Blog

Social media is a must, but not enough: tips for getting creative

Owners need to look outside the box and develop strategies that seamlessly integrate with customers’ always-on and always-connected world.

April 8, 2015 by Nanxi Liu — CEO, Enplug

In a world where many, if not most, of our social interactions are happening online, restaurants need to ensure their social media and CRM strategies are aligned in order to truly engage customers and stand apart from their competitors. We know these can be inexpensive and effective tools perfectly suited to the nature of restaurants. However, in order to create truly standout campaigns, owners need to look outside the box and develop strategies that seamlessly integrate with customers’ always-on and always-connected world. Consider the following tips when developing compelling and innovative social strategies for your establishment:

1. Engage customers on every screen

Whether it’s via their mobile device, desktop, tablet or even an in-store display, customers have never had so many opportunities to interact with businesses on a daily basis. Taking advantage of this multiscreen world can provide businesses multiple avenues for engaging customers that they haven’t necessarily tried before. There are the tried and true methods to consider, offering customers deals and discounts – a 10 percent discount for checking in or a free appetizer for anyone that follows them on Twitter – but sometimes the simplest promotion can prompt that perfect initial engagement. Then, there are companies that are looking to take our love for our devices to the big screen.

One of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco’s historic Mission District, La Taqueria, has successfully turned to social media displays as a way of generating that initial engagement and bumping up sales. By leveraging social media display software from Enplug, they easily turned an ordinary display into a live social media feed that could feature everything from customers' Twitter interactions to the restaurants' Instagram wall. Any posts including their social handles or custom hashtag appeared instantly on the display and acted as incentive for customers to share their experiences. Not only were they able to see a significant increase in engagement, (a quick Instagram search for #LaTaqueriaSF brings up almost 2,000 photos), they were able to take advantage of a customer’s extended network of connections on each platform, and reach new potential customers.  

2. Monitor and shape the conversation  

One of the increasing benefits of social media is its capability to engage customers in real-time. However, this is usually one of those "much easier said than done" tasks, and you shouldn’t jump in without a plan. It can be nearly impossible to keep up with customer engagement at times, and there is often a trial and error period needed in order to figure out the best way to manage each channel. There are a number of real-time monitoring services like HootSuite and Social Bro, that can help a restaurant keep track of engagement on each social platform from start to finish.

Taco Bell is a great example of a company that has mastered the art of using social media monitoring to drive engagement and shape a positive conversation online. By leveraging user-generated content when it was in the process of transitioning to its new tagline "Live Mas," the company asked its Twitter followers to submit photos showing how they "lived mas" and were able to use those photos as part of the promotion. This not only cut down on the work Taco Bell itself had to do (they only had to monitor content, rather than create content), it made their influencers feel like they were a part of the ongoing Taco Bell experience.

3. Give customers a reason to keep engaging

Prompting that initial or in-house engagement is critical, but fast-casual restaurants rely on repeat business and need to provide incentives for customers to continually engage with the brand long-term. Blockheads, a NYC-based chain, was able to get particularly savvy when it came to engaging customers in this manner via Snapchat. During each visit, customers received one of several versions of a placemat asking them to add Blockheads as a friend on the service. Once they did, Blockheads would occasionally send special deals via Snapchat, that customers could screenshot and bring in for a discount. Not only did they capture customer attention at the restaurant and increase Snapchat followers, they provided incentives to keep engaging and coming back after that first experience to increase sales.

There was a time when simply being on social media was enough to generate and track the buzz about a restaurant. However, given some of the top platforms – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – have reached critical user mass, a competitive presence is necessary. There are also many new networks popping up that businesses should be on the lookout for. In the end it comes down to meeting your customers on the platforms they use in a creative, fun and highly engaging manner.