Restaurant Coach Marketing Blog - RESTAURANT GROWTH SECRETS UNIVERSITY

RESTAURANT GROWTH SECRETS UNIVERSITY

When is a Restaurant Owner Ready For a Second Location?

3/29/2019

How Social Media Influencers Can Drive Restaurant Traffic

3/29/2019

MARCH 2019
By Jessie Szalay

Everyday people have built massive followings thanks to social media; here’s how restaurants can work with foodie influencers.

BURGERIM / FOODGOD, A TASTE OF KOKO
Jonathan Cheban, also known as Foodgod (left), and Jane Ko of a Taste of Koko (right), command thousands of followers via social media.
In November, Austin, Texas–based social media food and lifestyle influencer Jane Ko went to a Thai restaurant to try its new breakfast options and take photos for an Instagram post, which would go on to receive nearly 800 likes. She was brought steaming-hot dishes, which she immediately took outside into the chilly morning. Ko loved the marble outdoor tables and natural daylight. She carefully laid out the dishes and conducted a photo shoot. Only after she’d completed the task to her satisfaction did she sit down and enjoy the dish. The owner was shocked.

“I eat every meal cold,” Ko says. “People think [social media is] so easy, but it’s a big production with costs.”

Ko, who blogs and Instagrams at A Taste of Koko, wasn’t surprised by the owner’s reaction. Despite restaurants becoming increasingly aware of the power social media influencers hold, many are still unsure of how the process works. Ko knows the new media landscape can be daunting but emphasizes that ignoring it is a lost opportunity for businesses.

Although influencers have their own unique aesthetic and methodology, restaurants can develop a sense of what to expect—perhaps starting with being ready to re-heat cold, photographed meals. Most importantly, brands need to work with the influencer, Ko says, by being open and flexible to their needs and ideas rather than trying to unilaterally control the collaboration.

At Los Angeles–based Burgerim, that mindset has led to an exciting partnership with one of the biggest names in food influencing. Jonathan Cheban, also known as Foodgod, has more than 3 million Instagram followers, as well as a YouTube channel and website. In October, he went into one of Burgerim’s many L.A. stores. He knew of the brand through another blog but went in with little knowledge or expectation. “I was hungry,” he laughs.

Once inside, he was blown away by the concept, which offers multiple 3-ounce burgers per order. Burgerim features 11 types of patties, as well as a wide variety of sauces and toppings prepared in endlessly customizable ways. He filmed an on-the-spot video describing his “out of control” experience. It quickly went viral, leading Burgerim to reach out to him and establish a multi-million–dollar deal. Last November, Foodgod became the face of Burgerim.

It’s not your typical celebrity sponsorship deal, Cheban says. “We’ll do a Foodgod burger, a cool shake, videos, cutouts. … It’s going to be the coolest franchise. I’m going to put my touch on it, and I’m pretty good with that stuff.”

How exactly Foodgod will put his own touch on things has yet to be nailed down. “[Cheban] is going to do what he does well,” says Tom Meiron, CEO of Burgerim. “I want him to have the ability to flourish on his own and see where this takes us.” Foodgod’s fans range from teenagers to septuagenarians, but regardless of age, social media followers care about authenticity—something that Meiron thinks this organic, naturally evolving campaign will encourage.

Influencers must maintain authenticity and trust because their followers are “really good call-to-action people,” Cheban says. “You post something, and they will respond.” That can increase business and awareness of a restaurant. It also means that if an influencer is fake or misleading, followers will know.

This sort of real-time feedback gives influencers valuable insights into the tastes and preferences of their audiences. Influencers can turn that knowledge into collaborative products—as Cheban hopes to do—or curated experience guides—as Ko sometimes does—and know that they will be popular.

“A lot of people tell me they use my feed to determine where to eat lunch or dinner that week,” Ko says. Followers message her questions about dishes to order or avoid, what to eat during a visit to Austin or another city Ko has covered, or where to take their dates. “For a brand, it’s more personable than being featured in a newspaper or magazine. There’s that trust.”

But in order for any collaboration with influencers to work, restaurants need to grant some degree of freedom, allowing influencers to maintain their brand authenticity. Though Foodgod will not post about direct competitors during his Burgerim partnership, he is free to post about mom-and-pop burger joints or burgers that directly tie into his brand of over-the-top offerings. “If someone’s got a ridiculous burger with chocolate on it, I’m going to post about it,” Cheban says.

For Ko, a “micro” influencer with more than 50,000 followers, restaurants should work with her busy schedule, photography demands (she only shoots during the day in light-filled locales), quality-control requirements (what she posts must reflect what any customer would receive), and financial constraints. She carries high production costs from camera equipment and sometimes needs to hire photographers or rent shooting space.

Since each influencer works differently, restaurants that want to work with them need to do their research to find the right fit. Ko recommends operators begin by examining their own social media followings to see who is tagging them and talking about them. “I have brands I just love and talk about but who unfortunately don’t respond to me,” Ko says.

Restaurants can also focus on the market they want to reach. That may be geographical or another niche. “If you have pizza, find the pizza guy,” Cheban says. “Influencers live their brands every day. Find the guy with pizza everywhere.”

For most restaurants, the niche and personality of the influencer is more important than the number of followers they have. As Cheban points out, you never know when something will go viral.

Once a restaurant has found an influencer it would like to work with, there are several options for reaching out. Many influencers, including Ko and Cheban, have agents or public relations teams who interface with brands. Both also get hundreds of direct messages and e-mails every day from brands eager to work with them. But that doesn’t mean that restaurants should be shy.

For Cheban, it’s important to keep an open mind and determine whether or not he has a rapport with the brand in question. “Send an email—sometimes really cool things can happen. Be willing to work with [influencers],” he says. “For me, it’s got to be where it feels right.”

Similarly, Ko sees no harm in reaching out; the greater risk is missing an opportunity. “Just be friendly. Say, ‘Hey, we don’t know if you’ve tried us before, but we’d love for you to come in for lunch,’’ she says. “There are a lot of brands that are missing out on having good relationships with influencers.”

What is the Best Way To Set Up Investors for a Restaurant?

3/28/2019

What is the Best Way To Set Up Investors for a Restaurant?

3/28/2019

What is The Second Best Way For Your Guests To Know You

3/28/2019

What is The One Thing A Business Owner Needs to Teach Their Staff?

3/27/2019

What is the One Thing Restaurant Owners Should NOT Do With the Staff?

3/20/2019

What Is Experiential Marketing?

3/17/2019

March 15, 2019
By Kiely Kuligowski

Traditional marketing is dead, at least, in the most traditional sense. A billboard with a picture of your product next to smiling faces just doesn't cut it anymore. Consumers now fast-forward through commercials, have ad blockers on their computers, and are more likely than ever to opt for commercial-free streaming services over live TV.

So what's an advertiser to do?

It may be time for your business to change directions and look to experiential marketing, which focuses on connecting consumers with a positive experience associated with a brand, rather than directly with a product.

What is experiential marketing?
Experiential marketing, also called engagement marketing, is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumers and encourages them to participate in a brand experience.

"Experiential marketing is all about creating a lasting impression on consumers that they want to share with others, and that ultimately leads to brand loyalty," said Katherine Rowland, digital marketing executive at YourParkingSpace.

In traditional marketing, consumers are regarded as passive receivers of a company's message. In experiential marketing, a brand involves the consumer directly and often offers a window into the evolution of an advertising campaign. This allows a business to forge a relationship with the consumer by allowing them to both be a part of and see the process of a campaign from beginning to end.

Why is it so effective?
"[Experiential marketing] is so effective because we are emotional beings," said Esther Sauri, marketing professional at LinkiLaw. "When a brand connects with us in an emotional way, we not only buy it, [but we become] loyal customers."

By involving your customers with the story, they feel connected rather than sold to, and this is a significant difference in how they see your brand.

Take, for example, LeanCuisine's #WeighThis campaign. Women were invited to "weigh in" about something important about themselves, other than their weight. The responses were then collected and painted onto individual scales, which were displayed on a gallery wall in Grand Central Terminal. Responses ranged from "I care for 200 homeless children each day" to "I am back at college at 55 years old."

The brand then created a promo video that spoke to women about what they wrote and why.

The important aspect of Lean Cuisine's campaign was that at no time was anyone offered a Lean Cuisine product. The display was clearly branded with the company's Twitter handle and the #WeighThis hashtag, but that was it – Lean Cuisine depended on the gallery wall itself to draw people in and created an interactive experience around the message that women are more than a number on the scale. It worked, too – the campaign reached more than 204 million impressions.

What to avoid
Experiential marketing can be a goldmine if leveraged correctly and a landmine if not. Many companies will attempt experiential marketing for the sake of it, knowing that it's a trendy and high-engagement practice, but without proper research and preparation, a campaign can very easily blow up in your face.

"The biggest pitfall in experiential marketing is to make the experience too salesy," said David Jacobson, founder and CEO of TrivWorks. "Attendees don't want to feel like they're at a sales pitch. Make it too salesy, and you'll turn them off, or worse, they'll share that they had a negative experience."

Companies should try to create an experience that embodies their values, or, as Ashley Pontius, print campaign manager at News and Experts put it, "While experiential marketing is [mostly] brand building, focus [on making it] more brand being."

While the advertising world is most certainly moving toward a focus on experiential marketing, companies should think deeply before launching an engagement campaign. Is this right for your business? Can you devote the time, effort and money to doing it right? Do you have a clear goal in mind? If so, an experiential marketing campaign can launch your business with positive interactions and a loyal fanbase.

How To Deal A Negative Attitude from Staff

3/15/2019

Marcus Guiliano Productions LTD
PO Box 731
Ellenville NY 12428
(845) 647-3000

www.MarcusGuiliano.com

Disclaimer
This site is not a part of the Facebook website or Facebook Inc. Additionally, This site is
NOT endorsed by Facebook in any way. FACEBOOK is a trademark of FACEBOOK, Inc.

DISCLAIMER: The sales figures stated above are my personal sales figures. Please understand my results are not typical, I’m not implying you’ll duplicate them (or do anything for that matter). I have the benefit of practicing direct response marketing and advertising since 2009, and have an established following as a result. The average person who buys any "how to" information gets little to no results. I’m using these references for example purposes only. Your results will vary and depend on many factors …including but not limited to your background, experience, and work ethic. All business entails risk as well as massive and consistent effort and action. If you're not willing to accept that, please DO NOT GET OUR INFORMATION.