Home Bar Marketing The Top 5 Facebook mistakes bars & restaurants make

The Top 5 Facebook mistakes bars & restaurants make

Posted by ianmara on Sep 12, 2011 in Bar Marketing | 0 comments

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1. Your URL is not customized

We know there are those among you who pay little or no attention to that long horizontal box at the top of your web browser. For those people it may seems irrelevant that your bar’s Facebook page has random digits at the end of its address.

But think of it this way: There will be times when you need to share your address without the benefit of an internet Click Here button. In those cases the ability to say ‘Find us at Facebook.com/OurBar’ instead of ‘Find us at Facebook.com/pages/Ourbar/324281874′ could be the difference in making a sale . . . or 100 sales.

(You’ll also find that customers will have an easier time searching for your business page within Facebook once you’ve customized.)

So once you get your page up to 25 followers (Facebook’s minimum for customizing URLs) make sure to take care of this important piece of book-keeping.

2. Your business has a profile page

This will seem obvious to many of you, but something this important is worth emphasizing. So say it with us: Your bar’s Facebook page must be a fan page and not a profile page.

The reasons are legion, but first and foremost is that creating a profile page for a business violates Facebook’s Terms of Use. Beyond irritating Mark Zuckerberg, there are additional reasons you don’t want a profile page representing your bar.

Profile pages have limited customization options, meaning you won’t be able to add information using third-party apps. It will also hinder your ability to interact with the fans, as the “Like” feature is only present for fan pages.

3. Your landing spot is your wall

You should be thinking about your Facebook fan page as a virtual gathering of people with the common link being your business. Therefore discussion on your page’s wall is naturally going to lean towards inside information.

Having non-fans land on your page’s wall rather than your welcome tab is the equivalent of going to a party and starting the night surrounded by strange faces. You need a host of some kind to greet you at the front door and tell you where to place your coat, get a drink, etc. The welcome tab is that host.

When people click on your FB page they should first be given a sense of what you are all about. Where are you? What kind of food do you have? What does the inside of your bar look like? Don’t forget to be a good social media host.

4. You don’t have contact information in your profile picture

We talked above about the welcome tab of your Facebook page acting as the host to your social media “party.” No having clear and accurate contact details located in your profile picture is like not having a visible address on your home. (Yeah, we know, this metaphor is getting stretched.)

When people jump on your bar’s page they should be able to glance quickly to the left and find out how to get in touch with you – be it phone number or address.

There are going to be times when fans will want to get your information quickly. Not providing such assistance could be the difference in them deciding to go someplace else.

5. Your page contains bad photos

Unless you’re a boxer brief-clad Congressman, photos are one of the best parts of social media. You should be updating your bar’s photos as often as possible and making certain you capture the look of your establishment and the plentiful fun times had by patrons.

But that only applies to good photos. The most delicious entree can end up looking like prison fare with a shaky hand and bad lighting. If there’s any chance a photo might not accurately represent you, make sure you err on the side of caution. Having no picture at all is better than posting a bad one.

Barry Chandler is the founder of Interactive Hospitality, a digital marketing agency that unlocks the potential of bars and restaurants to attract new customers using social media tools like Facebook, Twitter & Foursquare.

Interactive Hospitality accepts 10 new clients each month. Not every business is a fit, but if you’re passionate about your business and your customers, you could join the growing list of customers taking their business to the next level. You can apply for a spot here.