Due to the great response to our last webinar on Facebook Strategies, (see below) which was attended by almost 400 bar and restaurant owners, we have put together a similar webinar focused on Twitter strategies that bars and restaurants can easily use to attract more customers and build loyalty among their current customer base:

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Join Barry Chandler, founder of Interactive Hospitality and TheBarBlogger.com for an online training experience designed to help bar & restaurant owners attract more customers by leveraging proven strategies on Twitter.

Date: Monday October 3rd 2pm EST, 7pm London/Dublin time

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/818241121

Over the course of an hour or so, he will demonstrate in depth:

1. An overview of Twitter and what it means to bars & restaurants
2. Understanding the Twitter language, terms and commands
3. How to know if Twitter is being used in your town or by your customers
4. How to add twitter into your current marketing strategies
5. How to grow your Twitter following
6. How to leverage Twitter to see what your competitor’s customers are saying about them
7. What content to post, when to post it and how often to post it
8. How to attract new customers in the door using simple twitter strategies
9. How to use Twitter to improve your customer service
10. How to use Twitter to resolve complaints through Twitter
11. How to leverage Twitter to allow you proved amazing customer experiences: the WOW factor
12. How to track & Analyze your success with Twitter
13. What tools to use to manage Twitter most efficiently in your bar/restaurant

    Much much more…

Barry will also answer all of your questions during this live online event. You’ll be able to see Barry’s computer screen as he demonstrates different examples and covers each point in depth.

All you need is a computer with speakers to watch and listen or if you just want to hear the audio, you’ll be able to call-in and listen too.

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/818241121

Feedback from previous webinars:

You can’t have missed it. Marketing has changed forever. Many of you reading this blog post, found me originally through LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. If you hadn’t, you might never have known I existed! Well, I’m glad you found me. In any case, the same methodology applies to YOUR business. If you’re not finding new and creative ways to get in front of your customers, you’ll stagnate and die. There’s no point in sugar coating it for you.

Earlier in the week I sent out a Tweet highlighting the greatest use of Twitter by a Restaurant ever. This incident has gone on to be highlighted by most major news organizations, newspapers as well as lighting up the web. Well, why don’t you see for yourself  by checking out the video below. What you need to realize is that THIS is the future of marketing. Ignore it and be left behind.

It’s easy to get caught up in the social media hype and feel as though your bar or restaurant is getting left behind. That being said, many bars and restaurants seem to be using social media just to say that they are online, and they aren’t really getting anything out of it.

Social media does take some time and effort, but with that should come positive results and increased business. Below is an example of how we helped one of our Columbus, Ohio clients, The Little Bar, use social media to their advantage. Check out the video below and then read on to see some of our results:

The Brief:
We suggested a strategy for The Little Bar to increase attendance and business for an annually held St. Patrick’s Day event.

The Strategy:

We used Facebook and Twitter to leverage the annual event. We created a Facebook event from the client’s fan page and promoted it to their fans.

We implemented a content strategy to build anticipation leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. The strategy encompassed sharing the event link weekly on Facebook and Twitter, mentioning specialty drinks for the event and interacting with fans about the holiday.

Our goal was for customers to share that they were at The Little Bar using Foursquare and Facebook Places. We created a unique deal, a free Irish meal, to incentivize customers to check in. We then designed business cards advertising the deal and encouraging customers to check in. Five hundred business cards were printed, and each guest received a business card at the entrance.

In order to receive the free meal, guests were required to show the server that they had checked in on their phone. We hoped this would create buzz around the buffet line, because other customers would be curious about how to redeem this themselves.

Numbers:

The shared link on the page had 509 total impressions, just on the first day that it was shared. Each time the link was shared after its initial creation, impressions averaged around the same. By the day of the event, 421 guests had confirmed that they were attending, with 212 maybes.

Results:

The client reported a 30% increase in business, compared to the previous year’s St. Patrick’s Day event. The Little Bar opened at 10:00 a.m. and by 11:00 a.m., there were 75 people at the bar, which was also a reported increase from the previous year.

The cards had a viral effect. Customers would see others claiming their free meal, and then check in to receive their own.

The Facebook fan page gained 50 likes that day alone. Between Foursquare and Facebook Places, there were 120 check ins. Before the end of the day, all 500 cards had been handed out.

If you’d like to set up a similar campaign or are looking for some direction on Social Media to drive sales in your business, then give Barry and the team at Interactive Hospitality a call on the number below now.

Facebook recently released a new version of Facebook Questions. This provides a great way for bars and restaurants to increase customer interaction.

Facebook Questions is a feature that allows Facebook users to post questions and gather answers from their friends and other Facebook users. Facebook Questions can range from “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” to “What’s a great restaurant in Columbus?”

Facebook explains Facebook Questions as a way to learn from your friends, see where people stand, and share what you know. But for a bar or restaurant, it can be much more than that. Questions is a way to gather feedback, increase engagement and draw attention.

Facebook Questions is extremely easy to use, even from a Fan Page. You simply need to visit Facebook.com/Questions and begin posting.

Gather Feedback

This gives bars and restaurants the opportunity to survey customers and get feedback. You can gather feedback your service, your customers favorite menu items, or what they think a new special should be named. The possibilities are endless.

For example, we posed a funny question on the Facebook Page of our client, Schmidt’s. We asked their Fans which menu item they would choose if stranded on a desert island. In less than 24 hours, we received 166 responses. That’s 166 fans on Facebook who now have a link to this question on their Profile for each of their friends to see. According to Facebook, we each have an average of 150 friends on Facebook, meaning this question and Schmidt’s brand has the potential to be seen and clicked through to by 24,900 different people. NOW are you interested?!

Increase Engagement

Beyond gathering important feedback, Facebook Questions can also be used to get customers involved and increase engagement. Bars and restaurants have the opportunity to ask relevant trivia questions, opinions about popular topics and anything else to get customers interacting.

We posted a humorous question on behalf of another client, Pulse Nite Club. We asked fans if they’d rather have no legs and be unable to dance at Pulse, or have no arms and be unable to drink at Pulse. A whimsical question (not intended to offend anyone…)

As you can see, Facebook Questions can be a great way to show your sense of humor and start a conversation.

Draw Attention

One of the best things about Facebook Questions is that it’s viral in nature. Every time a user answers a question, it will appear on their wall and in their friends’ timelines. When a user answers a question posted by your bar or restaurant, their friends will see it and want to check out your page.

Facebook Questions is a great way to show your customers that you care about what they have to say. Try out different types of questions and see what gets the best response. You might just learn something new.

People are using review sites, such as Yelp or Foursquare, to help them decide where to go for dinner, drinks, entertainment and so much more. These review sites are a great way for the customers to learn more about a business before they visit.

Since these review sites becoming more social (even Yelp has jumped on the bandwagon) and even more visible, it’s crucial that bars and restaurants stay on their game.
This past December, Foursquare took another step to make their service more social. Since its start, this location-based mobile platform has allowed users to view relevant suggestions about nearby venues before visiting.

They have now added a feature that allows users to add photos to their check ins or tips. Users are also now able to add comments to the check ins of their friends. With the addition of these new features, Foursquare is quickly becoming a go-to site for recommendations and reviews.

Re-think quality

With the addition of the photo upload feature to Foursquare check-ins, everyone is now a photographer.

Since the potential for Foursquare users to post pictures exists, restaurants and bars must re-think the quality of their ‘work.’ After delivering a meal to a customer’s table, the customer can then take a picture of the menu item and upload it with his check-in, along with a comment, before the server gets back to the kitchen.

What happens if the menu item was a poorly made, burnt burger? That quality of cooking is now on display for Foursquare users to see. Then the next time someone is looking for a great burger joint, they might skip over your restaurant.

Re-think transparency

While the addition of the photo feature makes Foursquare more visual, it’s still ultimately a place to share experiences. Tips and reviews aren’t limited to mentioning great happy hour specials. Any bad customer service experience, once in comment form, can be linked to the venue, and ultimately come back to haunt you. Customer service is key. Nothing ruins a good experience like bad service.

The last thing your bar or restaurant wants to do is turn a blind eye to review sites, such as Foursquare. Monitoring customer comments is the best way to ensure your business is leaving good, lasting impressions.

Yesterday, Facebook began rolling out the new layout for Pages. This update now allows more opportunities to optimize your brand presence on the social-networking site. Upon upgrading to the new layout, Facebook offers a guided page tour. The tour touches on changes in navigation and wall settings, but it barely scratches the surface.

Here’s what the updated layout means for your bar or restaurant:

Login

One of the biggest, and possibly most significant changes, is the ‘Login as Page’ feature. This gives the admin the ability to comment as the Page on other Pages or public profiles. Previously, if admins wanted to comment on public profiles on behalf of their bar or restaurant, they would have to do so under their own name. This change allows the admin to stay behind the scenes.

Alternatively, the new layout also opens the possibility of featuring admins as Page Owners.
By extending your Page’s reach, Facebook has opened the door for more personalized interaction and customer engagement.
Bear in mind, though, that the updated layout doesn’t give your Page the same rights as a Profile. A Page cannot post on a user’s wall or comment on his or her status updates, unless that specific user has opted for the ‘everybody’ privacy setting.

Note: If you would like to comment on a page, for which you’re an admin, as yourself and not your bar or restaurant, be sure to adjust the settings accordingly under Edit Page > Your Settings.

Photos

Despite the fact that Pages still don’t have the same rights as profiles, they’ve certainly taken a step toward it in terms of photos. Fans can now see a stream of featured photos at the top of the profile recently uploaded by the Page.

This allows for your bar or restaurant to specify which photos are visible to fans. Perhaps you’d like to showcase new menu items or maybe you’d like to feature your staff. Whichever you choose, the updated layout makes that possible.

Note: the stream of featured photos will not include any images uploaded to the wall by fans.

Merging and Customization

In terms of merging Facebook Places with your Page, the updated layout allows for customization to still be viewable. I previously advised against the merger, as the Page would then lose the ability to maintain a customized Landing Tab, which would incentivize ‘liking’ a Page.  However, the new layout gives Pages the best of both worlds. Your bar or restaurant can merge the two and still uphold any customization and it now saves you having to check both pages for spam, comments and posts.

Fan History

New to the ‘home’ view of the fan page are icons that allow admins to see an overview of fan history, which includes recent likes and notifications.

By clicking on these icons, you can now see the most recent fan interactions with your page.

This feature allows your bar or restaurant to potentially reward fans. Incentivize liking your page further by offering the ‘500th Fan’ with 10% off their next tab.

Note: By default, Facebook has customized the settings for your page. This default setting makes it so that you will receive an e-mail for each fan comment you receive. To change these settings, visit Edit Page > Your Settings.

If you haven’t already started, here’s what you need to do next:

1. Set your pages category and sub category

2. Set your wall preferences

3. Add featured Page Owners

I can help you set up your Facebook Business Page, create a content strategy for your bar/restaurant. This includes full customization of your Facebook presence to include a welcome screen, email capture, gift card sales and much more. Click the button below to schedule a free 20 minute phone call where I will personally recommend ideas for you to get more engagement on Facebook.

Facebook is an ideal platform for bars and restaurants to socialize, actively look for new customers and re-connect with current ones. It allows for a level of customer engagement that can make or break your brand online.

What you may NOT have been aware of is the fact that not all content posted to Facebook is treated equally. In fact, Facebook has created an algorithm that ranks each piece of content posted, whether it be to a personal profile page or a fan page.

While the formula may look confusing, it basically tells us that pieces of content are scored on varying affinity, weight and time decay. Items with a higher EdgeRank score get shown in the Top News section of the News Feed. Photos receive the heaviest weight, with videos, links and status updates following, respectively.

With this in mind and bearing in mind the needs of a bar or restaurant, here are some recommendations for types of content that you can post best :
Post Photos

It’s important to visually showcase your bar or restaurant for potential customers to see. Posting photos to your Facebook page allows for customers to get a feel for your establishment before stepping into it. These can range from staff photos to convey a friendly environment or enticing photos of new menu items.
Social media savvy restaurant AJ Bombers recently posted a photo of the newest addition to their burger line-up, The Ahlfy. This post garnered 10 likes and a 14 comment long discussion.:

Upload Videos

Uploading videos to your Facebook page can make your customer feel as if he or she were actually there. Videos can range in topic from a virtual tour of your bar or restaurant to a more personal clip displaying the atmosphere during a big game.

Bar 43 in Sunnyside, New York, a very Jets-centric sports bar, posted a video to their 
Facebook page of the crowd reaction to Santonio Holmes scoring a touchdown.

Share Links

As the third heaviest weighted item to post, there’s a lot of room to roam when sharing links. Your bar or restaurant can show community interest by posting links to local events that may draw your customers to your neighborhood. You also have the freedom to post links to articles that may appeal to your fans.

The Little Bar, of Columbus, Ohio, shares a link on their Facebook page to a news article from USA Today. Leading up to the Super Bowl, The Little Bar actively supported The Steelers.

Actively Update Statuses

While a status update may not carry much weight, it may be one of the best ways to interact with your customers. If your bar or restaurant has a regular trivia night, update the fan page status with a trivia question to engage your customers. If your bar or restaurant regularly shows NFL or college basketball games, challenge your fans to sports trivia.

The Big Bar & Grill, of Columbus, Ohio, interacts with customers by posting sports trivia questions in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

Create a Marketing Strategy

One of the easiest steps in creating a content strategy is to simply look at your own marketing or event calendar. If your bar or restaurant doesn’t have a set schedule of events or marketing and promotion dates, create some. On the days that you may struggle to come up with content to post, simply refer to your marketing and promotional guide to entice customers with your latest specials.

The Clarmont, of Columbus, Ohio updates their Facebook fan page status with current events, like Valentine’s Day.


I can help you set up your Facebook Business Page, create a content strategy for your bar/restaurant. This includes full customization of your Facebook presence to include a welcome screen, email capture, gift card sales and much more. Click the button below to schedule a free 20 minute phone call where I will personally recommend ideas for you to get more engagement on Facebook.

Many bars and restaurants are taking advantage of Foursquare, a location-based mobile platform. Foursquare allows users to “check in” and share their location with friends while earning virtual badges and discovering nearby deals and discounts.

Foursquare boasts over 5 million user since its 2009 launch. Tens of thousands of venues are currently implementing special offers through Foursquare.

There are endless opportunities for unique deals on Foursquare that will keep your customers coming back and bring in new faces as well.

Offering Foursquare-Only Specials

Bars can encourage customers to check in to take advantage of your current deal. Deals can include 10% off their bill or a free drink, just for checking in. Once you claim your venue, Foursquare will even send you a window cling to remind customers to check in.

Offering Special Deals for the Mayor

Why don’t you give the mayor something besides bragging rights? There are endless creative ways to reward your most loyal customer. At the same time, you can encourage other customers to come back often and dethrone the current mayor.

Bars can offer the mayor a special menu , an amazing discount, VIP seating, or even  a prime parking space.

Rewarding Loyalty

Foursquare offers the opportunity to reward and encourage customer loyalty. Bars have the opportunity to offer incentives for repeated check-ins. For example, bars can offer a free happy hour after 5 check-ins, 25% off a meal after 10 check-ins, and so on.

Hosting a Swarm Badge Party

Bars can promote an opportunity to earn the coveted Swarm Badge by encouraging users to check in at a designated time. This is how AJ Bombers increased their sales by 110% in one night.

Taking Advantage of Location-based Marketing

Foursquare users have the opportunity to submit tips about your venue. These tips become visible to anyone in the area. This means that if someone checks in at a competitor’s  venue across the street, your tips and deals will become visible. If your deals are really great, you might just convince them to check out your venue instead.

If you want to learn more about foursquare and its benefits for a business, visit http://foursquare.com/business.

I can help you set up and claim your Foursquare account. This includes creating specials, targeting new customers and implementing the strategies listed above. I can also help you get set up properly on Facebook, Twitter, and Facebook Places. Click the button below to schedule a free 20 minute phone call where I will personally recommend ways to improve your current online activities.

]]> http://www.thebarblogger.com/five-great-ways-bars-and-restaurants-are-using-foursquare/feed/ 0 http://www.thebarblogger.com/are-you-preventing-your-customers-from-promoting-your-facebook-page/ http://www.thebarblogger.com/are-you-preventing-your-customers-from-promoting-your-facebook-page/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:19:22 +0000 barblog http://www.thebarblogger.com/?p=1389

Encouraging customers to tag themselves in photos on your Fan Page is one of the easiest ways to encourage interaction and engagement.

Tagging is a way for users to identify themselves in photos. Once someone has been tagged in your photo, it will appear on their profile as well. More tagged users means more people are likely to see your photos.

There’s just one problem: Facebook automatically restricts fans from tagging photos on a Fan Page.

After searching long and hard, I have discovered the trick to changing this setting.

Unfortunately, Facebook made this one a bit tricky, so follow along.

Step 1: From your Fan Page, select “Edit Page”

Step 2: Select “Apps”

Step 3: Underneath “Photos”, select “Go To App”

Step 4: Select “Allow fans to add photos” and “Allow fans to tag photos”

Now your fans can tag themselves and their friends in your photos. They can also upload their own photos to show everyone else how much fun they had at your bar!

Have you run into any other issues with your Fan Page?

Joe Sorge, the driving force behind AJ Bombers Restaurant & Bar in Milwaukee has had amazing success with Foursquare, the location based app for smart phones, that allows users to “check-in” to a physical location and notify their friends. So much success that the business (a little over a year old) has just had it’s 8000th check-in, rewarding the lucky customer with 8000 minutes of free food in the process!

Foursquare works best for businesses like bars and restaurants where those checking in can be rewarded for sharing their location or by becoming the mayor (the customer with the most check-ins). The gaming element whereby customers earn rewards or virtual badges for their check-ins has helped accelerate the growth of this Social App.

Joe Sorge however, has taken use of the application to a whole new level. Recognizing the potential of the system early on, he started to develop promotions around Foursquare, actively seek out opportunities where he could leverage it’s use and it’s viral marketing reach.

Getting to the 8000th check-in didn’t happen overnight but by consciously adopting it as an integral part of his marketing efforts, he was able to achieve results that most businesses can only dream of:

Have a look at a screenshot of some of the 46,000 Google Results for AJ Bombers & Foursquare:

In April 2010 more than 231 people checked-in to AJ Bombers’ “I’m On A Boat!” Badge party. The event resulted in the single best day of sales ever for the restaurant with Joe having to turn away customers because he didn’t have the room to accommodate everyone. You’ll see what we mean in the video below:

He hasn’t just stuck to the standard rewards for check-ins either. In September 2010, AJ Bombers created a special menu that only the Mayor off the venue could order from! Clearly, all of this creative marketing has worked. Since Joe opened the restaurant, he hasn’t spent a single cent on traditional advertising! What would it mean to your business not to incur those marketing costs every week and month?

If you haven’t yet explored the potential of Foursquare or if you haven’t yet claimed your own venue (it’s already listed on Foursquare with people checking in whether you know it or not!), then now is the time to do it. Once claimed, you can create specials, edit your location, correct any listing errors and get access to lots of rich data about who checked in and when.

If you want some help with getting Foursquare set up or using Social Media to market your business, then why not schedule a complimentary 20 minute brainstorming phone call with Barry Chandler by clicking here