Q&A: Jackie Huba On Social-Media Marketing in the Restaurant Business
As marketing budgets are slashed, an author and consultant says there's no better time to tap the business-building potential of social media.
By Christine LaFave, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, March 1, 2009
Jackie Huba, co-author of “Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message” (Kaplan Business, 2006) and a former marketing director with IBM, preaches a decidedly traditional marketing philosophy: A business’ biggest fans are its best advertising asset. But to cultivate word-of-mouth “evangelism,” as Huba calls it, businesses need a contemporary platform for conversation. Social-networking Web sites let restaurants join in the discussion that their customers (and potential customers) are already having online, says Huba, who also co-authors the Church of the Customer word-of-mouth-marketing blog. Best of all, social-networking sites are free (a bonus for businesses cutting back on their marketing dollars) and are fairly simple to use.
Q. How can restaurants use social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to gain a real competitive advantage?
A. You have to first make sure that the experience you’re providing in your restaurant—whether it’s the food, atmosphere or whatever—is worth talking about. And no matter what, restaurants should absolutely have a listening strategy. What are people saying about your restaurant online? Do you monitor [online review site] Yelp.com? You can set up automatic searches for Twitter or blog mentions. You can see the negative and the positive. And then you can start to engage people on those sites. Have someone at the restaurant who’s assigned to contact those people and say, “Thanks for your comment.”
Q. Do you think the reason some businesses don’t use social media has more to do with a lack of understanding or skepticism about whether social networking can work for them?
A. I think the No. 1 reason is that they’re not aware of how these social-networking tools work. The effectiveness of traditional marketing vehicles has been declining for years. Direct-mail response rates are in the low single digits. And with so many cable channels, TV ads reach a more fragmented audience.
Social networking is more of a grass-roots strategy. It does take work, and it takes nurturing of relationships with people in these networks. But most studies of how people find out about products and companies cite word of mouth as No. 1. And restaurants are cited as having the most word-of-mouth [activity] of any industry. Social media connect people and create networks for a word-of-mouth jet stream, which is why it can be so effective.
Q. How else can restaurants realize the Web’s potential?
A. Tap into the local social networks in your community. For example, Meetup.com has local groups all over the country. There’s a coffee shop below my apartment, and I’ve chatted with them about contacting the local Meetup groups who do book clubs or meet for whatever topic and encouraging them to come in and use [the shop] as their meeting place.
Q. Besides engaging customers online, what should restaurants be doing now to generate interest in their brand and promote guest loyalty?
A. So many restaurants treat most customers as a one-off [visitor]. What I don’t see from a lot of restaurants that would be fantastic is to actually cultivate a specific club or a group of people who are their top evangelists and do special things for them.
We see loyalty cards, but those don’t count. That’s not loyalty, that’s frequent purchasing. I’m talking about special meals, [exclusive] gatherings, a customer advisory board made up of these people to provide feedback on what’s working or not working—special programs around your best customers to keep them coming back and to keep them telling other people [about your brand].
Taking for granted that a restaurant has good food, what puts it over the top for me is how I feel about the people behind it. I remember the first day I walked into that coffee shop near my apartment, and they said, “By the way, if you ever have any feedback for us about how we can improve what we’re doing, let us know.” They want to do the best they can for their customers and really want to listen. From then on, I was sold on them.
Contact writer at christine.lafave@reedbusiness.com
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Hossam aboueissa - 10/27/2009 5:18:00 PM PDT -
Social Media can also drive traffic to your website.With social media restaurants can start to see a return on their website investment. By leveraging your site you can increase sales by capture reservation and private dining inquiries 24/7.
jonathan Morse - 3/31/2009 11:20:00 AM PDT -
Great information. In today''''''''''''''''s economy, businesses have to use every available resource to help market and sell. The ones that don''''''''''''''''t cost - such as social marketing - may be one of the most powerful strategies to implement. Mix that with a great service experience and customers will keep coming back.
Shep Hyken - 3/27/2009 10:18:00 AM PDT
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