Social media is NOT an effective approach in a tourist market
Social media is NOT an effective approach in a tourist market and common sense will back this up. I’ve put exactly 1 minute worth of research into this theory. I know this because I’ve been a tourist and I talk to people who are tourists. Ask yourself what tool you use in an unfamiliar environment to find a place to eat or drink. Do you go on Facebook and scroll endlessly until a sponsored post happens to show up from a place in your area?
Hell no
Do you search on Instagram for #happyhour in the hopes that a world-wide reaching hashtag will actually produce something useful? What are the chances a hashtag search will produce a great happy hour in the area you happen to be standing in? This is total nonsense. My hatred for #happyhour grows daily. More on that can be found on my post here on why hashtags don’t work .
Let me draw a parallel. One of the most successful and long running bars in Las Vegas is called Carnival Court located right outside the Harrahs Casino on the strip. You probably know it as the outdoor “circle bar” with the flair bartenders flipping the bottles around.
No one cares that it’s called Carnival Court
That being said, this place makes BANK yet they don’t even have a Facebook page! These guys used common sense and instead of going through the motions of social media, they went physically WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE. Hundreds of thousands of people pass by this place every weekend made up of probably 99% tourists. I lived in Las Vegas briefly and the old pattern is absolutely true – if you live in Vegas you avoid the Strip like the plague.
Location Trumps everything when it comes to restaurants and bars. Even though this seems obvious it’s often lost in the noise of today’s marketing people. However if location isn’t your strong point, use the next strongest thing – common sense.
Read more on the Instagram algorithm changes here.