Restaurantdiary hosts social media debate

24th October 2011, 11:10am

Restaurantdiary, the digital restaurant management and reservation tool provider who has recently launched iphone and ipad apps for restaurateurs, recently hosted a roundtable discussion on social media. We take a look at the topics discussed.

Attendees were:
Michelle Cartwright from Searcys
Duncan Ackery from Duncan Ackery Associates
Neil Davey from The Coach & Horses
Missy Flynn from Hawksmoor
Diego Jacquet from Casa Malevo
Julia Fesenberg from Iris.

Q. What tools do restaurants use - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn?

Neil – All platforms have there use. LinkedIn is Facebook for grown-up and more of a business tool. Facebook is too advertising lead and very one-sided. You post information like a notice board; pictures, links, bookings. Twitter is best for interacting with a community and building relationships. It's about brand building. 

Michelle – All of them. LinkedIn for recruitment. Twitter for PR and to engage with the industry. Facebook to engage with customers.

Missy – Twitter has the best reach and it allows you to talk to your 'fans / followers' in a way that communicates the brands personality. We are starting to strategize the way we use LinkedIn and be more targeted with it. For example, we are opening bookings to our new restaurant in the City on LinkedIn. It fits the demographic of the area better. It all comes down to knowing the best social medium for the message you are communicating.

Abi – You can build up a rapport of Twitter and get to know your regular guests before you even meet them in person. It is good to build relationships and it cuts through levels, for example the man in the street can interact with Jamie Oliver through Twitter.

Diego – Restaurants have to have a Facebook page, its part of the check list. How restaurants use it is a different matter.  You need to be trendy on Twitter. It's like another language and you have to be fluent to be part of it. It a recession restaurants need to do as much as they can to be involved with regular customers and introduce new ones.

Does social media assist restaurant promotion?

Missy – Yes but you have to value the product enough to put this new technology to good use. We would never send out a 'money off' offer but we do utilise social media for added value activity. You have to be confident in your product to interact and react, especially on Twitter.

Duncan – Yes because consumers want a third party portal.

Michelle – It is important to create a social media strategy.

Diego – We don't give promotions. Owning a restaurant is as much about the people as the food and we want people to experience who we are and the way we do things. We don't want to de-value the restaurant and the quality of the work we do.

Chains versus the independent restaurant – is there a difference in the approach to social media?

Missy and Neil – Smaller businesses (independents or small groups) work better as they can engage easier with individual customers – such as being aware of their anniversary/ birthday.

Missy – Bigger brands tackle social media in a different way, by creating more offers to support their intricate branding strategies. Chains can have personality if they speak about what is happening around them. 

Neil – It is important to do both. Take Starbucks for instance, people will sign up for the umbrella brand Twitter account for a different reason that they will sign up for the local Twitter pages (such as Starbucks Richmond). They need to have different voices – the local accounts can be more personality lead where as the overall umbrella account needs to appear more professional and 'on-brand'. 

Neil – The same applies to how you should approach things like Twitter images, as a local account, they should be grainy and hand taken, for the larger more corporate pages, these should be professionally taken.

Q. What is the industry thought on apps for smart phones, iPhones and iPads?

Michelle – They're useful and you have to keep up with the new technology. But it is important to create apps available for all smart phones, not just iPhones.

Duncan – You have to be able to book via the app.

Michelle – They must have offers.

Diego - I have Urban Spoon on my phone but do not use it much. I prefer to have recommendations for restaurants. I often look at my Twitter feed to see what is being discussed. I'm not always part of the conversation but I like to listen to what is being said.

Q. Can social media help to drive revenue?

Missy – It can and is but no one can measure it. It's hard to measure word of month and recommendations unless you track it through a direct offer, which we don't.

Neil – A number of restaurants that I work with have fun 'added value' offers on Twitter and seen direct bookings from it.

Q. What social networking campaigns in the restaurant industry have proven successful/ popular?

Neil – Goodman (very personality lead) Giraffe (built up a great following and engage in quirky marketing activity) Le Manoir (has its own personality).

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• 24 Feb 2010 - Livebookings and Restaurantdiary team up

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