The Restaurant Community » Forums » Restaurant Business

Chef Mickey that is an excellent point. As consumers still want basically the same thing from a restaurant, somewhere unique that can offer them good food at a reasonable price. Now as most people get their recommendations through family and friends the question becomes, what prompts the initial customer into going to a specific restaurant? Especially now that marketing and disseminating information is instantaneous. You should be able through the internet and it's social media to constantly change the incentive that generates interest about your restaurant whatever that maybe. Perhaps some sort of special you are currently serving, or a drink deal anything that can get people excited about going to your restaurant. With advertising happening so quick you should be able to quickly analyze the effectiveness of your markets promotions and why certain ones work while others don't.

Positive "Mouth to Mouth" advertising is obviously the most best form of advertising, which is what social media really is, right? Just another way for a friend to recommend something or share with another friend. Another communication platform that younger generations are using more than ever is text messaging. This can be used as another form of "Mouth to Mouth" advertising. With services like Krilix for Business you can actually combine text messaging with coupons to provide a reason to share. You also have the ability to control the message that is shared.

[BackPocketMenu]

I'm not sure that young people themselves are going to change things as much as the tools they are becoming accustomed to will. How we reach them (and each other) is rapidly changing.

It's not just that technology is moving, it's where it is moving TO that counts.



Social Networks are exactly what they say they are: social. They allow people to interact with the people they know, as well as the people they'd like to know. It allows anyone to have an audience and be influential. That's why it's becoming critical to participate. Your message and content must be effortless to broadcast and share...for your customers to broadcast and share.

Take for instance, communication. Have you ever seen teenagers text messaging each other while sitting at the same table? Happens all the time.

We are seeing technology shift away from the computer (as we know it) altogether. We live in an age where we carry computers in our pocket. We can instantly access anything.
Favorite song? -On your phone.
Favorite people? -Again, phone.
Favorite movie? -Phone.
Your bank accounts? -Phone.
Internet? -Phone.
Games? -Phone.
Everything? -Phone.

What's not on your phone? Your favorite local businesses, including your favorite restaurants. That's what we are trying to help with.

We truly believe that you have to market to people differently than ever before. You have to be where their expectations are. With everything else in their pocket, they want you there too. If you sent an email about a new dish 3 days ago, it's already buried in their incoming message streams...it's ancient history to them now. Customers are going to interact with people that give them the tools to interact when they want to interact. They want to know about your lunch special right before lunch. They want to know about drink specials and events when they are getting ready to leave work. They want to see your menu BEFORE visiting your restaurant.

You can learn more about how we plan to address this at BackPocketMenu - Restaurant iPhone Applications

Online tools are changing the restaurant industry and I think the youth are grasping on the these tools as fast as they come out. Every time I travel some where new I use yelp to see how my peers rate the place. I look for their menus online (via menupages), and when I am in a hurry I sometimes I order my food online (vua a few different sites). And as of late my boss uses an online tool called restaurantscheduler.com to give me my work schedule and accept my vacation requests.