Market to customers who have not yet heard of you

Think of social media as a Fishbowl.  You send posts to your fans and followers who obviously know your restaurant or bar and have opted-in to see them.  You send message after message to the same captive audience.  Your numbers are growing slower than ever in this market.  Facebook marketing is all but dead unless you pay per post.  Instagram is great as long as you have a younger audience and target the demographic who uses Instagram.  These people MAY see your marketing message, maybe not.  Think about who will NEVER see these posts….  The vast majority of people who don’t “like” or “follow” your pages.

Search engines and online review sites are the Ocean

The undecided diner is using Google and review sites like Yelp more now than ever before.  Aside from word of mouth, these 2 places are used more than anything else to decide on a new place to visit.  In tourist economies Google is the #1 tool even MORE than word of mouth.  In my last pool I asked the public this exact question instead of speculating like almost everyone else does.  You can see the live poll with this question here https://barmarketingbasics.com/polls 

Tripadvisor can make or break you

Businesses outside the US rely so much on Tripadvisor that a poor rating or bad visibility on TA will shut down a bar or restaurant quicker than almost anything else.  Remember the Golden Rule of marketing.  Don’t market to the platforms that YOU would go, market to the platforms where your customers are.  Sounds pretty obvious but this is rarely followed.  In unfamiliar environments people rely on “virtual word of mouth” (online reviews).  Facebook reviews, Google reviews, Yelp and Tripadvisor and the major 4 platforms.  When your reputation is solid, people will notice.  Respond to EVERY review on these pages and flag the inappropriate ones and get them removed.  If you don’t have the time let me know, this is a service I offer and I’m damn good at it too 🙂