Gourmet Business, January/February 2011

When’s the last time you tweeted? Does your business have a Facebook page? How does your business look on Yelp?

If you have no idea what we’re talking about here, you are in trouble. If you’ve started to discover some of this social marketing landscape, you’re doing okay. And if you’ve hired (or assigned) daily social marketing responsibilities to someone on your team – we bow to you now.

So, how important are these social networking and user review sites? Yelp.com has more than 25 million people accessing its information, and Facebook, well, if you don’t know what Facebook is yet … Smart phones and iPads have pushed platforms such as Facebook, TripAdvisor and Yelp to the forefront of consumer marketing. Consider this: customers can snap a photo in your store and instantly upload their impressions of the experience they’re having. It is the newest word-of-mouth marketing on the planet; suddenly, we all have access to millions of new friends all scampering to give us advice on where to shop, eat, drink, sleep and travel.

Consumers conduct their own research online to save time and feel confident about their purchases. Confidence, peer-to-peer, user reviews, influence, social media, trust, online media and information gathering prior to actual purchase are all closely related.

“Social media is an ever-growing component of our
marketing mix, which also includes a regular weekly
e-blast, mini-signage inside the store highlighting new
products and services, advertising, public relations,
articles placed in trade and consumer media, and regular
appearances by our staff and celebrity chefs in class as well
as in public events,” explains Mary S. Moore, founder and
owner of Atlanta, Ga.-based The Cook’s Warehouse. “More
than a year ago, we hired a full-time social media manager
who creates four weekday Facebook items and Tweets. The
subject matter varies all over the lot as along as it’s related
to food and cookware: recipes, food trends, diet, unusual
class offerings, holiday shopping events and hours, a
splash of wine and spirits, Atlanta food and cooking events,
and more. We also participate in location-based social
media such as foursquare and Facebook places.

For a quick online tour, visit:

Yelp.com TripAdvisor.com UrbanSpoon.com Twitter.com

Facebook.com

Myspace.com Foursquare.com

time to give a positive comment or invite them back for another visit if they had a poor experience. Always thank everyone for their feedback and let them know it’s the only way to improve on something that is already successful and focus attention on things in your store that might not be working.

When you get a little more involved in online marketing, test out Twitter for specials or Facebook’s offers. It’s a great, low-cost way to make your own marketing impression – one friend at a time.