Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Today's Specials:
MARKETING: Restaurant Marketing Ideas for August 2017
Summer is at its peak. Here are some great restaurant marketing ideas for sports bars and restaurants for the month of August.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Outback Conspiracy
Outback Steakhouse is at the center of a social media conspiracy theory. Last week, a Twitter user posted a screenshot of a series of Google Map searches for Outback in multiple cities where, strangely, each location could be easily connected to form a star. Outback’s response was priceless.
Milkshake Slip-N-Slide
The recently arrested social media thief was let out of jail and looking to celebrate his ground-breaking 1 million Instagram followers. Boonk.IG posted a video at a Chick-Fil-A where he created a milkshake slip-n-slide that has now gone viral. Warning: The video contains language, and is extremely bizarre.
Streaming Steals Viewership
Traditional TV is becoming a thing of the past. Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are taking over the market, causing Americans aged 18-24 to watch traditional TV 40% less since 2011. This infographic shows how young Americans are collectively switching to streaming services causing cable TV to decline in viewership.
MOST EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING
Why it matters to you: Social media is the number one most responsive form of marketing for restaurants.
Social media has become the most commonly used form of marketing and advertising that restaurants have invested in. There are so many perks that incorporate various aspects of marketing that allow restaurants to reach a large amount of people for relatively zero cost. According to new research from TripAdvisor, 82% percent of restaurants in the United States devote at least part of their marketing budgets to social media, making it the most popular advertising outlet. Also noteworthy, 85% of respondents from the study said they should be doing more to promote themselves whereas fewer reported only spending less than 10% of their time on marketing.
Globally, restaurants view social media as the most effective tool for marketing a business, right in front of online directories and search engine optimization. The majority of restaurants are handling all marketing efforts internally whereas 17% of establishments hire someone to handle social media accounts. Many businesses actually attribute the job to a trusted staff member to post engaging content regularly from the restaurant’s various accounts. It is possible to find success with social media marketing, many operators just need to establish a routine of what to post and when. The rest often falls into place.
BAD REPUTATION [Song]
Why it matters to you: Turns out your reputation is your most effective response to minimum wage increases.
Much has been made regarding the impact of minimum wage (MW) increases in our industry. In Seattle, for example, studies have both bolstered and refuted the argument that MW increases cause restaurants to close. Turns out there might be another factor that operators need to appreciate if they are going to mitigate the impact of an MW increase, reputation. In a Harvard study in collaboration with Yelp, researchers found that the lower the rating of a restaurant, the more likely they would succumb to the impacts of wage growth.
Even if you start your analysis with some incredulity because of Yelp’s involvement (and believe us, we are skeptical of Yelp), you can’t ignore the true economic impact of a good reputation. Just as the big players have learned over the past 24 months, discounting and special offers aren’t the engine that drives success in a restaurant. Things like quality, atmosphere and a great experience are far more indicative of a restaurant that can overcome the labor market to succeed. Researchers claim that price was not a factor, but rankings are. Maybe it’s time to worry less about labor cost growth and more about growing a business that your guests love that delivers a first class reputation.
Hero image courtesy of Thrillist.com