Question

Topic: Social Media

Increase Cafe Breakfast And Dinner Business

Posted by rick on 9/14/2010 at 10:34 AM ET 250 Points
We are attempting to build a social media strategy to grow our dinner and breakfast traffic. We are an upper end cafe with delicious food and a dedicated customer base. We were considering exclusive twitter specials. Maybe work with local community college for morning and evening students. Any ideas?
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 9/15/2010 at 5:28 AM Accepted
    Hi Rick,

    I'm not certain what phase of the business you are in at present (start-up vs. growth, etc.) but sharing that information might help you get more specific answers.

    Groupon is an excellent tool for businesses, however it can create a strain on smaller businesses. While the exposure is great, you must discount your product in addition to splitting the selling price of the offer with Groupon. In some instances, businesses lose money on the offer, and/or the response is so overwhelming that the business cannot keep up with the demand the offer has created. This puts strain on your team, your resources, and the quality of your product.

    I would recommend first and foremost engaging your dedicated customer base via social media sites. Offer promotions/contests for this group to introduce new fans/follower to your social media pages - you'd be surprised to see how many of your loyal fans are eager to get all of their friends to follow you for a free lunch!

    Partnerships with other businesses in your area are also something to explore. Reciprocal discounts have worked well for some of my clients. We've used Foursquare to implement fun promotions while working with other businesses.

    Best of luck!
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 9/15/2010 at 8:44 AM Accepted
    Offer menu items that are only for those in your social media community (like In-N-Out Burger does: https://www.examiner.com/chain-restaurant-in-national/the-full-n-out-secret...).
  • Posted on 9/16/2010 at 7:40 PM Member
    To attract more Facebook Fans you can create special coupons available only to your Fans to entice people to look up you FB page and join . Just a tip .

    Groupon is great for Specials and Online promotions.

    If you'd like to build like a unique community around your restaurant you can check out Ning but I feel Ning networks work best with brands and huge community bases .

    Also don't forget to signup for FourSquare and Gowalla.

    Hope these tips help . Good luck and I'd really love to hear back from you on your success. BTW Karen is the social media expert around these parts :P
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Social Media)