Question

1. How could you convince the restaurant’s owners to consider using one or more social media sites as a part of their overall marketing plan?

2. Please make sure to discuss the benefits of using at least 3 social media sites in the section above.

3. In addition, what are some prior steps managers need to take before choosing a marketing method for their restaurants?

Answer 1

1

Social media is an important channel of marketing and is growing in every industry. One of the strongest argument that can be posed to any business owners, including restaurant owners, is that the return on investment on social media (done properly) is very high. The overall cost of the promotions are comparatively much lower than conventional channels and they return is considerable. In addition, this channel is still growing and provide ample opportunities for new strategies, experimentation and other tests to be conducted on consumers and the market.

2

Let us consider three social media sites that are commonly used by businesses of various sites. For a restaurant they could be

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

The benefits of using these sites are that they provide a direct communication channel with their customers. They allow the restaurant to give offers, entice consumers and promote their business pretty much for free once a large audience base is built. Also we need to consider that food is often a combination of taste, smell and presentation. Social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram has heavy emphasis on images and this means they can be used to present food and menu very enticingly. Twitter on the other hand provides a very strong communication channel with the customers.

3

The most important step before choosing a marketing method is the determination of communication strategy and the overall value proposition. The managers need to be extremely clear on their communication strategy and know what they want to promote in the market. They should also be clear on the value proposition and know their audience. Next, they should know the budget and the level of aggression that they wish to adapt in the market. Prepare a test plan and once they have the result from the test plan, they can choose the appropriate marketing strategy.