Social media has become part of daily life for many Americans. Businesses are following suit by creating marketing campaigns and promotions around their guests' online and mobile habits.
While Twitter and Facebook still rule the field, newer channels are gaining ground. Location-based social or geosocial networks are among the newcomers presenting opportunities for restaurants.
These geosocial networks are games with rewards played on smartphones. When users visit restaurants, movie theaters, retail stores or tourist attractions, they “check in” on their mobile devices.
Most services also offer an option to add comments or share information on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Users earn points for each check in. In some cases, they earn badges or buttons after a certain number of check ins.
Some networks also let users redeem points for rewards. In addition, most services let the user who checks in the most times at a certain location earn titles (mayor, duke/dutchess, etc.).
Several companies have built a solid reputation with their geosocial features, including Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and Booyah (creator of MyTown and InCrowd). Facebook, with 500 million-plus users, just launched its location-based application Places last week. Trend-watchers are speculating on how Facebook will expand the concept, but the company announced that information from other networks will integrate with Places.
Several location-based services — of which Foursquare is the largest (not counting Facebook) — are tying restaurants into their apllications, Zagat, Bon Appetit magazine, Bravo’s "Top Chef" and similar entitites are getting into it by creating badges.
Starbucks was the first major chain to offer specials through Foursquare. It offers a “barista” badge for checking into five different Starbucks locations. Chili’s Grill & Bar, Pinkberry, Pizza Hut and other restaurant companies have partnered with Foursquare on promotions to offer freebies for checking in, and Kona Grill has centered promotions around badges.
You don’t have to be a national, multi-unit company to drive traffic, encourage loyalty and reach new guests through location-based networks. Smaller restaurants can get involved without a direct partnership. The National Restaurant Association's Media Relations Director Annika Stensson offers some tips to get started:
1. Monitor who checks in to your restaurant and add them as friends. Your regulars might already be using these services. Once they accept, you can post messages about menu updates and special offers.
2. Consider deals tthat appeal to new and existing guests. Focusing only on one of those audiences might make the other feel disconnected.
3. Train staff on how the deal works to provide a great experience for geo-service users. Remember, those guests are active social media users and often are quick to share good and bad experiences with their friends. If your staff seems confused or unknowledgable when guests redeem the offers, those guests potentially could tell hundreds (or even thousands) of people.
4. To attract new guests, offer free items or discounts on certain menu items for checking in for the first time. You can also contact the service about options to make your offer pop up in the application when people check into a nearby venue.
5. For frequent guests, offer discounts or free items to the user who holds the title at your restaurant, such as the Foursquare Mayor, or offer freebies or discounts for checking in a certain number of times, earning a certain amount of points, or unlocking a particular badge.
6. To promote your offers, add a link (or logo) of the geo-location service on your home page. Cross-promote the offers on your other social media channels and in other marketing materials, like e-newsletters and direct mail pieces.
Several blogs and articles also cover information and ideas for small businesses to put location-based networks to good use, including Inc., Twitter for Restaurants, American Express OpenForum, Entrepreneur and Duct Tape Marketing.
