The sit down restaurant industry has always lived and died by reputation. Diners go to a restaurant because they heard from a friend who has eaten there that the food was extraordinary, the service was impeccable, and they both came at a reasonable price. It is because of the fact that word of mouth has been the typical avenue for restaurants to get the word out to potential customers that the dining industry and social media have become friendly bedfellows.
“Tell your friends” has now become “fan us on Facebook”, or “Follow us on Twitter”. Restaurant owners recognize that Tweets and Status Updates have become the preferred method of communication for their diners and they see the need to get involved in the social networks. Porto Vivo in Huntington takes reservations right on their Facebook Fan page through an Open Table Application. Pancho Vito in Great Neck has placed a sign on their door asking you to remember to become a fan when you leave and hope you share with your network. American Roadside Burgers in Smithtown ran a sweepstakes online where one lucky fan won a Motorcycle. This surely caused an in flux of customers as well as grew the restaurant’s fan base on Facebook.
Now restaurants are also giving incentives for those who use FourSquare, an application which allows the user to “check in” almost anywhere you go with the option of automatically updating a Facebook Status or Tweet with the location. Restaurateurs are using FourSquare to spread the word about their establishment by rewarding those who check in with a discount or free item such as “free beer”.*
Whether we choose to recognize it or not, we are all living through a communication revolution on both personal and business fronts. The days when conversations took place over coffee or even over the phone are beginning to fade. Lines such as “Hey! You have to try this new restaurant we ate at last week” are now finding a home on our Facebook and Twitter pages rather than at the water cooler. From a social media stand point it is good to see the restaurant industry jumping in head first because like any trend in food, fashion or any other industry, you have to be in it to win it.
*thanks to Mashable for the FourSquare article: https://mashable.com/2010/01/16/foursquare-world/
