Every brand has heard the call to “join the conversation,” but many foodservice marketers are still missing out on the social-media party. Some are standing on the sidelines watching the action unfold, while others are like that annoying guest who says the wrong thing. But, as social networks continue to grow, with nearly 24 million unique visitors in Canada a month, according to the Toronto-based ComScore, fodservice companies need to brush up on their conversation skills.
Ultimately, social media is about engaging, listening and communicating with guests,” says Perry Schwartz, director of Communications at Boston Pizza International. “A more engaged guest is likely to be more interested in the brand and offerings, which will lead to sales.”
The added bonus is that social-media marketing doesn’t cost anything, aside from the staff investment. Facebook and Twitter in particular are a highly cost-effective way to share relevant content and encourage engagement, says Wayne Roberts, principal at Blade Creative Branding, a Toronto-based advertising and marketing firm. “Those are critical things to grow the community that surrounds your brand… Not everybody does it well, but those channels offer the opportunity for it to be done well.”
So how can foodservice operators win fans and influence people? Here’s a look at how savvy marketers are using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:
The lowdown: Twitter is an online social network and microblogging service that allows users to send and read messages, or “tweets,” of up to 140 characters.
User demographics: Twitter has more than 500-million users worldwide, according to France-based analyst group Semiocast. Canada accounts for two per cent of users, with more than 10 million. According to the India-based social-media marketing firm Beevolve, 74 per cent of overall Twitter users are between 15 and 25. In Canada, 51 per cent of Twitter users are female and 49 per cent are male.
Key Advantages: “Twitter is great for contributing to relevant conversations,” says Julie Rusciolelli, founder and president of Maverick, a Toronto-based communications firm. “It’s very immediate, it’s very measurable, it has tremendous reach, and it can bring a lot of traffic to your website.”
Another big advantage of Twitter is it gives companies the ability to read anybody’s conversations — something brands can’t do on Facebook. “We can’t tell if friends are talking about Boston Pizza to one another on Facebook, whereas on Twitter we get that information and [can] engage with those people,” says Drew Campbell, national marketing manager, Digital and Social Media, at Boston Pizza. For example, if someone posts: “Subway or Boston Pizza for dinner tonight?” the company will chime in: “Our vote’s
for BP!”
Social media in action: Restaurants often use Twitter to post new menu items, share recipes and respond to customer enquiries and feedback. But it’s also an ideal platform for promotions. For example, as part of its month-long steak promotion, the Vancouver-based Earls Restaurants (@EarlsRestaurant) teamed with Canadian Beef (@loveCDNbeef) to host a live Twitter party on May 2. The hour-long chat, with the #steakredemption hashtag, featured questions about followers’ steak choices and grilling tips, with input from Earls’ regional chef Camw Armstrong. The #steakredemption hashtag generated more than 1,500 tweets and became a nationally trending topic. “This created intrigue around the event, which helped us drive significant awareness for the promotion in a very cost-effective manner,” says Monique Gomel, VP of Marketing at Earls. “It’s hard to determine how many guests this drove to the restaurant, but it was an effective way to get the word out.”
The lowdown: Facebook is a social-networking site that allows users to create profiles, share photos and videos as well as keep in touch with friends and family.
User demographics: More than 19-million Canadians log on to Facebook at least once a month, while 14 million check their newsfeed daily, reports the social network. And, ComScore reports that 33 per cent of the site’s Canadian users are older than 45, surpassing users 18 to 24 (31 per cent).
Key Advantages: Facebook offers companies a great platform to interact with fans and create content people will want to share. Marketers can post photos, launch campaigns and host contents, which can be targeted geographically.
Social media in action: For foodservice operators with small marketing budgets, Facebook often serves as the main marketing vehicle. That’s the case with Hummazing, a new Windsor, Ont., eatery that serves falafel, chicken wraps and flavoured hummus at its Devonshire Mall location. The company posts photos of new menu items and specials and engages fans by asking where they’d like Hummazing to open next. “I’m mainly using Facebook to build my brand name,” confirms Fadi Dandachi, co-owner, adding that the company is opening in Toronto in the near future. “I want [Hummazing] to be known before we open in other cities,” he says.
Facebook also allows marketers to capitalize on current happenings quickly and cheaply. During last year’s NHL lockout, Boston Pizza posted a letter to its Facebook page inviting the NHL and NHLPA to meet at Boston Pizza to resolve their dispute. Media outlets picked up on the story and the letter received more than 500,000 views, postings and tweets. “Talking about something that was relevant to our guests resonated really well and ended up getting exposure to millions of people,” says Campbell. “It’s about being timely and relevant in our communication.”
In February, Tim Hortons capitalized on an episode of How I Met Your Mother, in which Canadian actor Jason Priestly described a doughnut he created: a Timbit crammed into a strawberry vanilla doughnut. In turn, Tim Hortons made “The Priestly” and posted a picture to Twitter. Then, in July, Tim Hortons hosted a Facebook contest inviting Canadians to create their own doughnut and vote on their favourites. Priestly (the actor) was recruited as a judge, and the contest received more than 63,000 entries. “We saw the opportunity to have some fun and make a greater connection with what people saw on the show and extend it to our followers,” says Michelle Mullins, social media manager at Tim Hortons. “Knowing our audience, we figured they would respond positively.”
The lowdown: Instagram is a photo- and video-sharing social network that enables users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters, and share them on a variety of social-networking sites. Initially a mobile-only network, Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) launched on the web earlier this year.
User demographics: Instagram has 130-million users worldwide, with 16-billion photos posted daily. According to a February 2013 U.S. study by Pew Internet, a division of Washington-based Pew Research Center, 60 per cent of Instagram users polled were between 18 and 29 years of age, and only 10 per cent were older than 50.
Key Advantages: The nature of the restaurant industry lends itself to Instagram. “You can take a picture every time a great new food item comes out,” says Maverick’s Rusciolelli. “It shows the food beautifully.”
Social media in action: Vancouver’s Hawksworth Restaurant uses Instagram to post photos of the restaurant, menu items, wine and the staff in action. “Instagram celebrates the incredible visual qualities of the restaurant itself, with added filters to enhance the appeal of the shot,” says Annabel Hawksworth, founder and principal of Hawksworth Communications and wife of David Hawksworth, the award-winning chef. The restaurant’s marketing team has also been exploring the video function, posting clips of kitchen staff making fresh croissants, for example. While Instagram videos are only 15 seconds, that’s just enough time to watch a plate of food being finished, says Blade Creative Branding’s Roberts. “It’s a 15-second ad for your fantastic kitchen.”
Starbucks, which has nearly 1.5-million followers on Instagram, has mastered the art of the photo-sharing site. In a ranking of the top 50 brands on Instagram, by the U.K.-based analytics firm Nitrogram, Starbucks is named the second most engaging brand. Images on Starbucks’ account include artistic product shots and creative photos, such as a sandcastle built with coffee cups. “[Starbucks] has developed a content strategy and a culture of championing their product almost as an art form,” says Roberts.
Rusciolelli thinks more foodservice operators should take advantage of Instagram. For example, Harvey’s doesn’t have an Instagram account, but the chain’s products really lend themselves to the channel. “They’ve got milkshakes and the best onion rings on the planet,” she says. “I would be posting a photo of those onion rings every time a fresh one comes off
[the fryer].”
