The vocal consumer

With the growing popularity of social media sites like Twitter and Foursquare, and smartphone peer-review apps like Yelp and Urbanspoon, hashtags are becoming as important to many restaurateurs as the actual hash.
These platforms have amplified the consumers' voices far beyond old-fashioned word-of-mouth, giving them a megaphone for their opinions that reaches into thousands and thousands of other potential customers' pockets.
Operators can fear them or fearlessly use them, said Lori Walderich, co-founder of four-unit Top That! Pizza and principal with IdeaStudio, a restaurant marketing and promotion firm in Tulsa, Okla.

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"They give us a relatively unbiased snapshot of how we're doing and also how we are perceived in the marketplace," Walderich said. "Yelp has a pretty sophisticated filter that weeds out reviews that appear to be contrived by friends of the owners. They are called 'shills.' The result is reviews that are legitimate and most likely from actual guest experiences."
In addition, Internet search engines like Google put weight on Yelp and Urbanspoon, often ranking them first in search results with the star ratings. That, Walderich said, is another reason to keep customers happy.
"Because both sites are location based, we find them very useful for attracting visitors from out of town," she added. "Many people pull out their cell phones and refer to those sites when they come into a city they are not familiar with. We have been told that we were discovered through Yelp and Urbanspoon."
Walderich suggests restaurant operators review activity on the social sites every month.
"In many cases we discover patterns and consistencies that can help us determine future marketing directions and stay in tune with our target audiences," she said.
While these sources of third-party endorsements can't be controlled in the way a restaurant's marketing message can be, Walderich offers three suggestions to get a handle on what's being said:
Familiarize yourself
"All restaurant operators should search for their locations on these sites," Walderich said. "They could be in for a shock if they have not been monitoring them regularly - or ever. I would recommend glancing at them at least once daily to see if there are any changes."
She said monitoring is best done at least occasionally by the chief executive or owner and routinely by the marketing firm and unit managers.
"All franchisees should also monitor these sites daily," she said.
Claim your restaurant units
"Because anyone can add a restaurant to Yelp and Urbanspoon, it is imperative for operators to go through the 'claiming' process immediately, if they haven't done so already," she said. "Each site has an opportunity for page owners to claim and verify that they own the page."
If the sites are not claimed by the restaurant itself, they are open to misinformation, errors and posts that create "a brand-management nightmare," Walderich added.
Encourage honest votes and reviews
"Don't ask for great reviews and 'yes' votes, and never offer freebies or prizes for doing so, because it comes across as desperation," Walderich said. "Instead, utilize Facebook, Twitter, four-walls marketing and website badges to encourage guests to visit Yelp and Urbanspoon and submit an honest vote or review. It's a more humble approach."
 

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