A few weeks back I was having dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants, Spatola’s Pizza in Lansdale, PA. It’s really a hidden gem as Spatola’s has great food for unbelievable prices. Being that it’s right around the corner from my place, I’m there quite a bit. For some reason, during this trip I noticed their specials menu that sits on every table. Check out the image below (taken with my iPhone – the quality isn’t the greatest).
Sitting there reading the daily specials made something click in my mind. Why don’t restaurants offer a Social Media Menu? Each table can have a similar menu setup, but instead of sharing the daily specials, or in addition to sharing those specials, also use the opportunity to let your customers know what social networks you frequent. People always ask how they can get more traffic to their social media sites, well ideas like this are how you do it.
If you’re on YouTube and Ning, then let your customers know that. Provide your URLs on your social media menu. Then offer a few promotions to entice your customers to sign up for your social sites. These days the majority of your customers are going to have smart phones, which means they can access the Internet right from the table. A few examples could be:
- Use the video recorder on your phone to shoot a quick video of you in our restaurant – post it to our Ning for a free appetizer
- Sign onto YouTube and add us as your friend to receive 10% off your bill tonight
- Promote our Ning network on your Twitter or Facebook page to receive a free dessert
Check out the example Social Media Menu below. How long do you think it would take you to create this, print out a few copies, and place one on every table in your restaurant? Probably an hour, if not less. Costs? Close to zero.
So, all of you restaurant owners out there I ask you this, what’s on your Social Media Menu?
Tags: restaurant marketing, Small Business Marketing
Restaurant Owners, What’s on Your Social Media Menu?…
Coming up with creative ways to let customers and prospects know what social media sites your business is on is the key to getting traffic to those sites….
Check out this comment from a LinkedIn group member of ours: “As a total novice to the social media world, I have been trying to figure out how to make this work for my restaurant. This is the best idea I’ve seen so far.”
Very cool!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Reddit by lilflyers3: Restaurant owners always ask, “how do I get people to go to my social media sites,”? One way is to have a Social Media Menu on every table. Check out the post to learn more….
A novel idea! I’ll look to incorporate it into our new mobile couponing service and promotions.
Kevin – Thanks for taking time to read the blog and leave a comment. I’d love to hear how your new campaign goes. Keep me posted.
Restaurant Owners, What’s on Your Social Media Menu?…
A few weeks back I was having dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants, Spatola’s Pizza in Lansdale, PA. It’s really a hidden gem as Spatola’s has great food for unbelievable prices. Being that it’s right around the corne…
Great idea. It all makes sense now. Originally, I thought about the table tents or menu to encourage patrons to sign up because I never thought of using an actual promo, coupon, special, etc….to entice them.Thanks,
Javier – Thanks for leaving a comment. I’m pumped that you found the information valuable. If you implement this, please check back with us to let us know how it goes. Thanks again and I wish you the very best.
- Ryan Taft