How to: Protect your restaurant’s reputation on the internet
At Livebookings we’re big fans of using Facebook and Twitter as restaurant marketing tools. Social media is great for engaging with customers in an open, transparent format and enticing them back to book another table. But it’s worth bearing in mind that social media can also have its drawbacks.
The fact is that anyone can post comments online, which are then shared with 100s or 1000s of people. This is great when they’re telling people about the delicious meal they had, but it also means that complaints can spread like wildfire and, potentially, harm your reputation.
How to use criticism as a restaurant marketing advantage
Facebook - If someone has posted a negative comment on your Facebook fan page the temptation will be to delete it. This can, however, backfire, if it triggers the customer into then posting worse comments elsewhere. The best policy is to respond in a calm, objective manner and explain how you’ll put right whatever it is that went wrong. The added benefit of this approach is that it can enhance people’s impression of you as a restaurant that listens to its customers and strives to ensure every customer enjoys their meal.
Twitter – Twitter applications, such as Tweetbeep or Twilert, will send you email alerts whenever your name is mentioned. You can then respond by sending a public reply by starting your tweet with the “@” symbol followed by the user’s Twitter name e.g. ‘@daveatron Sorry to hear you weren’t happy with your meal. If you can contact us we’ll explain how we aim to make it up to you’. As with Facebook, responding in a polite, helpful manner can help boost your restaurant’s marketing when the customer then posts a Tweet, singing your praises, on your excellent customer service.
Internet in general – The internet is a vast place and you might think that tracking what people are saying about you is an impossible task. However, you can set up listening posts with Google Alerts. You’ll then receive daily emails telling you whether your restaurant was mentioned and where. You can then politely respond to comments, protect your brand and use criticism as a restaurant marketing advantage.
Using it as feedback – It’s natural to see negative online comments, reviews and criticism as a bad thing. But rather than cursing the fact that anyone can post anything, start seeing ths feedback as valuable customer insights.
More often than not, a negative review is based on customer expectation and business delivery not matching up. There is perhaps a gap between what your marketing promises and what your business delivers . Use the transparency of social media to tap into what customers really experience and use the insights gleened to improve your business!
