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rash course (information overload) for hospitality business owners and managers!
tl;dr A crash course for bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants on building an Online Presence - It isn't all online!
Inhouse collateral
If you don't have something for people to stare at while waiting, you're missing a perfect opportunity to push specials, theme nights, stories.
- Table talkers.
- TV with looping promotions.
- Posters of upcoming events.
- Socials & website listed on EVERYTHING.
Canva is your best friend (free).
Google My Business - GMB (free)
Figure 1. Recent 30 days data from a cafe/bar in a town with a population of 7000.
Some quick wins for GMB
- Make sure you have claimed your listing.
- Fill it out accurately. Consistency with the rest of the internet is key!
- Respond to ALL reviews.
- Upload as many photos across all sections as possible (bonus points if you assure they’re geotagged and files named).
- Use posts/promotions function. The idea is to get people to spend time reading the post. So don’t be boring.
- Simplify management by downloading the app "My Business" from Google.
- Encourage reviews (organically).
- Provide easy to follow instructions to leave a review. This document generator from Whitespark will help.
Tripadvisor, Goodbean, Zomato, Yelp, etc.
- Fill out and claim your profiles on all relevant citation sites.
- Vegan friendly? Add your business to Happy cow.
- Anything else significant? Google niche and find other relevant citation sites to add your business to.
- Got a website? Add the links to your Tripadvisor, Goodbean etc.
Website
- Fast loading, mobile friendly site.
- Data tracking installed (google analytics).
- Facebook re-targeting pixel installed and set up.
- Three things you’re known for (i.e. great coffee, epic milkshakes, vegan food, etc.) are the keywords you want to rank for. Use them in copy (bonus points if you can use them in a h1 tag)
- Ensure you have schema for local business (with accurate open/close times, business name, address and phone number. Try THIS resource to code it, although it is missing an important “sameAs” tag :<div><a itemprop="sameAs" href="https://twitter.com/johndoe">John Doe on Twitter</a></div>.
- Make it seamless for people to call you (track how often it gets clicked).
- Seamless to book a table (if you swing that way).
- Seamless to order online (Shopify has a $9USD solution).
- Simple to contact you. DON’T use forms, except for function bookings. Make your website one click from Messenger. So people can enquire instantly. It’s 2020, for goodness sake. Actually it's now 2021!
- HTTPS - SSL certificate. Encrypts data from your website. Google loves it.
Social media profiles
- Claim and fill out: Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr, Vine and Vimeo.
Yes, even if you will never use them. It's called social signals. Bonus points if you post at least one thing on each.
Best place to keep your regulars up to date, acquire new customers and build an interested audience for low cost targeted marketing spends. An interested audience is an engaged audience.
- Use high-quality accurate images/video of food, beverages and staff - don't use graphics and posters. EVER. Unless you don’t care about reach.
- Keep a standardised personality about your posts and copy.
- Find 2-4 emojis and use them consistently. Don’t use 68 different emojis. A handful of emojis act like a brand.
- If a post is getting more engagement and reach than your typical post - BOOST it!
- Although the above is true, boosting posts is the lazy method to promote your page. Dedicate some time to ads manager and build robust campaigns. Or get a professional to do it. Don’t spend a cent on ads manager until you understand how to retarget.
- Make sure your Facebook business name has a tick next to it. If it doesn’t go to settings < general < page verification.
- Look at your analytics. What sex, age, location are the majority? Build promotions around them. Lots of mothers? Coffee & cake special after school drop off. Etc.
- Well executed in house giveaways through Facebook will grow your local audience.
- You can invite people who have liked a post to like your page.
- Don’t chase random followers; go after local followers.
- Scheduling 80% of your posts makes sense.
- Schedule at odd times like 6:02am rather than 6:00am.
- Use your website's Facebook pixel audience for affordable and high engagement ad spends.
- Messenger/Facebook bots are a phenomenal method to gain a list of subscribers. Facebook bots allow you to build and automate a subscriber base for promotions. Like sending birthday specials to individuals on your list. Prompt about upcoming events and gain new followers.
Owned by Facebook, but a beast upon itself. Many of the same rules as above apply here.
- Engage with followers! Not just liking their photos, comment! And not with a *thumbs up* be genuine!! You’ll be amazed what one hour a week of engaging with followers will do to your engagement rates. High engagement rate = high reach.
- Pick a filter that suits your business. One that makes the food and drinks look great. Use it for EVERY photo you post!
- Search for local competitors (‘your suburb’ + ‘cafe/bar/pub/restaurant), engage with their content. Throw chat; people see this and will follow you.
- Use localised and niche-specific hashtag.
Do the above things, and your café, bar or restaurant will succeed in the coming year. Just be cautious when putting all of your eggs in one basket; it is best to grow different platforms and build a mailing list, so you have control of your marketing.
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