All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Marketing, Social Media, Web Design, Web Development
In the first of this two-part series, I delve fork-first into what should be on your success plate for your restaurant via the world wide web and which content accompaniments will have your customers coming back for more.
*It’s Like a Restaurant without Signage ~ Restaurateurs everywhere, you may offer fantastic platings and have a location that rivals cobblestone street cafes in France, but today’s savvy foodie eats with their eyes first…ON THE INTERNET. What about the power luncheon you’re boss asks your to book and you need that perfect location with a swank menu to ink the deal? Or the family of 7 traveling from Virginia to Maine who needs an affordable, family friendly menu with ample seating? In 2012, 90% of consumers first instinct is to Google everything – that’s even for the neighborhood coffee & biscotti café. One of the most successful ways for potential customers to know how fantastic your spot is- is if you have a website. This reigns true if you’re a small Mom & Pop coffee shop, a breakfast & lunch only establishment, or have won a “Best” culinary award for your fusion creations. Wherever you are and unknown vs. well-known, it is imperative you have a web presence to:
1. let the world know you exist and give them a visual perspective of your establishment and its offerings;
2. stay relevant & competitive with other restaurateurs within the same category or cuisine within your surrounding neighborhood/area;
3. make the world aware of accolades you’ve received and watch them influence your prospective patrons; and last but most importantly
4. obtain new and possibly life-long, faithful patrons.
*A Sour Ingredient? ~ If you’re still not convinced a website is necessary, here’s an eye-opening scenario. If you don’t have a website you could be opening yourself up to reviews of your food and/or service via such sites like Yelp which allow visitors to say something influential about your establishment. And wait, here it comes…AND POST IT ON THE WORLDWIDE WEB WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. Whether flattering or not, you won’t have a voice and presence on the www to contradict it will you…Convinced now? I have disregarded many a YELPing, whinny patron’s review when the restaurant’s website reflects legitimate and noteworthy criticism and compliments.
*Wanna Really Start Cookin’? Add Some Social Media ~ Social Media is big business in every business arena around. Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumble Upon…and even more to come. And the great thing about Social Media is that it’s free! Tweet about your most popular pizza made with all organic ingredients. Create a Facebook page for your restaurant and get customers to Like it. Dish on Digg about this seasons new menu and why your patrons need to give it a test run.
Another great Social Media tool is blogs. Much like this one, blogs can be influential depending on the level of content writing, and what other mediums the blogger is using to expose your restaurant to the world. And if they have a decent following in the industry for which your business belongs to, that’s even more exposure in addition to your other online marketing tools. I’ve seen this at work with a recent client for which I blog and how their customers responded to it. The blog influenced someone to order a dish they never had before and now they are absolutely in love with it. AND they bragged to others about it and now that establishment has 3 new customers. Ahhh…the power of suggestion.
Check back next week when I add the remaining ingredients for a stellar, set you apart from the competition restaurant website. And if you think you should toss this advice out with your table scraps, check out http://www.google.com/analytics/customers/case_study_cke.html and see what CKE Restaurants founder Carl N. Karcher found behind the curtain about his restaurants web presence!
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Maybe you’ve had a successful hair salon for years and your flow of clients is in and out like a Manhattan revolving door. Or perhaps, you just started one and are struggling to pack the chairs and fill the appointment book. Regardless, both need a website. It would seem that the latter would be more in need. But here are the top 5 reasons why both do and how it benefits the one with the successful streaks AND the one that’s a little green at the roots. Because the goals of a hair salon aren’t to create just great client impressions when they walk out the door, but even before they get there or perhaps know that you exist. How so? Read on….
1st Show that You Are a Cut above the Rest ~ Perhaps you can highlight with the talent of Picasso or have the most stylish stylists in a 50 mile radius- if you don’t advertise it, word of mouth is probably not enough to keep your book of business on the incline despite a declining economy. Grooming is one of the “extras” that many people can’t justify when the light bill is due and groceries are in need. In today’s tough economy improving the growth and profitability of your hair salon needs to be a high-priority and this is one tool you’ll want to have in the kit. Having a website shows potential and repeat customers that you really mean business about your business. It reflects another level of professionalism for clients and to the industry. Remember, the goal is to create a great impression on a client both before they come to the salon AND after they see their reflection in the mirror.
2nd Add Social Media Presence to Your Menu ~ Running a hair salon requires interaction with a lot of people and why not let that network work for you. What do I mean by that? I mean getting people to Like You on Facebook, connect with you via Linked-In and chat about you on Twitter. With constantly changing styles, promotions, and products you shouldn’t have a problem finding topics to talk or Tweet about. This is an ever-evolving industry and you can take advantage of that using the free resource of Social Media. Use it to show others that you are tapped into the most current trends in hairstyling, makeup, products or whatever your salon may specialize in. And speaking of specialties, if you have one in particular-like you wax as smooth as a baby’s bottom or have a stylist who coifs with the precision of Edward Scissorhands-then Social Media is the perfect place to create hype about the talents in your establishment.
3rd Great Referencing Tool for the Trade ~ A website is a great place to let your work shine and the words of your clients work for you. Often, word of mouth helps as much as it can hurt. Letting others “hear” from current/past clients does influence decisions…especially in service-providing industries. Most repeat customers would love say how Thomas keeps their true roots invisible or Shelly is a Shear-tress like no other AND see it in print! No to mention that playing to a client’s ego in this manner, is also another way to keep their business at your business. I mean this is an industry of vanity after all…
4th Stylistas, the Cutting Floor to Web Design ~ A great look and feel website should engage visitors and compel them to spend time there. You are in luck in this particular industry because the variety of website designs available can vary as much as shades of blond. But you also have to know which to choose based on your demographics, clientele and other such factors. Don’t forget that when selecting one, it should reflect both your vision for your business and the clientele walking through its doors. Keeping this in mind, don’t fail to have fun with it. I mean it isn’t a law firm for goodness sake-so you can push the envelope of creativity without seeming over-the-top.
5th Picture Perfect Coiffing & Selling ~ Photo Galleries aren’t fabulous only in SoHo but can be just as spellbinding on the www while exhibiting your stylists’ work. There are various choices to do so…like a slide show, a flip/style online book or even a Virtual Tour of your Salon while talent’s in motion. It will be engaging and be a non-traditional way of showing off your talented team.
Decide Who Will Make the Cut ~ If don’t have a salon website already but are now convinced you need one, here are some considerations when choosing a website designer and/or company:
Find one that you feel understands your salons demographics and how to reflect it on the website.
Know that imagery will be crucial for your website. So make sure that you have “web-worthy” photographs to showcase the talents of your team and use stock photography where needed to beautify the site.
Make sure they will write your content with commonly used keywords that are frequently used when searching for hair salons, especially in your geographic region.
At Design Theory, we’d love to help you take your business to the next level of design and success. As such, we now have great packages 
specifically designed for hair salons that will help you blow away your competition.
Marketing, Social Media
There is no denying that many people are using social media in one way or another. There’s probably thousands of people each day that are new to it too. There are so many networks to use, and each one gets updated or releases new features so often, that I dare to say that everyone end up learning something the more they use social media. Here at Design Theory, we know a lot, but we try never to say that we’re “Gurus” that know everything. It’s hard to know everything when things change so frequently.
Now we’re online almost 18 or more hours a day. Be it on our smart phones, laptops, tablets, and desktops. One way or another we’re online and engaging our audience, partners, and clients in some form or medium. It’s a lot of work and a lot of constant effort. For the average small business owner deciding whether or not to get into social media, our advice is usually the same:
“Either go all in, or don’t bother at all“
Harsh? Yea a little but the reason why is we hate to see failed attempts. It is very easy to get confused when you’re first starting out. And those little mistakes that may seem insignificant to you, may cost you your online reputation.
Incomplete Social Profile
This is totally a rookie mistake, but you’d be surprised how many social accounts we come across that are only partially filled out. Have you ever seen that big goose egg on Twitter for a person or business? They probably haven’t ventured into the profile settings to upload a cool head shot or picture of their store or logo to show that they’re actually a real account. Or on Linked In where someone may use a picture of a cat or cartoon character as their profile photo. Not only is that not appropriate for that social site because Linked In is considered more of a professional business networking site, it looks like you don’t take your professional profile seriously. Facebook allows you to input a lot of information for your Business Fan page, so take advantage of that. In a lot of cases a successful Facebook page will show up in a Google search way before your website does. So be sure to have your best foot forward with all of your information listed.
Dormant Accounts
These are social media accounts of people or businesses that at some point got started, then got bored, frustrated, or lost interest and stopped using their accounts. I’m sure some of those people thought they’d get back on the wagon once they found some more free time in their day, have an upcoming event or sale that they’ll want to promote in the future, or some reason or other. However valid the excuse may be, to a potential client and your audience it now looks like you don’t take your social account seriously. And in that microsecond you lose a potential ear for someone who was willing to pay attention and follow your brand.
Duplicate Updates & Posts on All Mediums
Speaking of multiple accounts, don’t make the mistake in posting the same posts or status updates across ALL of your social media accounts. Its tacky and lazy. Sure that sounds mean, but it’s true. Most people are members of more than two social media platforms and they’ll see your post on one network then see the same one on another network word for word. It looks like a robot may have posted it or you’re not really putting time to pay attention to the conversations and tones of each network individually. Point is you can’t mix coffee with juice then a slushy and dip your donut in it and expect everyone else is drinking and eating the same things you are at each table.
Failure to Respond
This one kind of falls under the dormant accounts but in some cases is a bit worse. Have you ever reached out to a fan or someone on a social network and never hear a response? Or have you read a post that was just posted in the last few minutes of you reading it, and you like it and reply, and you never hear a response to your reply? Yea those are bad. It looks like you’re just talking and could care less about listening. Which really defeats the purpose of being “social” on these networks. There’s some etiquette for each network on reasonable response times.
You Think It Shouldn’t Cost Much
I saved this one for last because it seems to always be the elephant in the room. To be a little transparent, we get a good amount of emails and phone calls requesting quotes on managing creating social media accounts for small businesses. I would say the number one hesitation for us seems to be price. Yet we’re not the cheapest business in our local market and certainly not online. To give you an idea of a median price for a full package for social media management and marketing for Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, YouTube, and Pinterest; you would be paying around $2,000 a month. This includes metrics, tracking, custom Facebook tabs and landing pages, Call to Action and ongoing marketing initiatives, and of course constant up to the minute engagement.
After reading all this, I’d love to hear your thoughts and even your own experiences. Lets start a dialog with other readers in the comments below.
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So in last week’s blog (http://blog.jpdesigntheory.com/getting-over-the-hump-an-inspiration-for-blog-writers-block/) I mentioned to look out for my upcoming one regarding “coloring in and outside the lines in Social Media”. Well here it is-so let’s talk about how that premise affects our perception, utilization, and ultimate success or failure of Social Media in a business.
I must admit that when the term “social media” came on the scene I thought great, just another “let the whole world know all your business” tool and way for someone to financially capitalize on my personal affairs. But I’ve come to understand both the downsides of it (i.e. cyberbullying, identity theft, etc.) AND the magnificent power of it in the business world. Social Media was created to use the platform of telecommunication to form interactive dialogue between organizations, individuals and entire communities. So, obviously the masterminds behind it meant it for good (rather than those who’ve chosen to abuse its power) and when it comes to utilizing it for business, it is an amazing, free tool that can take your business (and its exposure) to another level. In 2012, none of us can deny the fact that properly using Social Media yields better results than traditional marketing efforts alone.
I saw a quote which said “coloring outside the lines is a fine art” and that person was right when it comes to thinking outside the box in business and the beauty of the broad stroke in art. But when it comes to Social Media, the defined parameters are there for good reason and should be yielded to in order to get the desired results from doing so. Majority of us know that Social Media tools like Facebook and Twitter allow businesses to access an unlimited number of existing and potential customers and perhaps cause exponential growth of your business in various markets. The proper use of these tools could help to grow a small, home-based business into a multi-million dollar conglomerate beyond their current demographic and broadest vision…think NBC’s Shark Tank-like opportunities. But those who know how to stay in the parameter confines of Social Media and play by the rules of it, know that using this medium requires strategical thinking, commitment and tenacity. And it’s only then, that you see the ROI for playing by the rules and staying in the lines established. Such as:
Impressionable Artistry ~ Know that current and prospective clients will base their first impression on what they see. If your business has a Facebook page, make sure that it properly reflects your business by mentioning salient points about your business, have links to your company website and location, and keep use of your logos consistent. Lastly…my personal pet peeve – PLEASE SPELL CHECK to avoid SMH’s and 
‘s.
To Blog or Not to Blog ~ If you are going to blog make sure you are a pretty good writer or use someone else to do so. Blogging is both a craft and great tool…if you can do so effectively and draw “good” attention to your business. Again, you want to spell and grammar check before you post. People will respond with comments and you don’t want something written that will reflect negatively on your business. Remember, once its out on the worldwide web it’s there forever!
Use all Crayons in the Box~ Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Google+…need I say more. Don’t just use one medium, use them all. The more you post information about your business, join groups, comment on another businesses blogs, etc., it is more likely you will gain a few new clients and followers. 
And then we have the scribblers…Those who don’t see any ROI and/ or do more harm than good to their brand/business by misusing the exposure tool of Social Media. Much like a child coloring, if you move too fast or don’t understand the parameters/boundary lines you will end up with a mess. Nothing to hang on the refrigerator – no growth in your business.
This often happens when people don’t do the following:
Take the time to understand it ~ Use the hands of time to figure out HOW YOU WANT and NEED to engage people on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc. for it to be successful in growing your business. Because once it’s out in cyber world, it’s there to stay. No balling up the page and tossing it in the trash like it didn’t exist.
Take the time to plan it to properly execute it ~ Make sure your business does their due diligence in research and planning to create a successful Social Media campaign and message. Social Media strategies must be thoughtfully constructed and planned prior to execution to not end up chock full of rookie mistakes or even worse…irrelevant. Also remember that in order to properly manage your businesses Social media that it takes time and consistent communication with other users to build a strong following, brand recognition and respect.
Understand that it’s about the WHOLE picture ~ Using Social Media correctly requires a team effort which should combine company branding, customer service and sales initiatives to constantly interact with the online marketplace and do so in a consistent manner. Yup – use every crayon in the box!
At the end of day, successful Social Media in business is about engagement, creating a trustworthy Social Media identity, client acquisition, increased sales, and better brand awareness locally & globally. Then you’ll have a business that’s gold star worthy!
All Posts, Social Media
In today’s online arena, businesses of every size are engaging their audience and potential clients through social media. Even the term social media is bigger now than a year or two ago. Whether you like it or not, it’s a medium you’re going to have to deal with if you want to grow your business. For us, our best reasoning to our clients is “It’s better that you use it and expand your brand to your community, or your competitor will.”
Time
This is probably the main reason why social media costs so much. I know there’s plenty of people who tell you that you can do it in just a few minutes a day and never have to think about it for the rest of the day. Not entirely true. Scheduling posts is a great way to leverage your time, but what happens when your posts get a bunch of responses and some of them are viable leads? Do you then respond the following day when the trail is cold? I hope not. You respond while they’re engaged and lead them to a meeting, phone call, or call to action on your website, or better yet to BUY SOMETHING! This isn’t possible if you’re not available to respond when things are happening.
Value
There are quite a few social media companies out there. You don’t have to search hard before you find one either locally or via a quick Google search. What may be hard to find is what they charge, hourly or monthly rates, and what your ROI may be. (we’ll get into ROI shortly). Lets go the hourly route for now. Signing on to each of your accounts doesn’t take long right? Then thinking of a good post that is NOT the same for all your accounts may take 5-7 minutes each to come up with something clever and original. Using Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your posts could take about 2-3 minutes each to post a message and a short link. Reading back your feeds, wall posts, timelines, etc could take about 5-10 minutes each here depending on all the people you follow, and save or read posts. Then of course you have to respond to their posts, blog articles, at-replies, direct messages, wall comments. I’d say another 4-5 minutes. Did I lose you? Add all that up for all your separate accounts and you’ll easily be over an hour’s worth of your morning coffee.
ROI – Return On Investment
There’s a couple of ways to look at this. For the business owner trying to do this on their own, you’re immediate ROI is the money you may save by doing your marketing on your own. However, you also have to invest in a LOT of constant research to stay up on all the latest updates and improvements in order to ensure you’re social profiles and accounts are the best that they can be. Honestly that’s a daily task that isn’t done in under an hour.
Using a marketing firm probably won’t give you back 2-1 for each dollar you spend either. Chances are you’ll spend a lot more than you stand to make. Of course this rather depends on your website, products, and or services. There are ways to gauge the effectiveness of their services though:
- New fan page Likes
- New Twitter followers (real users, not spammers)
- Improved views on your customized YouTube page
- More connections and recommendations on Linked In
- Improved +1’s on Google Plus
Unique Identity and Personality
You can’t fool people. Well some maybe, but its pretty easy to discover social accounts that are poorly managed. You’ve seen them, the big goose egg for a Twitter avatar instead of a nice head-shot. The overstretched fan page cover art that was never created specifically for the cover art but instead chosen by Facebook automatically. The Linked In profile picture that is of a family pet or worse the person in a swimsuit. (I’d post actual pictures, but I don’t want to get hate mail). My favorite are the ones that got started, got heavy into it, then suddenly stopped and never returned. They most likely got frustrated with the lack of engagement for many reasons both valid and some unbeknownst to them.
Each of your social profiles should be a little bit different because of the audience of that platform. For example, your Twitter avatar and profile may be a bit more casual, where your Linked In profile will and should be more business professional. One major point about each of your profiles though is that they’re optimized fully. Meaning a great bio, edited profile or avatar picture, links back to your website, phone numbers, and if possible location and email address for quick contact.
I hope that this was informal to you. If you have any accounts that may need a bit more attention, please take a few minutes and adjust them now. If you believe you can take on your companies social media accounts, be encouraged that you can do so and be effective so long as you keep up with your audience in whatever way or medium they’re most active. For those of you who don’t mind sharing please comment below in how much time you spend daily or weekly in your social efforts.
*It’s Like a Restaurant without Signage ~ Restaurateurs everywhere, you may offer fantastic platings and have a location that rivals cobblestone street cafes in France, but today’s savvy foodie eats with their eyes first…ON THE INTERNET. What about the power luncheon you’re boss asks your to book and you need that perfect location with a swank menu to ink the deal? Or the family of 7 traveling from Virginia to Maine who needs an affordable, family friendly menu with ample seating? In 2012, 90% of consumers first instinct is to Google everything – that’s even for the neighborhood coffee & biscotti café. One of the most successful ways for potential customers to know how fantastic your spot is- is if you have a website. This reigns true if you’re a small Mom & Pop coffee shop, a breakfast & lunch only establishment, or have won a “Best” culinary award for your fusion creations. Wherever you are and unknown vs. well-known, it is imperative you have a web presence to:
*Wanna Really Start Cookin’? Add Some Social Media ~ Social Media is big business in every business arena around. Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumble Upon…and even more to come. And the great thing about Social Media is that it’s free! Tweet about your most popular pizza made with all organic ingredients. Create a Facebook page for your restaurant and get customers to Like it. Dish on Digg about this seasons new menu and why your patrons need to give it a test run.
