Restaurants and Social Media: Real-World Examples
Allison Perlik, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, June 5, 2009
Plenty of independent and chain restaurants already have launched effective and creative Web 2.0 marketing and branding strategies. Check out a handful of the best and brightest ideas below.
* Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Donuts conducted a two-day Facebook forum to get feedback from customers about its new more-healthful menu items in January. Key executives, including Executive Chef Stan Frankenthaler, contributed to the discussion, in which questions ranged from whether the chain should keep the green onions on its Egg White Veggie Flatbread Sandwich to whether a partnership with Weight Watchers would add value. The event helped draw more than 1,200 unique users to the chain’s page each day.
* When The Publican in Chicago launched brunch in May, the restaurant got out the word by posting a live Twitter feed of the first morning’s service. Throughout the day, publicist Ellen Malloy tweeted Chef-owner Paul Kahan’s comments, such as, “I just realized the front of house took our egg cups and filled them with butter for service. Gotta get those cups back,” and “This is our unofficial official brunch beer—the right beer for eggs” with an attached photo. Not only did at least half of the morning’s customers say they heard about the brunch on Twitter, Malloy says, but also the live feed drove about half of the reservations for the second week as well.
* Church’s Chicken wanted to build buzz about its new modular building design, so instead of simply sending out a press release and photo to local news outlets, the Atlanta-based chain posted a video on YouTube of the prefabricated store being built and then delivered by truck to its new location. “Someone even tweeted during the event that a Church’s had just passed them on the highway,” says L. Michelle Smith of Dallas-based M Strategies Inc., which worked with the chain on the project.
* McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Philadelphia used Twitter to turn a complaint into a rave review. When the tavern’s staff, which monitors the site for mentions of its name, found a disgruntled customer tweeting about a negative experience there, they contacted him in less than 24 hours and offered to buy him a beer as an apology. The customer then blogged about the experience: “The cycle between a customer’s experience with a business, feedback, and corrective action being taken or not has gotten amazingly short and direct,” he said. “Kudos to a decidedly 'old-school’ business for investing in and effectively using this 'new-school’ social-media tool to improve a customer’s experience.”
* In April, fast-casual Mexican chain California Tortilla launched a Secret Password Day promotion using Twitter, Facebook and its e-newsletter to drive traffic and sales. Over three days, the Rockville, Md.-based company used each online vehicle (one per day) to share a password customers could mention in stores to get a free taco. The first two days drew about 400 customers each (results for the the third were not in at press time), says marketing director Stacey Kane. Even more compelling, she says, is that on average, those visitors spent $6 to $7 each, making the minimal marketing expense of the free tacos well worth the money.
Related articles:
Why Restaurants Should Get on Board with Social Media
Social-Media Marketing for Restaurants: 10 TipsHow to Handle Online Restaurant Reviews
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