Friday, May 19, 2017
Today's Specials:
HACK: Make Your Wings Get Social [SPONSORED HACK]
A great food photo without context doesn't make for great restaurant social media content. Here's how to really make your followers' mouths water.
DID YOU KNOWs…
You're Just Mean
A new study done by psychologists at the University of Missouri found that consuming alcohol doesn’t actually cause changes in our personality. While test subjects did experience higher levels of “extraversion,” they ultimately found consuming alcohol barely changed their “style behavior.” So you’re not a mean drunk, you’re just mean. ;-)
Paid to Use Facebook
Facebook paid top media companies and celebrities to use Live and in many using the feature led to fluctuations in both engagement and viewership. Here’s a rundown of the companies paid to use Facebook Live and their effects.
Coffee Inception
Starbucks is testing out coffee ice cubes so you can have coffee in your coffee. The idea behind coffee ice cubes is to prevent iced coffee from being watered down, but also for people to bring on hot days to drink after melted. Feeling caffeinated.
GOOGLE LENS
Why it matters to you: Google Lens can help bring customers into your restaurant.
Google’s annual I/O developer conference began yesterday, and one of the big announcements from CEO Sundar Pichai was the introduction of the Google Lens. The Google Lens is essentially a photo-recognition feature that lets users turn their phone cameras into a Google search box. The concept is that users will point their camera lens at an object to receive more information about it by syncing with Google’s search engine. Pichai’s example was that if a user points the camera at a flower, their phone will tell them what flower it is. One key point about the Google Lens; it works on restaurants that potential customers pass in the street.
Not only will people have the ability to identify your restaurant within eyeshot, but they will also be able to see the food and drink menu as well as the prices. The feature will also work for a band’s music, and will automatically connect you to WiFi by just pointing the lens at the login credentials. Google Lens can really work to a restaurant’s benefit helping attract potential customers either in the community or from tourism. This feature is an added incentive that your public relations strategies are stronger than ever because guests will be able to access reviews on Yelp and Google Maps just by pointing their phone.
EMPLOYEE BURNOUT
Why it matters to you: Some restaurants are tipping their employees with wellness options.
The restaurant industry is notoriously a high-intensity environment to work in. NPR recently featured an article that looks at how new businesses are tipping their employees in ways that can improve their health and wellness. According to the piece, the average hospitality employee stays at one job for only 2.2 years often due to hazardous working conditions and low rates of health benefits. With this data in mind, several national organizations have been established to help restaurant workers cope with and stay in their industry. One example is the organization Chefs With Issues dedicated to helping chefs with anxiety, depression, and addiction.
Mind Body Spirit is another organization featured in the article that helps bartenders deal with burnout and helps patients with health tips on eating, sleeping, and exercise. What is particularly noteworthy is that many restaurants are paying for their staff to attend these organizations as a means to improve staff retention and contribute to a healthy work environment. As restaurant operators, it is our responsibility to take care of our employees and ensure they are not reaching the point of burnout. Unfortunately, due to staffing in contribution to other factors, this can be hard to avoid. At the end of the day, having a healthy staff will reduce employee turnover and contribute to a healthy work environment.
