Starting, Owning and Marketing A Restaurant Blog|Starting and Owning a Restaurant - Construction, Planning, Marketing, Opening and Managing a New Restaurant

As a general statement, social marketing using sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are more time consuming for the return than most independent restaurants can afford. These sites have their dark sides as reported and discussed in previous posts. However, there are niche exceptions.

Recently I was asked to help a bar owner who felt his advertising and entertainment costs were bringing in sales, but the bottom line was suffering as entertainers demanded more money and media costs continue to rise. His venue was a popular spot in a major metropolitan area with a capacity of about 300 people. His success was evident with waiting throngs of people on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The owner was hesitant to raise prices during this economic storm, but wanted to find a way to cut costs. Social marketing using multiple sites like Facebook and others is a perfect application. By building a presence and followers, he can ween himself away from costly print media. Patrons can find out who the bands and entertainers will be on any given day - at little cost to the owner. The bonus is that he has immediate response to the type and popularity of any band or DJ he may want to feature.

To build a presence on social marketing sites was the owner’s next challenge. He could hire a marketing company to do the work for him, but the cost may equal his adverting costs he is trying to reduce. The owner’s lack of Internet savvy precluded him from becoming an immediate leader for the marketing effort. The solution - pay one or more staff members to become the bar’s emissary online. Most of his staff was in an age group equal to his client base and he was surprised to find out that several spent a lot of time on the top sites he wanted to target.

Recognizing that the transition from print media to digital would take some time, the owner created a six month plan to build his following. The goal is to eliminate 80% of print media costs (about $1300 per week) and employ staff members to create the “buzz” he needed to get started (about $200 per week). The added benefit was also his ability to hire entertainers that were popular.

The plan will work. The case is an exceptional use for an over hyped marketing tool.