseen, you have an audience however big or small, and they are watching. Speak to them, interact with them, share ideas with them, share ideas from individuals with the rest of your audience. Its a mental leap for some, but try to imagine an auditorium filled with each of your twitter followers or facebook friends, all neatly sitting in their seats listening to you. When you finish they don’t get up and leave, they stay speaking amongst themselves and to you. Are you listening to what they are saying to you or are you only concerned with them listening to you? A man in the front raises his hand to ask you a question, wouldn’t you acknowledge him promptly and respond if you were on stage in front of him? In social media, your business via its online presence, is on stage 24-7 and without proper care it can appear neglected, indifferent, or downright selfish.

It can also be an invaluable chance to grow customer relationships and allows future customers a chance to become comfortable with your concept, help them identify with your values, and move toward the decision to come in and try it out. Show them what you are about via pictures, video, blog posts, status updates, and newsletter style emails. Consistently, creatively, and committed to your values all along the way. You will see that as your community/audience grows, more and more of them will join in your following in real life too. Just remember even though you can’t see that guys face in the front row, he is there, and if you ignore him he may just get up and leave.

That type of social media content creation, management, and delivery is what my company GuestFeed does for our stellar restaurant clients, allowing them to focus on the operation of their business while benefiting from a social presence that their competitors envy. I am always here to answer questions, give suggestions, and take advice from you; so do not hesitate to contact me. I am on twitter sharing all the time too: @spirocks