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Restaurant Owners: Are You Getting Social Media Right?

7 Nov

Social media is pretty much the perfect marketing tool for restaurants. After all, one of the key aspects of selling great food is to build a community of regular customers. All social media channels can just be an extension of that. It’s a visual experience, too – how many of your friends do you see posting pictures of incredible meals on their Facebook? Or Instagram? The trouble is, not every restaurateur gets it right. And in today’s guide, I’m going to explain some of the ways of ensuring your social media accounts are working for your business, not against it.

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Consistency in tone of voice
All restaurants like to create a certain sense of atmosphere for their customers. It’s important that this tone continues when you are posting on social media, to make your client’s experience more rounded. For example, if you are an upmarket restaurant, you shouldn’t be posting pics of cute cats. Similarly, if you are a relaxed restaurant, focus on extending that atmosphere onto your social media channels.
Encourage your customers to follow you on social media
The biggest benefit of social media is that your followers do a lot of the hard work for you. But, of course, unless they follow your channels, they won’t be able to help. Tempt them to give your page a like on Facebook or follow you on Twitter with special deals. It might be 10 percent off, or a free glass of wine with their dinner – whatever you think is appropriate. As hospitality marketer Scodeggio Samuele states, it can have a dramatic impact. It’s a form of social recommendation – word of mouth, of you like. If the friends of your followers like what they see, there is more chance they will give you a try themselves.

 

Don’t be afraid of criticism
Many restaurateurs are a little scared of social media – and with good reason. We all know of a restaurant taking a hammering on Facebook or Twitter after poor customer service or a disastrous meal. But instead of being scared, why not see the opportunity it gives instead? If a client wants to complain in public, other people will be looking to see how you respond. If you just ignore the complaint, that won’t go well for you. If however, you appear reasonable, polite, and offer apologies, people will notice in a positive way. Everyone makes mistakes – and everyone knows it. It’s how you respond that can make the difference.
Use geo targeting
Facebook ads are kind of cool – if you get them right. There are a lot of tools at your disposal that can help you laser-focus your special offers to the right people at the right time. And, of course, in the right area. It gives you the chance to provide very specifically, niche targeting that can only be seen by people in your immediate vicinity.

Make connections
Finally, don’t use Facebook or Twitter as a simple promotional tool. People don’t want to see advertisement after advertisement – you need to be more appealing. Offer them more value by posting interesting blog posts. Share – or curate – from other websites and Facebook pages, too. Aim to use a third of your posts for promoting your business at most – the rest should be a lot more interesting.
Hope these tips have helped – let me know how you are using social media!

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Virtually Famous: How Can You Be Sure That Your Brand Will Stand Out?

2 Nov

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Whether your company is a brand new venture or an established business looking to migrate to the online arena doesn’t matter. Your biggest challenge in the world of digital marketing will be standing out from the crowd.
There are over one billion websites out there, and you cannot expect potential customers to randomly pop up on yours. Taking the right steps to gain increased traffic from the audience is crucial for any entrepreneur aiming for online success.
Here’s what you can do to ensure that you don’t get lost amongst the crowd.

 

Have Character
Social media offers unrivaled opportunities for reaching new audiences. Moreover, SMEs aren’t at a disadvantage compared to global giants. Having said that, the only way you’ll reach your goals when you do something unique.
With such high levels of competition, you cannot afford to be beige. The common theme of the most successful campaigns is that they are different. Copying the ideas of every Tom, Dick, and Harry won’t generate any excitement from the audience. Give them content that sparks intrigue, and you’re already doing more than most.
Besides, this method gives an added insight into the people behind the brand.

 

Encourage Interaction
In addition to unique content, you should aim to make it interactive. Customers will respond in a far stronger manner when they actively participate. In turn, this will go a long way to keeping your company fresh in their minds.
It could mean running a competition. It might simply involve creating viral-worthy blog posts and videos. Interesting and interactive media content will work wonders for developing those winning relationships. More importantly, their participation can spread the word to their friends, family, and followers too.
Not only will interactive content help you stand out from the crowd. It’ll also give you a better chance of gaining a deeper understanding of your audience.

 

Target Marketing
Defining your audience and appreciating their needs is one thing. But actively ensuring that your content is seen by them is another altogether. Social media is certainly a great tool. However, the best item at your disposal is Google.
With AdWords campaign management, your PPC adverts will have far greater efficiency. Visibility is the foundation of any successful digital marketing strategy. This facility will ensure that you are seen by people actively looking for your type of business. If that doesn’t lead to increased sales, nothing will.
Ultimately, your potential customers are the only audience that matters. Trying to reach a universal market will only result in wasted money. Furthermore, it’ll result in less direction towards the people that will actually generate revenue.

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Use Other People
Two heads are often better than one, and collaborations are a great way to build your online presence. Not only will it allow you to try more expansive ideas. But it’ll afford the chance to build an audience together.
Another option that has helped many businesses achieve great things is influencer marketing. Whether it’s using recognizable online faces, or your own customers isn’t overly important. If it allows you to get seen by more people without even lifting a finger, that can only be good news.
If you are going to achieve additional traffic, though, make sure your website looks great. Without it, those efforts will be rendered futile.

 

How to Get More Blog Subscribers

4 Aug

 

 

Write a Headline Topic That Your Customers are Searching For

Your blog title is the bait that entices Google users to your blog. Your content has to be the information they are seeking.

As Neil Pattel of QuickSprout says,

The goal of the headline is to stop readers cold and draw them into your post. You can’t do that if you use cute, clever or confusing headlines. You can stop readers cold, however, if you write headlines that are unique, ultra-specific, useful or urgent.

Test your blog titles to discover the titles that attract people. A tool that is amazing is the Advanced Marketing Institute’s “Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer.”

Use the tool by typing in your title, select your industry, then hit submit. Your title be scored on an algorithm that tests the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual value of your headline. The higher your score, the better you are getting at creating killer titles! Woot! Woot! 

Get Skilled in Search Engine Optimization To Get The Most Exposure

Search engine optimization has been getting a bad rap these days especially compared to social media optimization, however, it still matters because Google uses it to pick up your content to list on the first page of certain keyword search results. 

Using the right SEO techniques for your blog post can get Google to display your content to your target audience.

Write about current topics that people need solutions for in уоur industry. When you write one article a week, Google will love you and your readers. Search engines pick up new content and people will remember your blog and talk about it with others if they are exposed to it, not once, not twice but every week!!! Now, that is the juice of blog building success!!!

Insert keywords that your target market will be using into your blog. Include your keyword in your title if possible and then add them throughout your post. WARNING->  The days of keyword stuffing for search engine placement are long gone. Do not overdue it! 

Ensure your blog is legible, provides solutions and is fun! Do not rant about things that are obvious or do not matter to your readers. 

Create а Video

Did you offer a tip in your latest blog post that is worth sharing in a different format? Take that tip and turn it into a quick video. 

Just make sure your video is worth watching аnd sharing. The sound and visual should be high quality and you want to kеер іt short аnd get tо thе point. People will not stick around if your sound quality is poor or you ramble on with no particular point.

Using blog content in a short video is an excellent way to showcase your talent and expertise by arousing viewer interest. Give them enough to want to learn more! 

 

Create a Google+ Hangout

Google+ Hangouts is a powerful strategy to position yourself as the authority in your niche. As Stephan Hovnanian of WebSIGHT said in a recent article,

“We all know YouTube has its share of amazing “shows” where individuals have taken their webcam and turned themselves into superstars. Now, there’s a new wave of “hosts” coming on board, and they’re using Google+ Hangouts On-Air (HOA’s) to create a ton of exposure, not just for themselves, but for their guests as well.”

A Google+ hangout has greater reach given the additional features it has for boosting your exposure than YouTube has. Google plus audience is growing and seeking hangouts so let them discover your hang-out! BAM! 

Here’s a video shot in Huntington Beach, California on discussing,  “How to Use Facebook for Maximum Success.”

Get Active on Blog Networks

Want your blog post to get seen by more people? Get posting in blog communities!

Blog networks allows you to develop relationships with other bloggers. Plus you will learn more cool things by reading their blog posts.

I love Triberr. I use Triberr to build relationships and share content from other amazing bloggers. If you got the right strategies then Triberr is powerful to spread your mission.

Use Social Bookmarking Sites

Social bookmarking allow you to collect and manage content and share your content with a group searching based on your keywords.

Sharing your latest blog post on social bookmarking can further increase your exposure rate.  

Below are the ones I love:

Reddit

Reddit is a unique social bookmarking and social news website with a very unique community. Search by “sub-Reddit’s” that act as categories.

Scoop.it

Sccop.it is a bookmarking and curation website where you can create magazines based on topic or niche. Add content from across the web to your Scoop.it account and let others begin to find you based on similar interests.

StumbleUpon

StumblUpon is a bookmarking and discovery engine that allows users to “stumble” through related content. Add your latest blog post to your StumbleUpon account, categorize it based on topic and let others stumble to it based on interest.

Turn Your Post into a Podcast

Another way to leverage your blog post to increase your exposure rate is to turn it into a podcast.

Creating a podcast will get your brand out there. 

Take your blog tips then record it so people can listen, when they are driving in the car or at the gym.

Your post and your podcast will now cross-promote one another to get new subscribers to your blog.

One of my favorite podcasts is Pat Flynn’s, “Smart Passive Income Podcast.” Pat says that launching his podcast is one of the best decisions he ever made.

“The show has surpassed 6,000,000 total downloads. (as of December, 2013) and has become the #1 way people who read my blog found out about me – that’s above search, social media and links from other websites.”

I’d love to hear from you! What are you doing to maximize blog post exposure?

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How To Build A Amazing Facebook Page

20 Jun

WHAAAAAAAT!! You have a Facebook business page with no strategy? No consistent engagement? But it has potential to be the next hot page. Sound like your business’s page? Like Us on Facebook-Facebook Page Marketing

Facebook has the largest user base of any social network, so if your business is not benefiting by having a solid Facebook presence, you are missing HUGE lead generation opportunities. What is stopping you???? I know, I know, you do not have the time to research, think about strategy, write a million posts to put into a calendar, find and create images, comment on your fans responses, learn how to become a graphic designer, learn how to create professional looking apps with exciting ways to create contests, offers, games etc…. So HIRE a professional. Yes, it’s really that simple. But Rita, who do I hire? A social media strategist that really knows and understands all the variables involved. Read their blog posts, does it sound like they know what they are talking about? Do they demonstrate their knowledge?

There are plenty of strategies to create your Facebook success. A number of ways to create Facebook content that captures your audience’s attention not your peers. Here are seven reasons your Facebook page may not be performing at optimal levels.

1) Not Using More Visuals.

Facebook’s new timeline, is designed to support big, bold visuals. According to a recent study by Fast Company, 44 percent of social media users are most likely to engage with companies that post visual content: graphics, photographs, videos, and infographics. If you’re not using visuals liberally, you’re ignoring your audience’s needs and inviting them to go elsewhere to find compelling visual content.

Go BIG. Go bold. Quote famous individuals. Share videos. Use your company colors, and play with font shapes and sizes to optimize for both desktop and mobile.

2) Not Using Your Facebook Space With Intelligence.

Facebook recently changed their policy to allow using calls-to-action on cover photos!!! Yay! (Here’s an explanation of the change.) The cover photo is front and center on your page, and it also shows up in the feed when someone “likes” your page, so you should absolutely be using relevant marketing graphics on your Cover Photo.

Customize your Facebook tabs to create graphically-appealing landing pages that boosts lead generation efforts. If you created an eBook or a guide, for example — and have created a cover image specifically to promote this content using words and colorful graphics. Your new content will get more eyeballs with a customized tab.

3) Not Combining Your Posts To Offers.

Oh, you are creating great content, but you’re not leveraging that content to drive users to a landing page or website, your efforts are wasted. So many opportunities on Facebook!! Love it!! 🙂 Rita smiles with Facebook Love 🙂

You can increase your customer affinity by gaining their trust with good content. The best way to do this is to use both organic and paid posts to direct your audience to customized landing pages within Facebook. (Facebook rewards your marketing efforts with better reach for your campaigns if you keep your landing pages within Facebook, instead of sending users to your website.) On landing pages, you can provide a timely, relevant webinar registration offer or an ebook in return for contact information, for example. By giving away content that users value, you get something even more valuable in return: recipient info that bolsters your marketing automation efforts.

4) Don’t Have An Editorial Calendar. (tisk, tisk)

Yes, it’s all about the CONTENT, CONTENT, and CONTENT! That is not going to change, just use it. You need a strategic plan that gets results. I LOVE my editorial calendar! Don’t judge, you will too, once you get your editorial calendar on! You will love it too. Cause it saves the stress of wondering and rushing to post something every day.

5) Not Paying To Upgrade Your Reach.

Promote your own good content. Get your Facebook content noticed — use strategic, targeted Facebook ad techniques, such as Sponsored Stories, Like Sponsored Stories, and targeted newsfeed ads designed for both desktop and mobile devices. Want to take it a step further? Try using custom audience targeting by uploading your email database into Facebook’s Power Editor. Read my past post about it here–>https://socialmediawithrita.com/2013/04/12/facebook-advertising-for-the-pros-take-it-to-the-next-level-now/

6) Not Testing.

 

All marketing is about trial and error. Experiment with your ad tactics and content. Determine the types of content your target audience engages with, and then produce more of it.

You might be surprised at the success of non-traditional content experiments, so it’s always worth entertaining new ideas. Facebook is the perfect place to be in marketing.

7) Not having fun.

NO ONE wants to be pitched to right away or all the time, no different than being a telemarketer or knocking on someone’s door to interrupt their time- the thing no one cares about you or business until you give them a REASON to. You have to entertain them, tell them a story, give them something to share, and HELP them. Then, when they are looking for your business services, your company will likely be top of mind, because you’ve put in the work to give free value to their lives.

Do the actions, I described above, effectively, and your Facebook page will perform much better. Make your Facebook page a go-to hub for your customers, fans, and the general public to find your content.

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