I recently read a post about the Social Media Hype For Restaurants. There has been a recent study done that shows restaurants are increasing their social media use. However, the study also shows the individuals are saying they don’t plan on following restaurants in social media. I commented with the following.
I hope this does not discourage restaurant owners from participating within Social Media.
The thing about this study is that it focused on Facebook and Twitter. Although they ARE the hot social networking hot spots, this is not where a restaurant should focus the bulk of their social media initiatives attention.
A restaurant needs to focus their attention on restaurant related websites such as Yelp and UrbanSpoon. Not only do these sites give users the ability to rate and comment on restaurants, but they also give the ability for mobile access.
Owners and/or employees should spend time at these sites making sure that visitors had good time and enjoyed their meals as well as doing any damage control from bad reviews.
Restaurants should also use a location base social networking website such as Foursquare or GoWalla. These sites all for creating incentives and games style features to restaurant experiences.
Although the use of social media may lack in the areas of Facebook and Twitter. Restaurants should focus in the areas that are niche and location specific for them.
