Where fine dining and social media meet
To learn how restaurants can position themselves for success in 2010, Rebecca Pollack, SmartBrief’s food industry editor, reached out to marketing guru Ron Blake, the president and CEO of Rewards Network. An edited transcript of their conversation follows.
What marketing advice can help restaurants and chefs stand out in this economy?
Keep providing value. Deals, discounts and incentives for consumers are only part of the value a restaurant can provide. Maintaining high standards — using quality ingredients, creating an inviting atmosphere, offering excellent service — will set a restaurant apart in this economy. Consumers still hunger for an enjoyable dining experience in which they’re made to feel like a guest of honor, but they want that experience to be affordable.
How is Rewards Network using social media successfully?
We’re using social media both to grow our business and to better connect our diners and restaurants. We’re on Facebook and Twitter every day, listening to what our consumers have to say — about everything from the scope of our network to the usability of our mobile apps — and using that feedback to improve. We’re also using Facebook and Twitter to create an online meeting place for restaurants and diners. Our iDine Facebook pages and Twitter feeds serve as virtual bulletin boards where restaurants can post news and special items, and consumers can dish on their favorite network spots and discover useful information and dining deals.
In your experience, are diners hanging out more in one social-media network compared with others? What social-media presence seems to be most profitable?
Facebook and Twitter are the dominant social media tools, but foodies also flock to sites such as Yelp, Urbanspoon and CitySearch or the forums on Serious Eats, Chow and other food sites. For restaurants, one social media presence isn’t necessarily more profitable than another. For L.A.’s famous Kogi BBQ truck, using Twitter to broadcast the truck’s location works best, earning Kogi more than 50,000 followers. In New York City, Dallas BBQ favors Facebook to share photos, promote events and converse with diners. Most social media tools are free. Finding which are best for your business and taking the time to use them regularly will make them profitable.
What incentives or deals seem to work best for foodservice groups in social media?
Insider deals available to your social media audience work great. They provide real value and create a reason for diners to monitor your social media content on a regular basis. A lot of our restaurants are pros at offering keywords on Facebook and Twitter that result in special discounts. Mention the word “cabernet” at City Winery in New York City for half-off flatbread. Tell Freshii you saw their tweet and get a free scoop of walnuts with your salad. Exclusive promotions like these can help a restaurant build a strong online following.
What is the next big thing for restaurant marketing?
More diners are adopting social media, accessing it on the go from mobile devices or starting to use location-based social networks such as Foursquare. To successfully market a restaurant, sitting on the social media sidelines won’t be an option. Social media will continue to foster strong, personal connections between restaurants and diners.
Social media also affords everyone an opportunity to be a restaurant critic. Engaging in an authentic, meaningful conversation with consumers will be the key to marketing success and growth, even if that means acknowledging negative feedback; transparency is paramount. Rewards Network provides tools that allow restaurants and diners to communicate directly, helping businesses use consumer feedback to their advantage.
Have you visited any restaurants lately that offered a memorable food experience?
Where can you find the perfect winter meal topped off with a flight of cupcakes? At May Street Market here in Chicago, which offers a $25 prix-fixe menu Monday through Wednesday. I loved their apple pumpkin soup, grilled brook trout in walnut balsamic brown butter and, of course, a big-enough-to-share cupcake flight. Such great comfort food! The white tablecloths, interesting seasonal menu, and great service made me feel honored as a guest — and yet the set menu price, BYOB option, and cash back on the bill (if you’re an iDine member), created exceptional value for me.
Image credit, webphotographeer, via iStock
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Tags: rebecca pollack, restaurants, ron blake
Categories: Ideas in Action
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Posted by bookmarking » Blog Archive » SmartBlog On Social Media » rewards network on December 28th, 2009 at 6:20 am
[...] An interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt: We’re using social media both to grow our business and to better connect our diners and restaurants. We’re on Facebook and Twitter every day, listening to what our consumers have to say — about everything from the scope of our network … Read the rest of this great post Here [...]
Posted by uberVU - social comments on December 28th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by SB_Food: Read my Q-and-A with Ron Blake (@RewardsNetwork) to see how restaurants can successfully use social media http://ow.ly/QopB...
Posted by bookmarking » Blog Archive » SmartBlog On Social Media » Where fine dining and social media meet on December 28th, 2009 at 8:59 am
[...] An interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt: We’re using social media both to grow our business and to better connect our diners and restaurants. We’re on Facebook and Twitter every day, listening to what our consumers have to say — about everything from the scope of our network … Read the rest of this great post Here [...]
Posted by Josh Levine on December 28th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Good article.
But as a user of iDine and AA Rewards Network as well as many other food-related social media, I have to say that Rewards Network really misses the mark. What always happens is that I use another tool to figure out where to eat (usually Gayot, Opentable, Eater, Chow, Urbanspoon), and then I get free rewards from RN. In several years of membership, RN has NEVER influenced my decision about where to eat.
What RN needs to do is invest in technology solutions to provide features competitive with these others, and then leverage social media to get those solutions into the right hands. Based on my experience, it’s tough to see how RN currently provides value to its restaurant partners.
Posted by Jeffrey Summers on December 28th, 2009 at 11:47 am
No, this isn’t a good article. This amounts to nothing more than old marketing using new tactics and it doesn’t work. Using Blake to talk about restaurant marketing is like asking an atheist to talk about the existence of God. And using coupons and discounts to drive social media engagement by restaurants with guests is like trying to fill your bathtub with the drain open.
You can’t buy loyalty and trying to encourage it with bribes is pointless. You can’t buy loyalty – period. You have to earn it and that comes from establishing trust through the consistent action of adding real value to the guest experience.
I’m tired of reading articles by people who think they know how to market restaurants and hospitality businesses just because they eat out a lot or sleep in a lot of hotel beds.
Posted by Michael Atkinson on December 28th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I almost agree with Jeffrey Summers…other than the religious connection. Social media success starts with understanding behavior not twitter and facebook messaging. It’s about defining your brand and understanding your customer’s personality and demographic profile, among other basic brand characteristics. Referencing a catering truck as a success analog is so old news. More is not always better…ask Jeffrey about how close of a connection he has with his tens of thousands of “followers” on Twitter. It’s still about the three-mile trade ring around your business. Focus on geo-mapping your followers, communicating interesting information about food, the local market, sharing your passion, promoting causes, engaging in discussions and being interactive and interested in your followers and not spamming about your happy hour ten times a day.
Let me suggest that while the restaurant industry is beginning to embrace social media, that we start with understanding behavior and use that to create a strategy that works for your brand. The goal should be to find brand ambassadors and empower them to syndicate your brand message. Building loyalty and relationships take time. And, I agree, coupons are a drug retailers and restaurateurs have a difficult time getting off.
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Posted by Michael Hartzell on December 30th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
While there is a trend to having more diversity in how people connect with each other and potentially with a business, the basics remain the same. Adding the social media tools to the mix helps a business to listen and then hopefully respond more quickly and also improve the ability to listen beyond the front lobby doors via the virtual world. The new technology does NOT replace the need for one on one connection / service / hospitality and by using the new tech to simply send the old message in a new way will not improve the business.
(Had someone ask me the other day: “Mike, How do I get onto the GPS maps for my restaurant?” He makes a point, for some the tech is simply their to lower risk and improve convenience. (though for fine dining this would not apply)
“Social media also affords everyone an opportunity to be a restaurant critic.” This is definitely true and being so means the “marginal performers” need to be ready for a time of permanent reviews available to all. The aspect of “predators” who would harm others via review sites or pump up their own business is also possible. It means that personal connection needs to be emphasized like never before or the “online perception” will become the only reference.
Jeffrey Summers: “You can’t buy loyalty and trying to encourage it with bribes is pointless. You can’t buy loyalty – period. You have to earn it and that comes from establishing trust through the consistent action of adding real value to the guest experience.” I can’t say it better than that.
If social media tools allows for a restaurant team to be in touch more… then it’s icing on the cake.
Last weekend we considered two restaurants across the street from each other. One (where we ate) was empty. The other had people waiting to be seated. Neither used social media or cared nor did their guests. (I asked because that’s what I do.) Our lunch was surprisingly great with ample portions to boot. We chose right because of “heart & soul” and value received.
Social media tools are here to stay and will a distraction, a tool to listen, hyped up, confusing to many. If a restaurant knows how to use the social media tool to listen and respond, treat guests and potential guests as “friends, family or royalty” and be not simply a place of transaction…. but a place to help people celebrate life (if only for an hour), everyone wins.
Posted by Paul Chaney: Restaurants Are Obvious Choices To Engage In Social Media on December 31st, 2009 at 8:14 am
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Posted by Paul Chaney: Restaurants Are Obvious Choice To Engage In Social Media on January 2nd, 2010 at 8:13 am
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Posted by Tower Deli and Diner on July 27th, 2010 at 6:03 am
The social media can be a very helpful avenue especially to those who have businesses and want to spread the word of their great service throughout the world wide web. When satisfied customers, and most of them are members of various social networking sites, they tend to post words of praise on their web pages and other readers get curious as to what they are talking about and try the restaurants or delis for themselves. This is why restaurant owners and other companies need to be careful with the kind of impression they project to their customers because as simple as it may seem, they can raise you up or destroy you.