Any type of word of mouth promotion demands action — it rarely just happens.
The same holds true when using social media as a vehicle for word of mouth.
The USA Today has a great example of how a night club is actively using Facebook to get the word out:
Bartender Beau Dieda does more than mix and serve drinks every night at
popular nightspot Baja Sharkeez: He is also instructed to sign up
friends and fans for his company’s Facebook
page, as well as his own. Before he leaves the restaurant, he sends
bulletins to his collective fan base inviting them back in for
specials, discounts or events.
Just setting your business up in a social media site is not enough. It does not work like a more passive media like web pages or craigslist. You need to find ways to continuously reach out when using Facebook and Twitter.
I agree with your comments in this post. Using the example of the bartender, his followers are associating a person with the business. This is much more effective than the bar screaming out messages of special discounts to these users. The demographic that the hospitality industry is speaking to are on Facebook specifically to interact with their friends. The bartender, in this case, then becomes their friend. My only suggestion would be to have him post before his shift and invite people to come see him that night. This tactic would create an immediate call to action from his clients. Thanks for the insight Dr. Cornwall, I will pass it along.
That’s basically the rule of thumb for starting any Business, you have to socialize and build relationships with other people constantly, and that’s the beauty of the internet where it’s so much easier to reach out to others without revealing your identity and a much wider audience selection.
Absolutely, a lot of businesses came to expect that social media marketing is a free tool. Although it is free to setup accounts on Facebook or Twitter, it takes real dollar and man hour commitments to maximize its potential. Along with some good old fashion promotional ideas.
I read that article in USA Today and thought it was a great way for a bar to use social media. But, the first sentence caught my attention. The nightspot was described as popular. Your business still has to be interesting, your customer service excellent, etc. Twitter wont cover up if you lack these areas, in fact it make may things worse for you. Dont lose track of the fundaments and jump on the social media bandwagon.
Social media outlets can be very effective when used properly. However, as the post mentioned above is can also be the medium that can be used to spread the faults of your business to a large audience very quickly.
It’s important to continually update and not let your media outlet become stagnant. People quickly lose interest when they don’t see fresh content. Get people to feel involved and they’ll personally want to see you grow and maybe even help you. An establishment who tweets or posts on their facebook what events are occurring is an easy method to lure people in. More and more people are using their mobile devices to check their accounts for the latest information. If you’re on top of things and letting customers know what’s happening then that could be the deciding factor whether to go to your establishment or another establishment where they’re unsure of what’s happening.