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Instagram for Restaurant Marketing

Instagram for Restaurant Marketing

So you know instagram, land of self centered duck faced ‘selfies’ and look where I am rub in your face pics from your connections.

But you know what it works great for?

Food.

Its simple really, when people see food they want to eat it, and when they see a restaurant consistently post food pics that they want, it leads to them visiting.

Tips:

Be passionate about your food, pictures of poor food will have poor results.

Be pragmatic about how much you share, five dishes a week is one thing five in a hour is another.

image

Find me on instagram or twitter (@spirocks)
To see how I am doing it for Andolinis and Sauce in Andover Ma.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Facebook, Local Market Strategy, Restaurant Marketing, Tools Tagged With:
Video Marketing Example for Restaurants

Video Marketing Example for Restaurants

We are always looking to find ways to use video for restaurant marketing.

Each video has a common goal which is to highlight that which makes the restaurant unique, and when you use video to market your restaurant you should do the  same. Where video stands head and shoulders above the other mediums you may choose is the human aspect, you get a feel for the person in the video and that is a key part of connecting with your audience. I have said this before but you can not be marketing the fact that you have food and drink. If you are doing that you are wasting your time. Most likely there is a subway or other processed food vendor that is selling cheap calories somewhere around you.

They have food and drink.

Your restaurant marketing should be about the things that set you apart, the one of a kind things that make your restaurant a unique destination and a value to the community that it is in. One thing that makes it that way is the people who make and serve the food and drink, it is their passion for the process and the end product that is of interest and value to the audience. Your restaurant marketing should be highlighting these things, and naturally the food and drink will be noted.

Here is and example of Video Marketing for Restaurants:

As you can see, this is as much about Lindsay, and the Process, as the product. It is an invitation to come see her and the rest of the staff. Video allows a window into what it would be like to sit at the bar and have Lindsay make a cocktail for you, it is personal and only possible in person or on video.

Have you used video for your business marketing or are you thinking about it? If you want ideas for how it could work for your particular business, just ask, its what I love to do.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Local Market Strategy, Restaurant Marketing Tagged With: , ,
Kaskade Demonstrates Why To Blog

Kaskade Demonstrates Why To Blog

I blog.

I do it here.

I also do it for my other businesses, Andolinis Italian Restaurant, and Sauce Wings.

I do it so I can talk directly to my customers and extended audience.

No filters, no reporting, no mistakes, and no doubt that I mean to say what I do. Thats the affect of this medium, its me, talking to you. But the truth is I dont have a terribly big podium to speak from so maybe you discount the whole blogging thing. As if its not that valuable a tool to communicate what I am doing, and what I think needs to be said.

What if I stood in front of an audience like this and I still chose to blog to get my thoughts across?

What if I had topped billboard charts, was paid $200k a concert, and had sold millions of albums? 

That would make my audience pretty large, and much like Kaskade’s.

Why then would I turn to a blog to get my ideas across, when magazines, radio stations, and crowds would assemble to see and hear me? His reason for blogging is the same as why I do it, so that his message can be delivered in his words, exactly as he intends it.

Recently when the LA Times attacked the Electronic Dance Music scene, (EDM) Kaskade didn’t do an interview on SIRIUS BPM or rant at a concert, he took to his blog to effectively and directly take issue with what he felt was unfair criticism. Here is a snippet:

As far as a music culture goes, EDM is the one who will accept the kids on the outliers, the ones who get bullied, the ones who feel like they may not quite fit in. This community is exceptional in its ability to bond all types together, and I am not exaggerating when I say it saves lives. Our audience is intelligent and kind, discriminating only in regards to which sound they like best. Our audience is unprecedented in their drive to proactively support each other.

There’s your story, LA Times. Do the world a favor and dig into that for a change, punks.

Read the whole post here: Kaskade

Whatever way you look at it, delivering your message, on your terms, in your words has value. Building that connection with your audience however big or small, can only lead to you and your business being better understood. Whether you are standing up for a group of people, or explaining a new product, nothing is left to interpretation when you blog.

So, Can you still afford not to?

 

 

I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Just Think, Local Market Strategy Tagged With: , ,
Video Marketing Online Destroys Competition by Leveraging Time

Video Marketing Online Destroys Competition by Leveraging Time

Video represents the holy grail of online marketing, its ability to communicate with viewers trumps all other forms of online marketing.

Why is that?

Well if you were marketing your Real Estate Company for instance it would give you the ability to all at once show your personality, your expertise, as well as the unadulterated view of the homes you are selling with people in them. It demonstrates and explains so much more than can be read or spoken in that amount of time.

Why is time so important?

Time matters for a crucial reason which is that your audience will only give you a tiny bit before they move on. So if you spend 15 seconds explaining your knowledge of the industry, that is all you will get and you won’t have the chance to talk about what you are selling whether it is a home, a 45 day dry aged rib-eye, or anything for that matter.

Video allows you to address time in two important ways.

First it allows you to make the most of the time a viewer is watching, the visuals aid in telling a story that doesn’t need to be spoken or read. Secondly video stretches the time you have with your audience, studies have shown that more than 3 out of 5 said they would watch videos for at least 2 minutes. That is an incredible amount of face time in today’s 140 character message world.

A real estate agent might garner two minutes or more of face time with prospective clients by creating informative videos answering common questions about the market. Like this one: Matt Mclennan

Which may get you results like this:

Time also matters if you are paying for your marketing to be distributed, for instance if you are deciding between a direct mail campaign or a television spot on local cable, how much are you spending and how much of a message are you communicating? If you do direct mail you can cram as much info as you can onto a over sized postcard for a relatively affordable amount. I did that for my wing joint Sauce, and found that I could get a few pictures on the mailing side and the whole menu on the face of the card. But it left a lot of questions unanswered and we got the phone calls to prove it. Recently one of my clients decided that his money was best invested in a short TV commercial on local television. I am currently editing a 15 second spot for his store which will be able to convey so much information that we would have been unable to otherwise. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words and a video may be worth 10,000.

When that video is finished I will link to it here as well.

Video is the best medium for dealing with the two biggest issues that time presents, attention span and cost.

Let me know if you have questions how video can integrate into your small business marketing plan.

yoga

I am Spirocks on Twitter.
photo by: Neil Kremer
Filed Under: Just Think, Local Market Strategy, Realty Marketing, Tools Tagged With: , , ,
Marketing Strategy: Is your business communication disjointed?

Marketing Strategy: Is your business communication disjointed?

Fusing your online and offline business communications is Essential to maximizing the results of your marketing strategy.

When you are marketing your business these days, it is easy to get caught up in your online efforts and think of them as their own entity separate from any print, direct mail, in house, or broadcast marketing you may also be doing. That just isn’t going to get the same results for your brands as if you integrate on and offline marketing efforts.

If you are able to do that you will be pulling together the two in a way that benefits your brands, the response rate to your marketing, and the results that you seek.

Mise en Place

In the grand scheme of things you have a ton to do, but if you are investing time and dollars into marketing at all, you should make the over riding theme be clear, and be sure your brands speak to their audience in the same way on and offline. It is a simple yet elusive task. There are three key points to consider when aligning your marketing strategy:

Imagery

The visual design of your website, email marketing messages, and social network images should be congruous with your menu, in store graphics, direct mail, and print ad graphical designs. Both online and offline marketing materials are visual mediums whose success may be determined by the initial (before reading) response an audience member has to the imagery contained. That imagery can be a reminder to someone aware of your company, it can create interest in someone who is just now being introduced to your brands, and it can bridge the mental gap between the time they saw a post from your facebook page shared by a friend to the direct mail piece they just found in their mailbox.

Images are some of the most powerful tools in marketing and they should work together stylistically where-ever you use them.

Language

Your brands speak to their audience in many ways, one of the most powerful is through its language. It can communicate the style of your restaurant very effectively by choosing its linguistic voice. Once that voice is established it is important that consistency is maintained and nurtured in each of your marketing efforts. Whether you portray a playful vibe or a serious one, the style should work together across each message. Your brand should understand its target audience and craft messages in a voice to speak to them. This is one of the essential parts of your marketing strategy that too many companies overlook.

Offers

Your brand makes an offer to your customers every time there is an interaction, being in business is making an offer. Know that, remember that, and do that in a way that leverages the medium of choice effectively. Your audience may be divided, with some seeing your communications online and some seeing them in print. Do your offers transcend these boundaries too? If not you are effectively reducing the chances your offers can help you increase sales and convert casual members of your community into devoted customers. Online you may use coupon codes to match the coupons you mail to people with direct mail, you also make an offer without offering a discount and that is important. Sharing picture of your food online should be matched in your offline efforts as well.

If you simply share a picture of an amazing burger, that is making an offer. When I see a picture like that I want to eat that burger… so would a lot of others.

Lets focus on the overall message style more in our marketing strategy:

Takeaway from this a renewed effort to bridge mediums, and self evaluate the way you communicate today. The medium should not dictate the message, it may adapt it, but the medium always transmits the message.

What ways do you integrate offline and online marketing?

I am working with my clients this month explaining ways that they can do this with their companies marketing messages and I cant wait to help them do it. If I can help you feel free to ask.

I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Just Think, Local Market Strategy, Realty Marketing, Restaurant Marketing, Tools
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